In the latest experiment of what people will actually buy on eBay, John Harris, a staff writer for The Onion is selling a brand new, never used…joke. As of this post the bidding was up to $110.50.

Hello,

My name is John Harris, and I am a staff writer at The Onion, America’s Finest News Source. I am selling a joke that I can’t find a contextual home for. To be fair, it’s less of a joke and more of a dated, Capote-esque cocktail party bon mot, but decidedly more feeble. The best one can reasonably expect from this item is a self-satisfied chuckle, such as can be observed issuing from someone wearing a turtleneck while reading the Harper’s Index. If that didn’t make you barf, please continue reading.

The item in question will be clearly hand-printed on a 3×5 index card and mailed to the winning bidder upon receipt of payment. It has never been used, and the buyer assumes all responsibility for any consequences that might stem from sharing this joke, including the dissolution of friendships and romantic relationships due to loss of respect. The bidding will start at $0.57 so I can at least recoup the cost of the stamp and the eBay listing charge.

Please keep in mind that, due to the nature of this item as well that whole aphorism about accounting for taste, this is very much a caveat emptor-type transaction. In other words, no refunds.

Thanks and happy bidding,

John harris

[UPDATE]  It is now at $365. Wow!

Talk about unintended consequences of living your life online. Apparently a mob of over 500 attempted to crash a birthday party at a club in South London when they saw it profiled on Facebook.

“More than 500 youths were caught up in a mass brawl as they tried to gatecrash a girl’s 18th birthday party advertised on Facebook.Up to 50 police officers were scrambled to disperse the bottle-throwing louts after the group was refused entry to the bash at Club 791 in Thornton Heath, South London.”

Pretty amazing. Welcome to Web 2.0.