# Selling one's soul - how? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 17, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538 "2003-06-17T20:37:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/1 "2003-06-17T20:37:38Z")
How would one sell one’s soul to another Power in return for wishes granted/material progress/money/etc.? I’m assuming eBay doesn’t allow one to sell one’s soul. I’m also assuming that God, Satan, and Their various angelic legions do not bid on eBay, at least not for souls. Any way to make such an arrangement legally binding? (Disclaimer: this is in curious jest. I do not plan to sell my soul, as it’s spoken for. But I’m curious nonetheless. Please do not condemn me to the utter fiery depths of hell for consorting with the Devil. Especially since I’d never “consort” with him anyway. I’m not into S&M.) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/2 "2003-06-17T21:16:41Z")
Generally, the Devil has to be in the mood to buy. Often times (see “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”, “The Devil and Daniel Webster”) he (the Deveil is usually a he) will pay a special visit to you. Don’t be too anxious to sell. The Devil is pretty flexible in negotiations (see the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 4 or the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 4) and is willing to improve on his first offer to close the deal. Above all, be sure to insist on an escape clause (see “Damn Yankees”) For someone who’s been doing this a long time, the Devil tends to be a sucker for escape clauses, although exercising the clause may prove to be humiliating for you. ---
**Author:** ![Sinungaling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Sinungaling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinungaling)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/3 "2003-06-17T21:17:50Z")
You can go to a crossroads, like in that movie, and get mega-blues powers. But I think _Faust_ was the first story where the devil actually bought a soul. Before that, people just became evil on their own, and their souls went to ol’ Lucy by default. ---
**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/4 "2003-06-17T21:29:30Z")
Its actualy real easy to sell your soul. Get an MBA or a law degree. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/5 "2003-06-18T00:21:36Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m assuming eBay doesn’t allow one to sell one’s soul. I’m also assuming that God, Satan, and Their various angelic legions do not bid on eBay, at least not for souls. Well of course not silly. They have their own web page. Sell your soul through this site! I get the spotters fee: In return for the additional corruption of other people, for every one damned and dead that I am responsible for directly, I shall have my life prolonged in health for another two years and a day. [http://www.necronomi.com/projects/666/](http://www.necronomi.com/projects/666/) ---
**Author:** ![hebesphenomegacorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@hebesphenomegacorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hebesphenomegacorona)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/6 "2003-06-18T01:22:04Z")
Well, you get this jar, see… ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/7 "2003-06-18T07:47:11Z")
First, you need to send me your name, address, telephone number, social security number, mothers maiden name, and your bank acount information to [dreadcthulhu@hotmail.com](mailto:dreadcthulhu@hotmail.com) . Then we can start talking business. 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/8 "2003-06-18T08:12:54Z")
I’m close personal friends with the Lord of Darkness, and we have a mutual agreement not to do business with each other because it might threaten our special relationship. We do have sex though. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/9 "2003-06-18T12:47:55Z")
> [@](#): > > and their souls went to ol’ Lucy by default. So _that’s_ why she always snatched the football out from Chuck. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/10 "2003-06-18T13:08:09Z")
**Sinungaling** was partly right. I only know how to sell your soul for fantastic musical ability and fame (e.g. Robert Johnson\*) You have to go down to the crossroads in Clarksville, Mississippi\*\* around midnight with your guitar and just wait. A big black man will come up, take it out of your hands, tune it up and play a little. He’ll then hand it back to you and you’ll have talent and fame beyond your wildest dreams. - The rumor was that Robert Johnson was a terrible blues man, so bad that he would be boo-ed off stage. He disappeared for awhile and when he came back he rocked everybody’s world. Everyone assumed he sold his soul. \*\*Not 100% sure about this one. Don’t you dare ask for a cite either. I’m too lazy. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/11 "2003-06-18T16:08:59Z")
One night in high school, I took a pocketful of change to downtown Chapel Hill and bought half a dozen souls on the cheap. I just had people raise their right hand and vow to sell their soul to me now and forevermore, and then I gave them a nickel (or a dime, or even a quarter if they were shrewd negotiators). I’m not currently buying, but my advice to people looking to gain souls is to contact your local punks. They’ll likely be only too happy to sell theirs to you. There are two additions I wish I’d had: 1. A book in which they could sign their name with a pen loaded with disappearing ink; and 2. Mini candy bars. In terms of panache, you simply can’t beat purchasing someone’s immortal soul with a fun-size Milky Way. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/12 "2003-06-18T16:32:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DreadCthulhu \* > First, you need to send me your name, address, telephone number, social security number, mothers maiden name, and your bank acount information to [dreadcthulhu@hotmail.com](mailto:dreadcthulhu@hotmail.com) . Then we can start talking business. 😃 😃 [William Shatner]What does…the _Devil_…need with a _social security number_?[/William Shatner] ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/13 "2003-06-18T17:18:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WeRSauron \* > **I’m assuming eBay doesn’t allow one to sell one’s soul.** People have tried… People have tried… ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/14 "2003-06-18T17:41:09Z")
Before you sell your soul visit a pawn shop and see what they’ll give you for it. That way you can get it back later. If you do decide to sell, make sure you check the blue book value first. Have your soul tuned and rotate your chakras, and definitely get your emotional coolant flushed and refilled. You’ll get more for it in the long run. ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/15 "2003-06-18T17:46:12Z")
I understand that reciting the Lord’s Prayer backwards at midnight under a full moon in a cursed place (abandoned graveyards, old battlefields, places with names like “Axe Murder Hollow”, etc.) is a good way of summoning the Dark Lord. After that, it’s just a matter of negotiation. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/16 "2003-06-18T18:41:41Z")
Actually, the whole exchange seems like a bad deal… for Satan! After all, if I’m the type of guy who’d sell his soul for riches or power, it’s pretty clear that all Satan has to do is wait for me to die of natural causes, and he’ll have my soul for all eternity, gratis! Why would he pay me for what he’s going to get anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/17 "2003-06-18T19:08:34Z")
I know a guy who sold his soul for some pizza. Then the guys who bought his soul started subdividing it and handing out the pieces. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/18 "2003-06-18T19:32:44Z")
William S. Burroughs- > [@](#): > > Now, you may encounter the devil’s bargain if you get that far. Any old soul is worth saving, at least to a priest, but not every soul is worth buying–so you can take the offer as a compliment. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/19 "2003-06-18T20:01:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MEBuckner \* > \*\*[William Shatner]What does…the _Devil_…need with a _social security number_?[/William Shatner] \*\* Tax purposes. The IRS can be a real pain. ---
**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538/20 "2003-06-18T22:36:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*Actually, the whole exchange seems like a bad deal… for Satan! > > After all, if I’m the type of guy who’d sell his soul for riches or power, it’s pretty clear that all Satan has to do is wait for me to die of natural causes, and he’ll have my soul for all eternity, gratis! Why would he pay me for what he’s going to get anyway? \*\* I would wonder why he’d even _want_ my soul. It doesn’t have any real uses AFAIK. What does the devil do with souls anyways? Stack them? Polish them and keep them in display cases? Brag about them in front of other demonic entities? Go to soul-swap-meets? Seems rather pointless to me. Then again, so far he hasn’t asked. Maybe he was thinking along the same lines. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-ones-soul-how/182538.md?page=2)