On the top of my gmail account, there are different links that always pop up, and oddly enough, one of them is always the “Ask Yahoo” feature. For those of you not familiar with it, Yahoo! basically has a page where you can submit all the questions that have ever puzzled your mind. Like what exactly IS Victoria’s Secret? Can a cow really be tipped? Is there a McDonalds in every country? Does Tripp have ever spit glands?

Anyway, one today was what was the first thing every sold on ebay… interesting…

Dear Yahoo!:
What was the first thing ever sold on eBay?
Ken
Detroit, Michigan

Dear Ken:
Once upon a time, many wondered if a company like eBay would even work. Since then, the online auction house has silenced the doubters. While it’s technically a rival of ours, we can’t help but admire its inventory — everything from fake vomit to Lamborghinis is just a click away. Ah, but of all those millions of sales, which was the very first?

EBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995. Though he’s now a billionaire (of course), Pierre started AuctionWeb (as it was then known) as a simple “side hobby.” In late ‘95, Pierre made history when he sold eBay’s first item — a broken laser pointer he had originally bought as a cat toy.

Amazingly, the buyer paid $14.00 for the kaput pointer. We imagine it was about this time Pierre realized he was on the cusp of creating something great.

It’s true that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But if it is broke, maybe you should forget about the repairs and just sell it.

So now you know…