A bidding war has broken out for a Team Wiggins water bottle being auctioned on eBay with the highest bid currently standing at £64.21.
Described as “unique” the bidon, which is not signed, is far from that – the team itself will get through thousands in the course of a season, many jettisoned at the roadside and scooped up as souvenirs by appreciative fans.
Moreover, one was sold on eBay just last week – and went for around a quarter of the price bidding on the latest identical bidon has reached.
The eBay user selling the latter, who has the user name WiggoWiggoWiggo on the auction site, is also offering for sale a set of Team Wiggins racer cards from last month’s Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic.
Bidding for those has reached £26.05, and with both auctions closing this afternoon the vendor stands to make close to £100 for both items, if not more.
In recent months, according to the vendor’s feedback on eBay, they have also sold a number of items connected to Wiggins’ successful attempt on the UCI Hour Record at the start of June, including at least five Rapha caps celebrating the event.
Of course, eBay and other websites have united potential buyers and sellers of items worldwide in a way that was simply not possible before the advent of the internet, and if someone wants to fork out more than sixty quid on a Team Wiggins bidon, so be it.
It's also a way for people who can't be at an event in person to be able to get a souvenir, as with those Hour items. And given the seller has 100 per cent positive feedback, there are some very happy buyers out there.
But arguably it has also made it more difficult for those who for example want their favourite athlete to sign an item as a souvenir to obtain that autograph – with access to star names becoming ever more restricted, even impossible, in some sports.
Many cycling fans will hope that their sport, which enables them to get closer to the big names than is the case in any other sport – and also to ask for and often get promotional items at the team bus – doesn’t follow suit.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
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16 comments
Hey, I was using the toilets after the finish, and Brad was in the next stall. Managed to get a 'sample'.
Selling it on ebay for £10K, you'll get his dna, possibly some medications and all you have to do is 'take the piss'.
If there is any liquid left in it …………. you could analyse it. Just saying.
I have a Sky cap signed by WIGGINS ..unfortunately BERNIE EISEL decided to sign it too so its probably worthless lol
It's a bit like buying a bunch of cheap Garmins from Aldi and then flogging them on eBay for a profit
It's the newbie's rite of passage. You buy a 64cm frame, wear pants under your bib shorts, and put deep heat on your soft bits. Take your bidon with pride to club night and watch the stifled laughing from all and sundry. In a few years time you can do this to the next crop.
Roadcc Breaking News:
Person sells something on eBay that is not worth the money.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
P.T. Barnum said it best, "There's a sucker born every minute."
"In recent months, according to the vendor’s feedback on eBay, they have also sold a number of items connected to Wiggins’ successful attempt on the UCI Hour Record at the start of June, including at least five Rapha caps celebrating the event."
So he was the one who got them; they'd all gone by the time I got there! The bar steward.
Conversation coming to a living room soon.
(Wife) "what's in the package?"
(Happy ebayer) "it's one of Bradley Wiggins' bidons I bought off ebay, it's mega rare, can I mount it on a plinth and put it on top of the tele?"
(Wife) "erm, no. Not really its just a cheap bit of plastic. It's pretty awful actually. How much was it?"
(Slightly less happy ebayer) 'sheepishly' "just over £60. But they're mega rare, it'll be worth a fortune soon!"
(Vexed wife) "HOW MUCH?!? Are you f@£king stupid? You're an idiot. I don't ever want to see that thing again!"
Bradley Wiggins prize bidon gets put into a cupboard never to be seen again...
The end.
But darling, you never said a word after I spunked 10k on a Pinarello.
@Don Simon. £10k? Don't you mean £599.99
If people are shallow enough to put famouses on pedestals and then pay over the odds for goods they belong to these stars, good luck to them.
I can't see it doing too well in 'Four Rooms'
No one is forcing them to pay that. As said above, if people are stupid enough to pay over the odds then that's up to them. Good on the seller for making some cash!
Is this the best that you can do for a headline .... who cares is the answer ... if people are dumb enough to pay over the odds because a pro has allegedly used the item then more fool them