The saga of the Apple stair comes to a $9950 end

Ten days ago we reported that eBay seller heylookitskibbe was auctioning a stair from the staircase from the Fifth Avenue Apple retail store in New York. Shortly after our report, the stuff hit the fan.

Heylookitskibbe turned out to be former Apple employee, Mark Burstiner. The stair, made by Seele GmbH exclusively for Apple, was being replaced by Seele employees when Burstiner asked if he could have it. They gave the 250 pound stair to him, which he kept for a year before auctioning it. When Seele GmbH saw the news that the stair was on eBay they claimed ownership of the stair and demand that the auction be taken down and the stair returned to them. Burstiner removed the auction but refused to return the stair, claiming that it had become his property.

Yesterday we reported that, despite the legal threats, the auction was back on eBay. The auction has now come to an end with Burstiner raking in $9950 for little more than a chunk of glass thousands of people have walked on. The starting bid was $700 with a Buy It Now price of $2500.

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Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2010/02/21/glass-stair-from-apple-fifth-…

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Ten days ago we reported that eBay seller heylookitskibbe was auctioning a stair from the staircase from the Fifth Avenue Apple retail...

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SophT

$10,000 lawsuit from Seele/Apple in 3, 2, 1...

March 04 2010 at 12:24 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Ptrix

If I were the seller, the following would have been my response after Seele GmbH contacted me asking for the step:

"...I can understand your interest in this item, and I'm sure you noticed the eBay auction. However, according to the bidding history, it currently appears that other parties are MUCH more interested in ownership of it than YOU claim you are..."

[End communication]

Wait...

PROFIT!

:D

March 03 2010 at 8:17 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Sebastian

That seller will never get a penny out of that 'buyer'. Lots of kids playing around on ePay make ridiculous bids with no intention of paying.

March 03 2010 at 3:14 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Sebastian's comment

Matty G

Your right, if this guy gets any money I'll be REALLY surprised

March 03 2010 at 4:54 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

nic

I'm trying to figure why someone would pay $9950 on a item with a "buy it now" price of $2500?

March 03 2010 at 2:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to nic's comment

JaceFace

Because the article left out a detail.

The original auction had a buy-it-now for 2500. The seller took that one down when legal action was threatened.

When all the nerdblogs picked up the story, the seller realized he had a hot item and re-listed without the buy-it-now.

March 03 2010 at 2:52 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

ProfessorDex

I'd like to know who the idiot is who paid almost $10k for it. More money than brains obviously.

March 03 2010 at 1:40 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

3 replies to ProfessorDex's comment

Jonathan

Believe it or not, I used to work at the Apple Store San Francisco (R075) and these stairs (I kid you know) cost approximately 10k/step to replace. I wish I could say I was kidding.. at some point in my 3 years there, one had to be replaced (probably a customer insisting to carry his mac pro upstairs to the genius bar instead of taking the elevator.) Anyways, I remember a lot of hoopla regarding the pricing when they installed it.

March 03 2010 at 1:04 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Jonathan's comment

Jonathan

kid you not*

March 03 2010 at 1:07 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Shunnabunich

I'm finding it somewhat difficult not to make puns involving the name "Burstiner".

March 03 2010 at 12:18 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

PowerHouse

Good for him. A year later and NOW they wanna come back and claim ownership? I'd be like "kiss my ass!" That's probably what Burstiner said after looking in his newly padded PayPal account anyway.

March 03 2010 at 12:12 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Stides

I bet Seele bought it.

March 03 2010 at 11:37 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Stides's comment

John Smith

Nope, Steve probably bought it just to send to Seele, collect, just to send a message.

March 03 2010 at 11:57 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply