Proctor Journal

The motorized chair that received international acclaim when its driver received a DWI driving it sold for $10,099.99 – a fraction of the $43,700 bid that was placed hours before the bidding was to end.

La-Z-Boy filed a complaint with eBay and the auction was canceled hours before it was to end. The Proctor Police Department had to re-list the item. The La-z-Boy corporation felt the description “La-Z-Boy styled chair” infringed on their trademark had killed the auction.

The chair was re-listed, for an additional $125 to eBay, but the damage to the bidding process was done. The frenzy that caused the chair to sky rocket in price never came back.

Bids for the motorized chair reached $43,700 with 48 bidders had made 96 bids. Over 120,000 had viewed the auction and over 7,000 were watching the action.

The new auction had 41 bidders placing 64 bids. During the last 30 hours of the auction no one had placed a bid. People watching the auction went from an average of 6,000 an hour to 700 hour.

While city official remain upbeat about the bidding, the proceeds from the sale, which benefits Proctor taxpayers, was $32,900.01 below what they should have been.