Jeremy Martin lost his bid to get ahead by selling his head.
Martin, a 21-year-old factory worker from Cleveland Heights, made news last month with an eBay offer to tattoo his shaved scalp with the highest bidder's message of choice.
The minimum bid of $35,000 also included a wraparound ad on his Chevy Impala and a personalized license plate.
But the auc tion ended Saturday eve ning when eBay removed his listing. Martin said he had bids for up to $35,300 when his listing was removed and before he could complete a deal.
"I lose my money because of eBay," said an angry and disappointed Martin on Wednesday.
He came up with the idea after hearing about a guy who auctioned off ad space on his head for $15,000 last year to help pay for college.
Martin lost his job as a computer technician three years ago. He found other jobs, but hasn't been able to make ends meet. He helps his mother, who is blind, and his grandfather, who has dementia.
This auction was his second try. Originally, he asked for $55,000 for a yearlong contract. The highest bid reached $25,000.
Then the national media latched onto his story, spreading his offer to a wider audience. So he tried again, dropping his terms to $35,000 and six months.
This time around, close to 6,000 people visited his eBay page, and he said he had three bids for his noggin but lost two of the addresses when eBay removed his listing.
www.cleveland.com
A tattoo of the number 420, which reportedly has to do with smoking marijuana, led police to a juvenile tattoo ring in Baileyville, Maine.
A 17-year-old was questioned and police were seeking anyone who may have been marked by his crudely built tattooing machine, the Bangor Daily News reported Wednesday.
The investigation began a few months ago when a woman found 420 tattooed on her 13-year-old son's ankle.
"It supposedly represents 'it's time to go smoke a joint,'" Baileyville School Resource Officer Shawn Newell said. "I don't know why anyone in their right mind or stable mind would want to have 420 tattooed on their arm or ankle knowing what it means."
Police said the high school student built a primitive tattoo machine using batteries, a stripped down electric razor and black India ink. The teenager said he loaned the machine to friends who tattooed themselves.
washingtontimes.com
Baileyville police plan to warn students about the dangers of home tattooing after a group of teens used a home-made tattoo machine.
School resource officer Shawn Newell says he hopes to speak to health classes about the diseases that can be transmitted through dirty tattoo needles.
Baileyville Police chief Phil Harriman says a 17-year-old high school student built a primitive tattoo machine using batteries and an electric razor. They say the teenager lent the machine to friends who used it to give themselves tattoos.
Police say one of those was a 13-year-old, whose ankle was tattooed with the number "420," a marijuana reference.
Harriman says it's illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to get a tattoo in Maine. No charges have been filed against the 17-year-old.
www.wmtw.com
