NEW YORK, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The disappointed Montreal owner of the storied Velvet Underground acetate did not fetch $155,000 after all on eBay last week -- the bid proved to be bogus.
The Toronto Globe and Mail reported Monday that the highest bidder in a 10-day online eBay auction was a buyer from Los Angeles called "mechadaddy," who had ostensibly bid the winning amount for the rare 12-inch, nine-song acetate that was purchased in New York's Chelsea district for 75 cents.
Andy Warhol reportedly had used the record to showcase the band's music and had designed the cover. There may be only one other of the band's acetates in existence.
The owner of the disc, Warren Hill, had arranged for Saturn Records, Oakland, Calif. to oversee the sale. Thinking it would go for between $10,000 and $30,000 to a serious record collector, Hill thought he smelled a rat when the bidding got up to around $130,000 by last Wednesday.
Hill was right. Saturn received an e-mail from the alleged winner who blamed the bidding on a friend who was using his computer.
