"OT" Segway bids
top $60,000
3 personal scooters being
auctioned on Amazon.com
msnbc.com
SEATTLE, Feb. 20 — What does $60,000 buy you in the transportation world these days.? Well, you could drive away with a Porsche Boxster convertible sports car, but if that’s a yawner, there’s always a self-balancing scooter.
AMAZON.COM INC. is auctioning the first three consumer Segway Human Transporters, the revolutionary motorized scooters unveiled with much fanfare by inventor Dean Kamen late last year.
The machines went on the block at midnight Tuesday with a first bid of $1.75, and by late Wednesday morning had attracted hundreds of bids, with the top ones for each device hitting $51,200, $60,000 and $60,106.
Since the auctions won’t close until March 28, those prices are sure to climb.
“These are the very first consumer models. They will be custom-made for each of the winners,” Amazon spokeswoman Carrie Peters said.
Even with hand-stitched leather grips, titanium casing and the buyer’s name engraved, those sums are a huge premium over the $3,000 the general consumer model is expected to fetch when it becomes broadly available late this year. |
