Hilarious story on The Register. A guy offered a picture on eBay of a 42-inch Panasonic plasma TV (which retails at about £3,000). Bidding had reached £1,020 before it was rumbled by a Register reader. In the end, the seller ended the auction saying

I had to bid on the item myself and end the listing early. the price was getting rediculous. There was no way that I was going to allow someone to pay £2000 for a picture. I couldnt live with myself with that. Also an ebay [official?] told me that I needed permision from panasonic to sell a picture of their item, which I did not know.

Other than the permision that I needed, there was nothing wrong with what I was selling as far as I can see. It was listed under home and garden: decorative items and there was also another note further down the listing that said ‘note: you are bidding on a picture of the plasma being described and not the actual plasma itself’. And no where on the listing does it say that you the buyer is bidding on a plasma screen.

Caveat Emptor and all that; but it does make one wonder about some of the emptors on eBay. Apparently some bidders have paid serious money for photographs of Microsoft XBoxes!