Broke ex-China millionaire’s last possession auctioned off – a bottle of Sprite
Hundreds of people register for auction of soft drink as netizens slam court for wasting judicial resources to stage sale
The actions of a court in China which auctioned off a bottle of soft drink as the last remaining piece of property owned by a bankrupt millionaire have sparked an online debate about wasting judicial resources.
The auction was conducted by the Dafeng District People’s Court in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, southeastern China.
A bottle of Sprite, which typically costs 6 yuan (9 US cents) in shops, was auctioned with a starting bid of 4.2 yuan, increasing in increments of 0.08 yuan.
The court ordered that the buyer must pick up the item in person as shipping was not available.
Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, hosted the auction on its Alibaba Judicial Auction Platform.
According to the Yangtse Evening Post, the owner of the bottle of soft drink was associated with two companies, a biotechnology firm and a marine food company, which had registered capital of five million yuan (US$713,000) and US$1.725 million, respectively.