# 867-5309 for sale on ebay. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 14, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/867-5309-for-sale-on-ebay/229143 "2004-02-14T01:42:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wrenchslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/94ad74/32.png) [@Wrenchslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenchslinger)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/867-5309-for-sale-on-ebay/229143/21 "2004-02-17T15:42:24Z")
> [@auntie em](#): > > Originally Posted by NoClueBoy > I want 777-9311 > > Damn! I opened this thread JUST to ask why Morris Day can’t get some respect! 🆒 Sorry, best I can do is 3731111. (There is a 9 in there also though). I’m opening the bidding now! Who’ll give me $300,000 grand! C’mon people! _Daddy needs a new c-wrench!_ ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/867-5309-for-sale-on-ebay/229143/22 "2004-02-17T23:36:31Z")
Looks like they pulled it. Invalid Item shows up now. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/867-5309-for-sale-on-ebay/229143/23 "2004-02-18T14:37:39Z")
hmmm. Wonder why they pulled it? Phone numbers are indeed a “sellable” commodity. Maybe they discovered that the seller didn’t actually own it. Too bad. ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/867-5309-for-sale-on-ebay/229143/24 "2004-02-18T14:42:13Z")
A plumbing company in Rhode Island has that phone number. It’s a great idea. I know if mypipes were exploding, I might call the one plumber whose phone number I have memorized. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/867-5309-for-sale-on-ebay/229143/25 "2004-02-18T17:46:03Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > hmmm. Wonder why they pulled it? Phone numbers are indeed a “sellable” commodity. Maybe they discovered that the seller didn’t actually own it. Too bad. > [@](#): > > [Fox News](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,111696,00.html) > Verizon says it’s the owner of the number and it’s not John’s to sell. FWIW, I had a feeling that was the case ever since I first saw this thread. BTW: 212 wasn’t the only one listed. > [@](#): > > [Jackson Sun](http://miva.jacksonsun.com/miva/cgi-bin/miva?NEWS/news_story.mv+link=200402185866581) > The phone number popularized by 1982’s one-hit wonder Tommy Tutone - Eight-six-seven-five-three-oh-nieeine - rings into a Murfreesboro used-car dealership in area code 615. > > Tuning in to national attention for the auction of New York’s 212 version of the number on eBay, the dealership put its number on the Internet auction block Monday. > > However Tuesday afternoon, David Ludwig, general manger of Auto Outlet, said he got an e-mail from eBay notifying him that his “Jenny” auction had been canceled for being “inappropriate.” The other phone numbers being also sold disappeared from the Web site. > > The auctions were put on hold until eBay could determine whether they fell within the company’s guidelines, a spokesman said Tuesday night. “People are really creative,” said spokesman Henry Gomez. “And this one had us scratching our heads a bit.” > > Buyers and sellers on eBay enter into a binding contract, he said. > > So officials of the auction service have to make sure the seller actually owns the item for sale and has the right to sell it. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/867-5309-for-sale-on-ebay/229143/26 "2004-02-19T04:47:52Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > Phone numbers are indeed a “sellable” commodity. How, exactly, would this work? Say I’ve just sold you my phone number. How do we go about forcing Verizon, for example, to transfer the number to you? No, I’m afraid that Verizon is right, even if they _are_ The Evil Empire. Ultimately, no one can compel them to assign a given phone number to a given person. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/867-5309-for-sale-on-ebay/229143/27 "2004-02-19T06:38:17Z")
> [@Early Out](#): > > How, exactly, would this work? Say I’ve just sold you my phone number. How do we go about forcing Verizon, for example, to transfer the number to you? > > No, I’m afraid that Verizon is right, even if they _are_ The Evil Empire. Ultimately, no one can compel them to assign a given phone number to a given person. Phone number portability should make this a reality. Network solutions tried the same crap with domain names a few years ago, claiming they registrants did not own their own domains, and lost in court. [http://news.com.com/2100-1039\_3-5149700.html](http://news.com.com/2100-1039_3-5149700.html) > [@](#): > > As of the end of November, U.S. cell phone providers have been required to let a defecting customer keep his or her old phone number, the result of an FCC mandate. If they can move my phone number to another carrier, they can move it to another person on another carrier. Fuck Verizon. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/867-5309-for-sale-on-ebay/229143/28 "2004-02-19T06:55:55Z")
> [@Mithril](#): > > A plumbing company in Rhode Island has that phone number. It’s a great idea. I know if mypipes were exploding, I might call the one plumber whose phone number I have memorized. It used to belong to [Brown University](http://www.browndailyherald.com/stories.asp?dbversion=2&storyID=1091), and now belongs to the [GEM Plumbing and Heating Co.](http://www.gemplumbing.com/05contact/emergencies.asp), which apparently liked the number so much that it has it in two area codes (401 and 617). ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/867-5309-for-sale-on-ebay/229143/29 "2004-02-19T13:50:29Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > Phone number portability should make this a reality… > > [snip] > > If they can move my phone number to another carrier, they can move it to another person on another carrier. > > Fuck Verizon. Call me dense, but I still don’t get it. Phone number portability means that you can compel a phone company to let you keep _the number you already have_, even when you switch carriers. But I didn’t think it extended to letting you force the phone company to give a certain number to someone else, or to give you a specific phone number that you didn’t already have. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/867-5309-for-sale-on-ebay/229143/30 "2004-02-19T13:54:03Z")
> [@dutchboy208](#): > > Now over $41K. Jesus. > > I can’t imagine anyone wanting that number; I’ve called the one in my area code a dozen times (in the name of science) and the same person has never had it for more than two months. I see you earning another sig here science boy. Damn that’s funny. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/867-5309-for-sale-on-ebay/229143/31 "2004-02-19T14:00:56Z")
Back when that song came out the record company got its hands on the 312 (Chicago) one. When you called it you got a plug for the song. I understand they did this in other markets, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/867-5309-for-sale-on-ebay/229143.md?page=1)