Who bought ALife4Sale? All the answers….

The ALife4Sale auction ended at noon on Sunday 29th June, almost two weeks ago, with the highest bid being AU $399,300.

I was quite disappointed with the final amount, which is only at the bottom end of the valuation scale for the house itself, which was valued at between $400,000 and $420,000, but it was still enough for me to be able to sell and move on as planned.

Unfortunately the top bidder was not in a position to complete the purchase, as they had some issues gaining the necessary finances. Since then I have talked to all of the top six bidders, five of whom are Australia-based, and one who is in the USA.

None of the Australia-based bidders now wish to complete the purchase, and the American bidder needs to sort out a visa and approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board, which can take some considerable time.

So I have asked myself why has this happened. Why have these people bid, but either not been in a position to complete, or not wanted to when the opportunity occured? I have also asked many others for their opinion on this too.

The best answer I can come up with is that like me and most other people, these bidders expected the final bids to be quite a bit higher, and really did not expect to win the auction at this price. And therefore they were really not prepared to do so.

After speaking to the top six bidders, I emailed every other bidder who looked at least half-serious, offering them the chance to throw their hat back into the ring. No takers.

I am still very keen to sell up and move on, and as can be seen from this 100goals100weeks.com website, already have new plans in place, which I am keen to get on with as soon as possible.

And I am still committed to doing EXACTLY what I said I would do, and sell everything I have as a complete package!

So the opportunity is still available for anyone out there who still wants to buy the complete package. I have always been serious about selling everything together, and will still do so if anyone wants to buy it that way! The complete package price is $399,300, the high bid. That gets you a $400,000 plus house, a car, motorbike, jetski, furniture, everything. I estimate that there is at least $25,000 worth of extra stuff.

BUT, to do this you need to be either an Australian resident, or already have an Australian visa. You need the finances already in place, and you need to be able to settle immediately. If you want to take up this opportunity, I am looking for full settlement before 2nd August, 21 days from today. Contact me at ian@100goals100weeks.com if you are interested.

If nobody steps up in the next day or two, I still intend to sell up and move on, so I have no option but to implement my “Plan B”. I have already talked to my local real estate agent, who still estimates that the house alone will fetch anywhere between $400,000 and $420,000. The house will be listed at this price early next week.

So this is exactly what I intend to do, sell the house as quickly as I can, one way or the other, either as a complete package, or sell the house separately and sell most of my possessions, and then hit the road.

Do I consider this a failure? Well, yes and no. I guess I failed in that I put an item up for sale, and didn’t find a buyer by the method I tried. I really thought that the price reached would have been higher, and I really thought that there would be someone out there adventurous enough to take this up.

But it is not the first time that something I have tried hasn’t worked out as I had hoped or expected, and I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last! I also look at it a a success too. If I hadn’t done this, after having the idea, I would have wondered for the rest of my life, “What if…?” At least now I know.

And I can be proud that I gave it my best shot, and followed through with my idea from conception to conclusion. I definitely believe that it is better to try and not succeed than to never try at all.

However, with the gift of hindsight, it might have been much better to simply sell my stuff and put the house up for sale four months ago. But then I would have also missed out on an absolutely amazing experience. And as I have always said throughout this, I do believe that life is all about new experiences.

Would I go back and do it differently if I could. No, I don’t think I would!

“Making mistakes is acceptable. Failing to learn from them is not!”

More here on “The Power of Making Mistakes”

Leave a Reply 10 comments

Yvette - July 13, 2008 Reply

How disappointing for you that all didn’t turn out as you planned. But, I think there are many good things that came of this! Look at all the people you met and will continue to meet because of this experience! The concept itself was unique enough to get international exposure so could also be considered an experiment in whether or not selling one’s “life” on eBay is a good idea… (I guess the answer is “no”…at least not until eBay or some other entrepreneur figures out a better way to qualify bidders!) And remember the people you’re inspiring with your goals.

You’re life, undoubtedly, is different thanks to this experience… the lessons you’ve learned, the people you’ve met, the new goals you’ve set… Though it didn’t turn out as planned, it sounds like a success to me.

ara - July 16, 2008 Reply

Hello,
first of all, winning an auktion on ebay means a formal agreement between buyer and seller. You have the right to force the buyer to close the deal. A good lawyer would know how.
the second thing is that your stuff, like 20 years old car, used furniture and your old jeans are just rubbish. Not to mention a collection of used flip flops… why should anybody pay more than a house itself was worth? i think that you are dissapointed because you hoped to find a guy who wanted some media fuzz around him and willing to pay for it… well, it turned out that people stayed cool. Now you are looking for sponsors… this is already a bit disgusting, are you disabled or what? Can’t take care of yourself and seek sympathy? Wish you well anyway, we all have to struggle on this earth, but one should mind the limits of making a fool of himself.

robin - July 16, 2008 Reply

ara…crawl back under your rock…Ian, all the power to you my friend!

mark - July 16, 2008 Reply

I was pulling for you too man, shame it didn’t work out. You’ve got the right attitude and like all things, this will work out and you’ve got a great story to tell anyone who will listen. I admire the attempt and your persistence to see it through.

AshlandFive - July 17, 2008 Reply

I know all this must be disappointing, but to have total peace in the direction of your life…and I am telling you it’s short…you need to know and have peace with Jesus. I hope you know Him as your savior. If not, today is a great day to let Him be the guide of all this confusion! 😉 My prayers are with you.

Ian Usher - 100goals100weeks.com - July 17, 2008 Reply

Hey ara,

First of all….
Direct quote from eBay….

“One particular clause that is of interest to you because we asked you to sell in the real estate category:

eBay auctions of real property are not legally binding offers to buy and sell that property. Instead, they are simply a way for sellers to advertise their real estate and meet potential buyers. At the close of the auction, the seller should contact the high bidder to discuss entering into a contract for the real property. However, neither party is obligated to complete the real estate transaction.

Do you think that I wouldn’t have even thought to look into this?

And secondly…
With regard to “making a fool” of myself, well I guess we are all entitled to our opinion. I have never gone seeking sympathy, merely told the story of what has happened so far. If people are prepared to offer help, then that just shows that the world is full of good people with positive outlooks, rather than the negative minority that only ever look for the negatives in others.

Thanks to the positive majority out there.

Ian

Linda - July 18, 2008 Reply

Hey Ian, I was trying to find out if you had started on your journey yet and I read what happened. That’s too bad, but it will all work out. Oh by the way – did you call you mother?

I may do a follow up, if so I’ll be in touch. Linda R. in the U.S.

Ian Usher - 100goals100weeks.com - July 19, 2008 Reply

Hi Linda, please feel free to call for a follow up, I reckon I am still here until at least 3rd August. And yes, I did call mum….
🙂

Bow wow ow - July 22, 2008 Reply

I think it’s a real shame that the top bidders all acted in this way – although to be fair, the winning bidder deserves the lions share of the scorn. Why not name and shame him/her???? That’s what you said you’d do, after all …..
You made it abundantly clear about the terms for bidding, and went to the lengths of pre-registering bidders etc, so you’d be perfectly vindicated in declaring who the cad is!!!!
Anyways, all the best to you mate … hopefully someone with a bit of savvy will realise what a bargain you’re offering, and it will be snapped up as soon as.
Peace :o)

Jared - August 12, 2008 Reply

Ian G’day mate, long time no speakity, thought I’d drop in and have a gander and see what ya were up to…well you are out of there and now on the road and chasing down 100 goals in 100 weeks, very cool matey! Sorry to hear the auction did not work out the way ya planned, but sometimes we have a plan and life happens…however we may not realize at the time but there usually is a great rteason that things unfold the way they do…stay open, stay positive and ya never know what might come as a result…EXPECT GOOD THINGS…just don’t be tied to any ONE way that the house will be sold, etc! Will be following with interest your travels, and still have some cold beer and some good mates here in Houston, we’ll show ya a good time when ya get ’round this way matey! All the best! Jared

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