SYDNEY, Australia - A painful breakup with his wife has prompted a man to put his entire life ? his house, his car, his job, even his friends ? up for sale online in an effort to start over.

Ian Usher, a British immigrant to Australia, said Tuesday he would auction everything he owns and more on e-Bay starting June 22.

"On the day it's all sold and settled, I intend to walk out of my front door with my wallet in one pocket and my passport in the other, nothing else at all," Usher says on his Web site.

Up for bid is Usher's three bedroom house in the western city of Perth and everything inside it, his car, motorcycle, jet ski and parachuting gear.

Usher says he is also selling a one-time introduction to his friends and a trial run at his job ? a plan endorsed by his friends and his employer.

In media interviews, Usher said he wants a fresh start after realizing that most things in his current life remind him of the relationship he had with the wife of five years whom he broke up with more than a year ago.

"Everything that I have ? the furniture in the house ? all has memories attached to it," Usher, 44, told Seven Network television. "It's time to shed the old, and in with the new."

Usher said his life will be sold in one lot, and that bidders should expect to pay more than $390,000, which is the upper end of a realtor's valuation of his house that he posted online.

Joy Jones, who co-owns the rug store in Perth where Usher worked as a shop assistant, said she liked the auction idea and wanted to help out. Joy Jones Rugs is offering the successful bidder a two-week trial, which could be extended for three months and then become permanent if it works out.

"When Ian came with this idea ? because we had seen him go through a breakup of marriage and pain and bits and pieces ? I thought it was really exciting," Jones told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "We thought, why not give it a go?"

Usher said his friends in Perth also proved willing to be introduced to the highest bidder ? allowing him to advertise his auction as offering a complete lifestyle.

Usher, who was born in Darlington, England, plans to open the auction at noon Perth time on June 22 and accept the last bid exactly one week later.

He said he hopes to set off traveling, including a visit to his mother in England, as soon as the auction is over.

"My current thoughts are to then head to the airport, and ask at the flight desk where the next flight with an available seat goes to, and to get on that and see where life takes me from there," he wrote online.

-------------------------------------



i don't blame the guy. i'm sure everyone has wanted to pick up and completely start over again, except he's actually doing it. i think it's funny how his employer and friends are willing to go along with it. but the funniest part is definitely going to be the fact that this will probably turn into a major bidding war. i'm interested in seeing on how this pans out.

Breakups always cause people to become irrational, but I never expected anything like this.

yeah, i get the fact that all his stuff reminded him of his ex wife, but damn this is extreme. but, i don't blame him and i think it's really cool the fact that he is actually going to start over. that's really cool.
interesting to see how the auctions turn out

there was another guy also from australia who 'sold' his life on ebay, but i don't remember what happened to him.

Strange world we live in

It's been done before. An australian guy put his life on ebay and they were going to make it into a TV show. Don't know if it ever happened but I'd like to have seen it.

so this isn't the first time someone's done this? that's pretty interesting. i'd like to see some kind of documentary about this guy to get a more in depth look at why he's doing it.

I wonder what his wife thinks about this...it would be interesting to hear her opinion if they did a documentary...

Written by Guest on 21.03.2008 at 01:44

I wonder what his wife thinks about this...it would be interesting to hear her opinion if they did a documentary...

lol, she probably thinks she's the shit right now. any woman that knows how powerful of an influence they have over a man is bound to become full of themselves.

Written by b0000mst1ck on 21.03.2008 at 02:20

Written by Guest on 21.03.2008 at 01:44

I wonder what his wife thinks about this...it would be interesting to hear her opinion if they did a documentary...

lol, she probably thinks she's the shit right now. any woman that knows how powerful of an influence they have over a man is bound to become full of themselves.

Perhaps, although if the guy ends up making a fair bit of money from this auction she'll probably try to sue him to get in on the cash; that is, if he didn't consult her first about it.

Written by Eternal Flames on 21.03.2008 at 06:27

Written by b0000mst1ck on 21.03.2008 at 02:20

Written by Guest on 21.03.2008 at 01:44

I wonder what his wife thinks about this...it would be interesting to hear her opinion if they did a documentary...

lol, she probably thinks she's the shit right now. any woman that knows how powerful of an influence they have over a man is bound to become full of themselves.

Perhaps, although if the guy ends up making a fair bit of money from this auction she'll probably try to sue him to get in on the cash; that is, if he didn't consult her first about it.

i don't know if women can get alimony in australia or not, but if so i bet she'll get a percentage of it anyway.