Man jokingly puts his place in heaven up for sale on eBay and bids reach $100,000… before it gets taken down

Ari Mandel posted the prank auction item as a joke but quickly received more than 180 bids

As a former Hasidic Jew, he was happy to give up his 'Portion in olam habaah [heaven]' and promised to live a life free of sin

But eBay removed the item because it was ' intangible'

Former Hasidic Jew Ari Mandel, 31, claims he posted his 'Portion in olam habaah [heaven]' on eBay on Tuesday as a joke

A New Jersey man who offered $100,000 for his spot in heaven by an eBay bidder before the auction site took down his proposal.



Ari Mandel, 31, who identifies himself as atheist lived in an Orthodox Jewish community until he was 23. He posted his 'Portion in olam habaah [heaven]' on eBay on Tuesday.

Since Mandel no longer considers himself a member of the Hasidic community, he was happy to give up his spot.

He promised the winning bidder a signed contract guaranteeing his spot in Habaah, plus another contract guaranteeing that he would live free of sin in order for that spot to be secured. He also promised never to return to religious life and steal the spot back for himself.

‘I didn't think anyone would take it seriously,’ Mandel told NBC News .

‘It's gotten way more attention than I expected. I really didn't expect it to blow up and go crazy the way it did.’



Mandel posted his prank auction on Tuesday and the price quickly grew from 99 cents to $100,000, with more than 180 people bidding.



He also received emails and phone calls, some asking what he was doing, other telling him they thought it was a fun thing to do.

But before Tuesday was over, eBay decided to take the posting down citing rules that require items to be tangible.

Before Ari Mandel's post had been live for a day, eBay decided to take it down citing rules that require items to be tangible

Their policy states: ‘We don't allow listings that aren't offering anything for sale or those that have intangible items (generally things don't physically exist).’



Under ‘listings with no items,’ eBay goes on to say that intangible items are ‘things that people won't be able to use or be able to confirm whether they've received the items.’