They say you can put anything for sale on eBay. However, this one takes the cake.

It is a well known fact that Greece is facing a huge financial crisis and has been the most problematic nation in the Eurozone. Greece has also received bailouts from other Eurozone countries, but it is still struggling to stay stable. So what now?

It looks like one Greece citizen has taken it up on himself to right the country by putting up Greece for sale on eBay. Yes, you heard it right, Greece or what sounds like it has been put up on sale on eBay. If you thought that was bizarre, the listing has already received 75 bids and the current bid stands at $77,877.77.

This is not the first time that someone has put their country on sale on eBay successfully. Back in 2008, a guy had managed to put Iceland for Sale on eBay too.

The listing has been placed under the Weird Stuff -> Slightly Unusual category (some humor there) with a description.

I’m offering my country for sale. What is left of it anyway. Slightly used, low wages, low pensions,  low expectations. Lots of sunshine though, free at the moment.

Many natural resources, minerals etc that are still untouched. Bureaucracy at its best. Great bribe-to-do system, over 20 years of experience.

Obedience at the IMF, bankers and the Troika is guaranteed, no questions asked.

The buyer will get for free 300 politicians, highly trained at the University of  Fine Arts of Scandals. And free Greek Bonds with extremely high international market value. For confetti.

I will provide the best possible certificate that you will ever imagine, maybe even a custom one that you’ll ask.

P.s.
No hard feelings.

The seller also provides Free shipping. I am wondering how he is going to pull that off. BTW, back in Jan 2012 Apple became richer than Greece.

(h/t @gmanka)

Update: The listing has now been removed.

Sling Media has announced its association with eBay India, Rediff.com and Infibeam.com to   bring Slingbox to the Indian online marketplace. eBay India, Rediff.com and Infibeam.com will provide a platform where buyers can purchase the video place-shifting Sling media products.

Slingbox is the flagship product of Sling Media. It is a television streaming device that allows consumers to watch and control their living room television shows at any time, from any location, using internet-connected PCs, Macs, PDAs, tablets, and smartphones. Slingbox gives consumers the ability to control practically any audio/video device –  including a digital cable box, satellite receiver, digital video recorder (DVR), DVD player, gaming system, or even a still video camera.

Sling media has announced two products that will be available at these portals: Slingbox PRO-HD for INR 14,999 and Slingbox SB 120 for INR 7,999. An accessory, SlingLink Turbo, that connects a Slingbox to the router if they are in different rooms of your house, is available for INR 4,999.

The last time I went to Croma, a popular electronics store chain in India, I spotted a Slingbox. The sales staff pointed out the failure’ of the device. I’m assuming that  it has to be due to the low internet speeds available in India for most users. Also, technology enthusiasts who subscribe to broadband with high speeds are bummed with the Fair Usage Policy of service providers. The data cap for the FUP to kick in and lower speeds is too less for a video-streaming device.

eBay India has been working on extending their reach to mobile internet users in India. After launching a mobile website at m.ebay.in, eBay has been releasing apps for all major mobile platforms in the Indian market.

• With the recent announcement of eBay.in’s Android app, which is releasing in the next week, it is covering grounds on one of the popular smartphone platforms. (UPDATE: The Android app is live here)
• An iPhone/iOS app is already available and can be downloaded from iTunes here.
• There is also an app for Nokia phones, specially customized for C2-02 and C2-03. The app is coming soon and would be made available in Nokia Ovi Suite and will be pre-loaded  in those phones.
• For non-smartphone users, ebay.in already has a mobile website which works on any mobile browser: m.ebay.in.

The other two smartphone platforms –  BlackBerry and Windows Phone – have been left out as of now. While Windows Phone does not have enough penetration in India to (may be) justify development costs (Although, there is a nice Windows Phone app from eBay US in the Marketplace already), it is surprising that eBay has left BlackBerry users out in the cold.

Interestingly, eBay also serves mobile users who do not have Internet on their mobile devices. The eBay SMS Pricecheck’ feature allows you to find the best deals via SMS. All you need to do is to SMS EBAY’ <keyword> to 9223892238. Note that this facility has been affected by the latest TRAI guidelines, and you would need to enable partial DND to use the service.

While Steve Jobs is busy minting money with the new iPad 2 launch in the US of A, we Indians have to be satisfied with the old iPad that is finally being sold in stores around here. The old iPad, which is so last year has 256MB of RAM as compared to the newer one which has 512MB and is also thinner, lighter and has the wonderful smart cover accessory with a microfiber cleaning layer that cleans the screen of the iPad 2 and also doubles as a magnetically attached stand for the device.

So, do I hear all of you pouncing at the title? This means all of you must be one of those gadget crazy people with a lot of money to shell out. If you are not, then you’re going to be disappointed. The iPad 2 for us Indians can be procured at eBay at insane prices. All of these are the Wifi only models, since the 3G + Wifi is locked to the AT&T carrier in the US:-

• The 16GB Wifi model: Price $879.99 + shipping $99 (USPS Express Mail International)
• The 32GB Wifi model: Price $1500 (!!!) + free shipping (it better be!)
• The 64GB Wifi model: Price $999 + $59.99 shipping (USPS Priority Mail International Large Flat Rate Box)

These rates do not include the customs tax that you are bound to be faced with when you buy the iPad 2. For now, this is the only legit way of buying the iPad 2 in India at exorbitant prices. Other options are always available on eBay.com (you just need to search around!)

A word of warning here: do not trust the apparently cheapsite called shopyourworld.com. Many users have warned against using their services as they provide no physical address of their company. As always, use the Web of Trust to see whether a site is trustworthy or not.

Earlier today, Apple unveiled the iPad 2. The device is not yet available for pre-orders but will start shipping in the United States on March 11, 2011 and in 26 other countries by March 25, 2011.

The tablet is priced at the same cost the iPad had, starting out at $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version. The 64GB version of the iPad 2 Wi-Fi version costs $699 and the 3G version costs $829. However, some sellers on eBay are already looking to make a killing out of this price by selling the iPad 2 for $1,159.

The price listed above is for the 64GB 3G version and costs $330 more than the actual retail price. The product though won’t ship until March 22 or March 23 and will cost you another $20 for shipping costs.

I also found several other iPad 2 listings on eBay for other versions, for example this iPad 2 version costs about $999 and though it does not list which version it will be shipping. The seller is also shipping the iPad 2 between March 7 and March 9. This listing is a total sham because Apple itself is not selling the iPad 2 till March 11.

eBay sellers have been known to make a huge killing on Apple based products in countries such as India and wherever the they are not available legally. Users are OK with paying a premium for the products, but make sure to know the facts before you order the device. If you are not able to purchase the iPad 2 in your country, you are better off having it bought by a friend or relative rather than using the eBay channel.

Earlier today, at Reddit.com, a person by the nickname HelloKevin11 posted the following thread.

Paypal shut my account today because my business donated money to wikileaks.

I go to log into my business account, and it’s locked. The girl on the phone told me it’s because my account handles a large amount of money (it’s a biz account), I recently sent a lot of money ($4000) overseas, and I also sent money to wikileaks. My account is being investigated for illegal activities and I have to account for what the money was used for. They want invoices and such …

We’ve covered many topics about WikiLeaks in the last few months. We’ve also posted plenty of stories about problems with PayPal accounts. However, this one might potentially impact the most internet users. I have not been able to confirm that this is the truth yet, but if it is, I have to ask this question.

Is PayPal an instrument of the United States’ war on terrorism?

Does any user of PayPal now have to worry that big brotheris watching over their shoulder as they buy and sell products online? How far does the reach of the US State Department extend? Will people in France, England and India have to worry about their accounts being frozen? What charitable causes will be targeted next? Can I safely donate money to the Electronic Frontier Foundation?

HelloKevin’s post already has nearly 1000 comments. The comments are ranging all over the map, with most of them containing at least a hint of outrage. According to Kevin, he’ll be contacting PayPal by phone on Monday to ask for a verbal explanation. He intends to record the conversation.

Until then, all we have are lots of unanswered questions.

eBay recently conducted the online India census 2010 and the results of this census point to only one direction – India Shining Online! Here is a summary of the results of the eBay India Census 2010 according to which, the most sought-after product purchased from rural areas on eBay are the entry-level mobile phones. eBay has 3,296 e-commerce hubs of which 1,054 are rural towns whereas this number was 747 last year.

Coming to sale comparision between metros and rural areas, users from metros mostly buy smart phones and feature-rich handsets whereas users from rural areas mostly buy entry-level mobile phones. Coming to computer peripherals, users from the metros are mostly interested in netbooks whereas rural consumers are buying desktops which they feel are robust.

The cities Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Chennai and Bangalore as ranked as the top five e-commerce hubs on eBay in the eBay India Census 2010. South India alone accounts for 38 per cent of buyers on eBay. Buyers from West come second at 28 per cent. Coming to Kolkata, most dealers deal in technology and collectibles. 42 per cent of the total products shopped include technology, whereas 39percent account for collectibles as per the eBay census.

eBay is used to sell anything and everything, but it looks like someone has got their hands on a Nokia N87 prototype and is selling it on eBay for a bomb.

A German seller is selling a Nokia N00 N86 C Prototype with 12 megapixels camera, this is very much like the one the N87 was rumored to have. The price of the phone is set for $799.99, however, the seller is not the owner of the phone and found it in a bar, iPhone 4 anyone?

Phone is barely used, no scratches or dings. Its a rare prototype, fully functional. You might be the only person with this phone for a while! Its makerd (sic) as Nokia N00, but checking the phone, I might say its the prototype of the unreleased N87. Phone was found in a bar, its unlocked and fully functional!

From the pictures of the phone on the site, it looks like it is a N87 prototype, so who is Nokia going to fire now? If you are interested in buying the phone or having a look at it, you can hit eBay.

(h/t @raghul1989)

I knew this was coming, however, it came sooner than I excepted. Invites for the recently launched Facebook email/messaging are selling on eBay. However, if thought that it would not get any takers, there are already 19 bids with the latest one going for $117.50.

With more than 23 hours left for the bid to finish, the final price could touch the roof. Facebook is going to roll out the service to all users gradually, but till then you will come across several such smart users who will make money of something which is actually free. If you are in a hurry to get an invite, don’t buy it, just learn how you can get a free Facebook email invite for yourself. Patience is a virtue and the invite system is a trap, stay away from it.

Update: The sale does not look as bad it sounds. Entire proceeds of the sale of the Facebook email Invite will be given to a charity called Susan G. Komen for the Cure-Global Headquarters.

(h/t @kwbridge)

Continuing their strong efforts to promote online shopping, eBay India now supports 27 new net-banking options in addition to the three options which were provided earlier – ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Citibank. This is in addition to the Credit Card/Debit Card/Cash Card options. The complete list of supported banks is given below (in alphabetical order):

Axis Bank

Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait

Bank of Baroda

Bank of India

Bank of Maharashtra

Central Bank of India

Citibank

City Union Bank

Corporation Bank

Deutsche Bank

Development Credit Bank

Federal Bank

HDFC Bank

ICICI Bank

IDBI Bank

Indian Bank

Indian Overseas Bank

IndusInd Bank

Karnataka Bank Ltd

Karur Vysya Bank

Kotak Bank

Lakshmi Vilas Bank

Oriental Bank of Commerce

Punjab National Bank

Shamrao Vitthal Co-operative Bank

South Indian Bank

State Bank of India

Union Bank of India

Vijaya Bank

Yes Bank Ltd.

Addition of more net-banking options was always requested by the eBay.in community. In a country with 40+ banks (excluding co-operative banks), providing net-banking option for just 3 of them was something really serious to be taken care of. And now, it’s done.

Picture credit: Cheon Fong Liew