How much would you pay for a pair of secondhand shoes?
Well, someone just spent more than $200,000 on a pair of old Birkenstock sandals owned and worn by the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs -- setting a record for the highest price ever paid for a pair of sandals at auction, according to the auction house.
This weekend, the tech pioneer's brown suede Arizona sandals, which were expected to make $60,000, sold for an astonishing $218,750 when they went under the hammer at Julien's Auctions, accompanied by an NFT.
Prior to the sale, the Californian auction house said the sandals, described as "well used" but still "intact," were a wardrobe staple for Jobs in the 1970s and '80s. Jobs died in 2011 from complications from pancreatic cancer.
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"The cork and jute footbed retains the imprint of Steve Jobs' feet, which had been shaped after years of use," the auction house said on its website.
The Birkenstocks were saved from the trash by Mark Sheff, a former house manager to Steve Jobs, during one of the tech icon's many clearouts, it said.
"Steve Jobs changed the world not only with his revolutionary innovations but with his business leadership style and fashion in wearing sandals," Darren Julien, CEO and founder of Julien's Auctions, told CNN in a statement on Monday. "These beloved Birkenstocks were worn by Jobs as he made history in the making of the Apple computer and were the tech icon's signature staple."
The shoes were sold in Julien's Auctions' "Icons and Idols: Rock 'n' Roll" public sale, which featured memorabilia, clothing, musical equipment, and jewelry from musicians and pop culture figures including Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain and John Lennon.
In October last year, a pair of Nike Air Ships worn by basketball legend Michael Jordan sold for $1.47 million, breaking the record for the highest sale price for a pair of sneakers at auction.
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Strange celebrity items sold at auction
A lock of David Bowie's hair is the latest weird celebrity item to be available for purchase, but it's definitely not the first -- nor the strangest.
Heritage Auctions is expecting a lock of late rock star David Bowie's hair to fetch more than $4,000 at this Saturday's auction in Beverly Hills, California. The lock comes from a former Madame Tussauds Wax Museum employee who snipped some of Bowie's hair in the 1980s to create a wig for a wax figure of the singer and then kept the lock as a souvenir.
Finding and selling Britney Spears' chewing gum was apparently a popular way to make some cash in the early 2000s. According to CBS News, more than two dozen eBay auctions offering gum chewed by the pop star existed in September 2004. While there was no way to actually prove the gum was authentic, some auctions still pulled in more than $14,000.
Just a year after the surge in gum auctions, a pregnancy test allegedly used by Britney Spears found its way to the online marketplace.
According to CNN, the test was found in a garbage can in a Los Angeles hotel room that Spears had stayed in with then husband Kevin Federline.
The Internet casino, which is known for bizarre celebrity merchandise purchases, bought the pregnancy test for $5,001 from a Canadian radio station, which had previously purchased the item.
In December 2008, Scarlett Johansson blew her nose on stage at "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." She did so after making a joke about how she had caught a cold from Samuel L. Jackson, and therefore her cold was pretty valuable.
She then announced she would put the tissue up for auction, which she did. The item raised $5,300 for the hunger relief charity USA Harvest.
In March 2000, Justin Timberlake had breakfast at a radio station. Afterward, the DJ put Timberlake's unfinished French toast up for sale on eBay. Kathy Summers, a 19-year-old fan from Madison, Wisconsin, purchased the leftovers for $1,025.
What's up with boy band members and toast?
Niall Horan of One Direction was asked to try some Vegemite on toast during a stop in Australia. To say the least, he didn't like it.
Horan spit out the bite of toast in a napkin and didn't finish the rest, which was then sold at auction for almost $100,000. The money was donated to the Australian charity Youngcare.
Sometime between 1964 and 1968, John Lennon gave his tooth to his housekeeper, Dot Jarlett, to throw away. He quickly changed his mind, according to Rolling Stone, and suggested she give it to her daughter, who was a big Beatles fan.
Jarlett put the tooth up for sale in 2011. It sold for $31,200.
After cutting off his famous side-swept hair in 2011, Justin Bieber decided to give a lock of it to Ellen DeGeneres. The talk show host listed the "gift" on eBay, where it sold for $40,668.
The money went to benefit The Gentle Barn Foundation, an animal rescue organization.
Pharrell Williams' over-sized hat went viral after he wore it to the Grammys in 2014. The hat had its own Twitter account and appeared in countless memes.
Recognizing the attention it got, Williams decided to auction the hat off for charity. Fast food chain Arby's was the highest bidder, paying more than $40,000 for the infamous piece.
.@Pharrell You're welcome. We're HAPPY to support a great cause & get our hat back. Good luck at the #Oscars tonight! pic.twitter.com/2oA7qDPX9z
— Arby's (@Arbys) March 3, 2014
