Power tools, MP3 players and tacky Christmas presents maybe, but selling your intelligence on eBay? That's taking online auctions to a whole new level.
But desperate times call for desperate measures, at least for students at the University of Bath who, for the bargain price of just £250 (plus £1 postage), have offered their brains for sale.
A group of five final-year students at Bath are studying a degree in business administration. The four-year course requires them to do a wide range of businesses courses, including a six-month internship and even some time abroad.
While most final-year students do a dissertation, the students at Bath do a final-year project, which is usually a 35,000-word research report for a sponsor, usually a company like IBM Coca-Cola or Motorola. But these students have hit a hurdle - they can't find a company who wants their services.
So, alongside the baby clothes, mobile phones and out-of-print books on eBay are the students' brains. All five of them.
This is their sales pitch: "Enthusiasm, dynamism and commitment combined with a fresh perspective and a determination to deliver the best results - that is what we can offer your company. We all have outstanding academic records, but more importantly we possess 'hands-on' experience of working in demanding, fast-paced competitive global business environments."
They will accept the usual payment methods-PayPal and credit cards- but with the auction clock ticking, that may not be an issue. No one has made a bid yet. So where will this leave the students?
It seems hard to believe that their final-year project is in jeopardy because not a single company in the UK could do with their research help.
