Philippe Naughton
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After splitting up from his wife, Ian Usher realised that life had lost some of its charm.
So he decided to sell it on eBay.
All of it. His entire life. Not just the airy, open-plan three-bedroomed house and the ageing Mazda 929, but the motorbike and the jetski and the bicycle and the furniture and the bed linen. And the friends.
The successful bidder will even get a two-week trial in Mr Usher's job at a rug shop in Perth, Western Australia. The sunshine and beach lifestyle will be thrown in for free.
"My whole life is for sale. Everything," Mr Usher writes on www.alife4sale.com, a website he has set up to publicise his auction, which he insists is entirely genuine.
"When I say everything is included in the sale I mean EVERYTHING is included! Upon completion and settlement I will walk out of my home for the last time in just the clothes I am wearing, and carrying only my wallet and passport."
Mr Usher, 44, was born in Darlington, brought up in northeast England and emigrated to Australia from Scarborough in 2001 with his wife Laura after a varied career that included hiring jet skis, selling cars and training up young workers for British Rail.
He gained Australian citizenship in 2006 but split from his wife last year after five years of marriage and started to wonder whether it was time to move on.
Mr Usher's website is counting down the 100 days until he puts his life up on eBay in a 7-day auction on June 22 at a starting price of A$1 – about 46p.
Mr Usher says his airy open-plan house, in sunny Wellard, a 30-minute train ride from Perth, is worth at least A$400,000 so he hopes to collect at least A$500,000 to fund the next phase of his life.
"I have a great life," Mr Usher writes. "I live in a nice house in a beautiful area of a fantastic city, in one of the most amazing countries in the world.
"I have a car, a motorbike, a jet ski, spa, and much more. I live a great lifestyle; I go skydiving, snowboarding, diving, jet skiing, kite boarding. I have some great friends. I have a good job working with some wonderful people."
So why sell it?
"Well, my tale is a bit of a sad one, but I am not trying to sell you a sob story," he says.
"I appreciate that many people have had to cope with much more than I have, and have had much more sadness in their lives. This is just my way of dealing with what has happened to me.
"I met and married the best girl in the world. I loved her with all my heart, and she loved me back too. However, after over 12 years together and five years of fantastic married happiness, I was hit with a bolt from the blue."
He does not go into details about the split, preferring to look ahead to the future.
"My current thoughts are to then head to the airport, and ask at the flight desk where the next flight with an available seat goes to, and to get on that and see where life takes me from there," he says.
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GOOD LUCK -- we hope all goes well -- and enjoy your next journey in life -- Cindy (Lesmurdie -- Perth WA)
Cindy Malthouse, Lesmurdie (Perth - WA), WA
Good luck buddy.
shane, blackburn, uk
Lets hope the next flight isnt to skeggness
billy, London,
This is old news. Someone did the very same thing on eBay, also from Western Australia, about 3 years ago...
Nikki, London,
Best of luck mate.
judy, Liverpool, England
Heather Mills has cash to spare and could find a few local charities to help if she splashes out.
w, bangkok, thailand
Sounds sad. Hope the next chapter in his life is bigger and better than anything he's ever done before. Good Luck!
And great opportunity for someone wanting a new life too!
louise, guadalajara, mexico
Brilliant. Straight out of the Dave Gorman/Danny Wallace book of life decisions.
Blake-Ezra Cole, London,