Heartbroken Briton sells his 'entire life'

LONDON, England -- A heartbroken Briton is one step closer to starting a new life as he tries to auction his "entire life" online following the break-up of his marriage.

Ian Usher, who moved to Australia six years ago, is selling his house, car, job and even an introduction to his friends on eBay. By 1000 GMT on Monday bids had reached almost $150,000.

Usher is saying goodbye to his three-bedroom home in the western Australian city of Perth and all its contents, including his car, motorbike, jet ski and parachuting equipment.

The auction closes at 2 p.m. Australian time on Saturday (0600 GMT) after which he said he would leave the country. "My current thoughts are to then head to the airport and ask at the flight desk where the next flight with an available seat goes to, and to get on that and see where life takes me from there," he said.

The 44-year-old, who originally came from Darlington, in northern England, will even include an introduction to his friends and a trial run at his job. "On the day it's all sold and settled, I intend to walk out of my front door with my wallet in one pocket and my passport in the other, nothing else at all," he said on his Web site, ALife4Sale.com.

Usher said he wanted a fresh start because his current life reminds him of his former marriage.

The couple parted a year ago but details of the breakup are only available to those who pay a fee on Usher's Web site.

He said: "Everything that I have -- the furniture in the house -- all has memories attached to it. It's time to shed the old, and in with the new."

Usher's employer at the rug store in Perth where he worked as a shop assistant, said she backed the auction. Her company vowed to offer the successful bidder a two-week trial run that could result in a permanent job.

She said: "When Ian came up with this idea, because we had seen him go through a break-up of marriage and pain and bits and pieces, I thought it was really exciting.

"We thought, why not give it a go?"

Usher said his friends in the city were prepared to be introduced to the highest bidder so he could advertise his auction as offering a complete lifestyle.

Man sells life for less than expected

PERTH, Australia (AP) -- A man who auctioned his life -- his house, his car, his job, even his friends -- on eBay said Monday he is disappointed with the selling price: almost $384,000.

Ian Usher, a British immigrant to Australia, put everything he owned as well as introductions to his friends on the online auction site after a painful breakup with his wife prompted him to want a fresh start.

Bidding closed Sunday and reached nearly $384,000 -- an amount Usher said his house in the western city of Perth was worth on its own.

"I guess I'm a little bit disappointed at the final price, I'd hoped it to be a little higher than that," Usher told Nine Network television on Monday. "But I am committed to selling and moving on and making a fresh start."

He declined to reveal the buyer's identity, or what his next step would be.

Usher said he had hoped to get at least $480,000 (a half-million Australian dollars) for his life -- his house and all its contents, car and a motorcycle, a jet ski, skydiving gear, an introduction to friends and a trial period in his sales job -- but that the final result was enough for him to make a new start in life.

July 2, 2008 -- Updated 1038 GMT (1838 HKT)

Man sells his soul in Internet auction

Story Highlights
* New Zealand man has put his soul up for auction to the highest bidder
* So far 100 people expressed interest in the sale
* Successful bidder will receive a framed deed of "soul ownership"

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) -- A New Zealand man has put his soul up for auction to the highest bidder, noting that is "a merry old soul" rather than a "funk soul brother" but that he would "would like to think there is a bit of funk in there somewhere."

Walter Scott, 24, put his soul up for sale on New Zealand Internet auction site TradeMe, and so far has received more than 100 expressions of interest.

The auction closes at 12:00 p.m. Thursday local time (0000 Thursday GMT), and bids so far had reached US$189 (NZ$$250).

Advice from a lawyer was that the winning bidder would not be entitled to anything but Scott's soul and would not be able to own or control him in any way, he said.

Scott said the successful bidder will receive a framed deed of "soul ownership."

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