Florida Man Selling ‘American Dream’ on eBay
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John Foxx/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — “I’m selling my American dream on eBay,” Shane Butcher of Tampa Bay, Fla., happily told ABCNews.com.
Butcher, 29, is selling everything he owns for a price of $3.5 million on eBay.
His “American dream” includes the three fully equipped and stocked video game stores he owns, a two-bedroom waterfront townhouse, a waterfront rental condo, three cars and two kayaks.
“There are some things that aren’t included. My dog, for instance. My wife and child aren’t included either,” Butcher said with a laugh.
Butcher got the idea when he heard that a few other people had made similar sales on eBay. He was excited about the prospect of a new challenge and hopes that he can pass on his success to someone else.
“If you build a castle, it’s awesome to sell it and then start building another one, hopefully bigger and better,” he said.
As part of the deal, he will train the stores’ new owner for six months and will even pay one year of the stores’ leases and fees so that the owner does not have to worry about them while getting acclimated to the new gig.
“It’s something you don’t see every day. You don’t see people selling their life on eBay,” Butcher said. “There’s plenty of other weird things you see on there like a grilled cheese with the Virgin Mary’s face on it, but this doesn’t happen very often.”
So far, Butcher said he has one serious potential buyer. He has been corresponding with the person, who is interested in visiting him to see the properties and check out the financials.
“Big corporations will buy out other corporations that are in trouble and for hundreds of millions,” Butcher said. “I don’t see why someone wouldn’t want to buy a business that’s doing well.”
Butcher does not know what career path he would take next if he is able to sell his American dream, but he does know that there are many places he wants to explore with his wife and 9-month-old daughter.
“There’s so many things I haven’t seen and you just can’t see everything when you’re tied down to a business,” he said. “I’ve never seen Mount Everest, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park — I want to go see things. I have a huge bucket list.”
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