# Is it possible to sell your soul on ebay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sell-your-soul-on-ebay/108319 "2002-05-10T17:37:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bhb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@bhb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bhb)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sell-your-soul-on-ebay/108319/1 "2002-05-10T17:37:59Z")
1. Is it over all possible? Does ebay allow this? 2. What legally must be done as proof of the transaction, so that I could not sell it more than once? 3. How much would a soul run for? 4. Would I have to breath in a jar and close it and sign my name on the jar? 5. Can I sell parts of my soul? (like 1/4 of it to 4 friends?) 6. If I sell my soul, but then 2 years later decide to convert to Christianity, and someone legally owns my soul, will I be condemned to hell? (in other words, does legally selling my soul mean anything to god/satan?) I have no intention of actually selling my soul if you believe in such a thing. I’m just curious of the logistics, seeing as some people find peoples soul of some value. Then again if there was a $100 price tag for my soul i’d probablely sell it, but how could they be sure I didn’t sell it more than once? thanks. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sell-your-soul-on-ebay/108319/2 "2002-05-10T17:47:14Z")
What makes you think anyone would want to buy it in the first place?😃 😃 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sell-your-soul-on-ebay/108319/3 "2002-05-10T17:51:11Z")
It’s been tried. Ebay doesn’t allow it and shuts down the auction pretty fast. ---
**Author:** ![bhb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@bhb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bhb)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sell-your-soul-on-ebay/108319/4 "2002-05-10T17:57:02Z")
> [@](#): > > What makes you think anyone would want to buy it in the first place? i was offered 5 bucks for it by someone at lunch 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sell-your-soul-on-ebay/108319/5 "2002-05-10T17:57:19Z")
It’s been done at least twice before. From [this article](http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/7413.html): > [@](#): > > eBay also came under scrutiny this week for letting two controversial auction items slip under its radar. The first came via University of Washington student Adam Burtle, who made a deal on eBay to sell his soul for US$400. > > “Please realize, I make no warranties as to the condition of the soul,” Burtle wrote. “As of now, it is near mint condition, with only minor scratches.” > > \<…\> > > [The listing was] pulled by eBay, reports said. And from [this article](http://detnews.com/2000/religion/0002/25/02260010.htm): > [@](#): > > This week the online auction house pulled the offer of a Canadian man who put his soul up to the highest bidder. By then, the site had recorded nine bids received over five days. The highest offer was $20.50. -Loopus ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sell-your-soul-on-ebay/108319/6 "2002-05-10T19:38:18Z")
Be on alert when purchasing souls. You should carefully scrutinize the seller’s past; some people have been baited with offers for hardly used high qaulity souls and ended up with some cheap thing pretty much torn up. That’s why I’d never buy one online. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sell-your-soul-on-ebay/108319/7 "2002-05-10T23:13:14Z")
I saw a boy who sold his there & only got $5. Im pretty sure its against the rules though. ---
**Author:** ![friggae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/45deac/32.png) [@friggae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friggae)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sell-your-soul-on-ebay/108319/8 "2002-05-11T03:44:46Z")
I think the reason that it is not allowed is because the buyer and seller are essentially buying/selling positive feedback. [http://webhelp.ebay.com/cgi-bin/eHNC/showdoc-ebay.tcl?docid=75&queryid=14968642&querystring=Want\_Ads\_and\_Trade\_Auctions\_-](http://webhelp.ebay.com/cgi-bin/eHNC/showdoc-ebay.tcl?docid=75&queryid=14968642&querystring=Want_Ads_and_Trade_Auctions_-)_Listings\_advertising\_the\_desire\_to\_buy_/\_trade\_items Also, regarding: > [@](#): > > eBay also came under scrutiny this week for letting two controversial auction items slip under its radar. eBay does not possibly have the time to check every one of the millions of items up for auction. It is up to the users to report auctions that contain violations. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sell-your-soul-on-ebay/108319/9 "2002-05-11T18:57:53Z")
Fenris had a quite entertaining thread on appraising souls several months (perhaps more than a year) ago. I searched but couldn’t find it. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sell-your-soul-on-ebay/108319/10 "2002-05-11T19:11:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Duality \* > \*\*Fenris had a quite entertaining thread on appraising souls several months (perhaps more than a year) ago. I searched but couldn’t find it. \*\* [Crazy Fenris’s Used Soul Appraisals](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=72040) Great thread. 🙂 -Loopus ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sell-your-soul-on-ebay/108319/11 "2002-05-11T23:11:15Z")
Well, as for the OP’s asking on how people went about selling souls on eBay, most of the auctions I saw would award the winning biddder with a certificate of ownership for the soul, like the deed to a house…though one guy was selling his in a coffe can. Don’t ask me how he got it in there. 😉 Ranchoth ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sell-your-soul-on-ebay/108319/12 "2002-05-12T03:12:00Z")
Some years ago, a magazine conducted an experiment. A guy would ask bypassers if they believed in hell, and when the answer was no, they pulled a contract and offered to buy his/her soul for something like 1000-2000 $. They didn’t find a single person who accepted to sign the contract, the most common answer being along the line “it’s either too much or not enough”. When they offered only a symbolic amount (say, a couple of dollars) some other people accepted. ---
**Author:** ![Sinyster1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Sinyster1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinyster1)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sell-your-soul-on-ebay/108319/13 "2002-05-12T04:29:15Z")
Well I lost my soul and my brothers soul on a superbowl bet, who woulda thought the damn Broncos would win two years ina row