EcommerceBytes-NewsFlash, Number 906 - December 08, 2004 
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Casino Gets Addicted to eBay, Gambles on Ghost
By Ina Steiner
GoldenPalace.com, the online casino that recently bought the immensely popular "Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich," has just bought another unusual item on eBay: a "haunted" walking cane. The company purchased the item for $65,000.
The seller claims that the ghost of her dead father manifests the cane and has scared her five-year-old son repeatedly. The seller's father died recently after battling lung cancer for over a year. He died peacefully in his sleep, but the child claims to have been visited repeatedly by his apparition. In life, the deceased used the walking cane to tap the child when he was misbehaving.
"This is a fascinating situation, as the seller honestly believes in the supernatural nature of this item," said Richard Rowe, CEO of GoldenPalace.com. "We felt that this would be an incredible opportunity to show the world the cane and let people decide for themselves. We also hope the seller's family can now finally be at peace and we wish them all the best."
GoldenPalace.com made headlines just last week when they purchased the Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich from Florida's Diana Duyser. The ten-year-old sandwich bears the image of a woman's face that the seller claimed was the image of the Blessed Virgin. The casino is currently taking the sandwich on tour across the southern U.S. to Las Vegas.
GoldenPalace.com has become familiar with online auctions, having recently purchased several items and using them to generate over $300,000 for various charities including raising awareness for Multiple Sclerosis, The American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, Noah's Wish, and the Shoot for a Cure foundation for spinal cord research.
About the author:
Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.
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