Teens sell week of their lives on eBay for $246.50

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Looking for a little extra spending money, two college-bound teenagers decided to sell a week of their time to the highest bidder on the Internet auction site eBay.

The teens hoped for fortune and adventure, but got neither. When the auction closed Monday, the teens learned the winning bidder -- a St. Joseph resident -- had offered a mere $246.50 for their services.

"I'm kind of disappointed, but it's money," said Chris Pullen, 19, of St. Joseph. "I think it was exciting while it lasted. But it's still money, nothing to be disheartened about."

Pullen said fellow Central High School graduate Chip Davis suggested the idea.

"I was like, 'Dude, that's tight,'" Pullen recalled of his reaction.

Under the heading "Buy us for one week to do those tedious tasks you hate!" the teens posted their pictures on eBay with a minimum bid of $1. Bidding began on July 29.

While the auction was under way, friends asked the teenagers if they worried about who would win their services.

"I didn't care who won," Davis said, "as long as we didn't have to clean someone's sewers or something. That wouldn't be too exciting for a whole week."

But the teens' enthusiasm waned as days passed with no new bids.

"It wasn't too terribly exciting since the winning bid was made four or five days ago," Davis said. "It was anticlimactic at the end."

Davis has e-mailed the teens' future boss, but the details of the work arrangement haven't been reached. Because the teens are headed off to the University of Missouri at Columbia this weekend, the work week might be split up into seven one-day sessions.

"I don't think I'll do it again," Davis said of the experience.