When we think of eBay auctions, we usually think of them as a way to convert items into cash. That’s probably the simplest goal of an eBay auction, but there are other reasons. This article explores the reasons we sell things on eBay. Some of them might surprise you.

[ December 6, 2006; ] Bonhams’ forthcoming Sale of Old Master Paintings holds a wealth of fine and important artworks from the 17th and 18th centuries. The sale will take place at 101 New Bond Street, London, on 6 December 2006.

Acquired in the 1920s by the current owner’s family, Jan Lievens’s Portrait of a Young Girl in profile and Gerard [...]

In a New York auction Wednesday that brought record prices for paintings by Edward Hopper and Norman Rockwell, the Seattle Art Museum sold six of eight paintings it had offered.
SAM deaccessioned the eight paintings to raise money for other acquisitions.
The highest-valued painting of SAM’s group, John Marin’s “New York Abstraction,” sold for $688,000, including the [...]

A half-bottle of Scotch whisky thought to be about 150 years old sold for 14,750 pounds ($28,700) at auction in London, beating the top presale estimate of 10,000 pounds by almost 50 percent.
The Glenavon Special Liqueur Whisky, bottled on Speyside in northeast Scotland some time between 1851 and 1858, may be the oldest Scotch whisky [...]

[ December 14, 2006 9:00 am to December 15, 2006 9:00 am. ] The wedding ring that iconic U.S. singer Elvis Presley wore during his marriage to Priscilla Presley will headline an auction by Profiles in History.

The diamond wedding ring is among 900 pieces of TV and movie memorabilia to be auctioned off Dec. 14 and 15 by the Internet auction company. The ring alone is expected [...]

A rare LS Lowry painting has been sold at auction for £530,000 – safeguarding one of Britain’s premier art collections in the process.
Glasgow Docks, which was painted by the Manchester-born artist in 1947, went under the hammer in Edinburgh.
Auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull, who had been expecting it to fetch around £300,000, now believe it has [...]

Ten paintings by Pink Floyd founder member Syd Barrett have raised more than £55,000 at auction.
A stool decorated by Barrett fetched £4,400, and a collection of his art reference books a further £4,000.
The paintings were among the contents of Barrett’s home in Cambridge being auctioned following his death in July at the age of 60.
The [...]