A single bottle of beer, for half a million dollars

Collectors lust after bottles of Samuel Allsopp's Arctic Ale, especially a corked specimen from the 1850s. The original owner, not quite knowing what they had on their hands, listed the item incorrectly. Despite a $304 sale, spelling the name of the brewer wrong cost the original seller a six figure payout.

With museum-style photographs and the full name of the rare ale on the listing, the item's second auction closed with a bid of $503,300. According to an eBay spokesperson, winners of high value items like this can pay up to $10,000 toward their bids using a verified credit card on eBay. After that, it's up to the seller to decide how to collect the rest.

Marty McFly's Nike sneakers

In 2011, Nike announced the release of Nike Mag sneakers, replicas of the shoes Michael J. Fox wore in the second installment of the "Back to the Future" franchise. With proceeds earmarked for Parkinson's Disease research through Fox's foundation, sneakerheads warmed up their credit cards for ten daily eBay auctions of 150 pairs each.