eBay sellers offer saucy extras

Porn dealers outsmart eBay

11:00 AEST Wed May 7 2008

Amateur pornography is being sold on eBay by backyard dealers posing as second-hand clothing sellers.

A special ninemsn investigation has found dozens of members on the world's largest auction website are selling hardcore videos and graphic pictures to interested buyers.

Some sellers are even using the lure of pornography to secure higher bids for their items, which can easily be found using the website's search engine.

Among the sellers, ninemsn discovered "athleticmuscleguy" who was advertising a pair of men's designer boxer briefs for $8.50.

The three pictures he used in his listing were of a bare-chested man wearing the tight fitting underpants, and when quizzed about the item he offered to sell ninemsn an explicit gay sex video.

The seller claimed the video was just one of several in his library of home made films, with the price of each movie varying according to its sexual explicitness and whether or not it had sound.

ninemsn paid almost $40 for a top of the range video, including audio, which showed the seller having sexual intercourse with another man.

The faces of the seller and his companion are never exposed in the eight-minute long footage.

Six hardcore photographs were also included on the DVD — showing the seller, again faceless, in different poses.

Under eBay's listing policy, used underwear and adult material are banned and can result in the immediate cancellation of the sale, as well as a seller's account being suspended.

Any pictures listed which portray "graphic sexual activity" or are "graphic portrayals of human genitalia" are also blacklisted.

eBay officials removed one woman's listing after she advertised a "sexy red fishnet hold-up" with various sexually-charged images of her breasts.

Despite the removal, the seller, who called herself "sweet juicy panties", still responded to ninemsn's enquiries and offered to sell X-rated photographs of herself for $6 each.

The woman, who claimed she had been selling adult pictures since April last year, said she would send out an invoice for a "red top" so her account would not be shut down.

While many of the sellers found by ninemsn were selling legitimate clothing items — such as dirty socks, sneakers, shoes and football shorts — they didn't hide the fact that they were also selling pornography.

Underwear seller Christopher, who called himself "your_place_or_mine", offered a CD with 85 "pictures" to prospective bidders.

His listing read: "Due to numerous requests we are now offering a CD of high-resolution pictures of the entire photo shoot with our model."

When ninemsn asked about how much the "photo shoot" would cost, the Florida-based dealer replied with seven pictures of a man in various erotic poses.

ninemsn also found some sellers were using the lure of pornography to drive up the price of their items.

One seller, who called herself "lovethescent", had a private auction for a "sensuous" used lace bra, complete with nine close-up snaps of her breasts.

When ninemsn contacted her about the pictures, the seller replied said she had more to offer for successful bidders.

"The winner will receive at least five nude photos of me once payment is received," her email said.

"Or, I have a very hot photo package (25 for $25 and you get topless pics, totally nude and naughty ones too)."

Teenagers are also advertising their wares on eBay, with one 17-year-old boy willing to sell ninemsn a selection of images for $18.

Daniel, from Manchester in the UK, said he had already done a set of 30 erotic photos for a man and had been paid $180.

His listing for used tracksuit pants read: "Any questions or requests, just ask!"

A spokesman for eBay Australia told ninemsn that although the auction powerhouse attempted to filter every listing on the site, they also relied on members of the public to dob in dubious sellers.

"We do have advanced backend systems that block out items listed on the site that shouldn't be there but sometimes because of the sheer volume of listings our filters don’t pick everything up," spokesman Daniel Feiler said.

"We encourage people to report anything that is of a concern to them which is why we have a 'report this item' link on the bottom of every page."

Mr Feiler said eBay would investigate the cases brought to light by ninemsn.