Guy claims to have a strange neighbor who pawns off a box of "Dharm" t-shirts? I noticed the use of numbers all through the auction. Clever. Check out the notes. I had to laugh thinking it was Desmond selling on ebay. That is what the computer is for.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4775080984

Interesting. What are those pages in the picture boxes?

I'm confused!
If this real? or what?
What's going on??

just bought one!

I'm confused!
If this real? or what?
What's going on??

He sells t-shirts based on TV shows, it appears (based on his feedback). You can change your name on eBay (once every 30 days), so it's probable that he changed it just for the show (since he joined eBay before they even came up with the idea of the show).

This is a clever page--I especially like the confession pages with the censored material.

There are also patches and buttons for sale at:

http://www.cafepress.com/dharmacorp

Somehow I doubt that these are amateurs rushing to take advantage of the hype. ABC would have trademarked the logo. The toast with the numbers was probably an inside job, too, but I'm not sure about that one.

This is called viral marketing--building buzz about something without leaving your mark. A little like the dry cleaning bags that the Desperate Housewives people plastered all over the country (except it was obvious where those came from).

This seller could have been registered by a PR specialist. Is there a way to find out what other products the seller has purveyed on Ebay?

I'm surprised it's not ebay item # 4815162342!

Very clever!

LostMyMarbles~ it's the only item he's selling. Just click the "View sellers other items" link. You can get a list of his other ebay id's though.

I just bought one as well. I like how the numbers on the back of the shirt match how they look on Desy's computer screen. I give whomever credit for putting a little bit of extra effort into this auction. :)

He sells t-shirts based on TV shows, it appears (based on his feedback). You can change your name on eBay (once every 30 days), so it's probable that he changed it just for the show (since he joined eBay before they even came up with the idea of the show).

I didn't know that you could change your seller name like that....interesting. I was thinking here's the numbers even before LOST ever aired one episode.

;)

Yeah, he has that little symbol beside his name, that shows he's changed his user id within the past 30 days. ;) He has a feedback rating of 164 and the other items he's sold are random items. I doubt he's an ABC plant, though. There are all kinds of LOST t-shirts and clocks, and all sorts of things for sale on Ebay, and most of them are obviously homemade. I'm sure there's copyright infringement, but maybe ABC doesn't care as long as the hype is kept up. :D

Cute auction though! I like ones where people put some sort of backstory (real or fiction).

I emailed them a question before I purchased one and he definately has nothing to do with ABC nor are they a "plant" atleast I dont believe it. As someone else said it seems as though they've sold other shirts before. Seems like a regular schmoe having some fun with everyone. Shirt is definately looks cool though.

Very clever. I'm kinda broke right now or I'd pick one up myself.

Clever, too bad I'm also broke. It would be fun since I know a lot of Lost fanatics. :biggrin:

Ah, crap. He won't ship internationally. :(

Ha! This is awesome... I guess I finally have a halloween cosutme this year.

This story is definitely getting included in the podcast this week!

Man, I could make a fortune selling this kind of stuff.

I purchased one.

Has anyone else noticed how much interest this auction has generated? Look at the counter at the bottom. It shows that there have been over 1200 unique viewers of the auction. Wow. Yet only 12 shirts have been bought. :smile:

Have you seen all the other things about Lost on ebay? Not only the Dharma shirts, but there's John Locke's Wilderness School sweatshirts, Driveshaft shirts, and even a huge display stand I think I saw in the video store. It's really cool!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ABC-TV-LOST-DVD-DISPLAY-STAND-RARE-UNIQUE_W0QQitemZ4776253054QQcategoryZ201QQrdZ1QQcm dZViewItem

shucks...I'm too late to buy one!

Desmond is probably selling those discontinued candy bars online. :)

Just got mine today. The seller included a letter from Dr. Marvin Candle (sealed with a Dharma sticker). It was a transcript of his dialogue from the video, but a nice touch!

That's cool!