We’ve all been there – you’re feeling under the weather, and your partner just isn’t giving you the sympathy you think you deserve.
But one man took his response to this universal problem to a whole new level.
Simon O’Kane, a 33-year-old telecom engineer from Wakefield, Yorkshire, decided the appropriate response to his wife’s lack of sympathy was to list her for sale on eBay.
Yes, you read that correctly – he put his actual wife up for auction online.
The father-of-two posted a picture of his “long-suffering” wife Leandra alongside an advertisement that treated her like a second-hand vehicle, complete with pros, cons, and current condition.
The Listing That Broke The Internet
The tongue-in-cheek ad detailed her “decent bodywork and skills in the kitchen” while noting she was “not new, has been used but still got some good miles left in her.”
Simon’s full listing read: “For sale one wife. Not new has been used but still got some good miles left in her. Reason for selling* I’ve had my fill and feel like there HAS to be someone me (oh dear God please let there be).”
He didn’t stop there, continuing with: “Good points: Body work and paint work still in decent shape and has some skills in the kitchen.
Bad points: Often makes this noise that cannot be silenced unless you order brand new shiny parts of metal. Sometimes them skills in the kitchen result in you ending up in hospital.”
The motorbike enthusiast concluded with the kicker: “Offers welcome, may consider a part exchange for a younger model. T&Cs: Once bought you cannot return EVER!”
When The Bids Started Rolling In…
Simon posted the listing around 10pm on a Wednesday after claiming Leandra was unsympathetic when he complained about feeling unwell.
Within just two days, the bids for 27-year-old Leandra had skyrocketed to £65,880 (approximately $91,000).
That’s higher than the average price of a Jaguar and tops many BMW and Mercedes models too!
Fellow bikers got in on the joke, asking practical questions about “mileage and upkeep.” Simon reported, “The best one was ‘has she raced or rallied?’
We both liked the guy looking to exchange her for a camel, and the guy trying to work out how much bacon he could get really got us howling.”
How Did Leandra React?
As you might expect, Leandra wasn’t exactly thrilled when she discovered her husband’s prank the next day.
“I was absolutely fuming – I wanted to kill him,” the beauty therapist admitted.
“Everyone at work saw it and were laughing their heads off. Not only did he put me up for sale but he used such a bad photo.”
She defended her lack of sympathy that sparked the listing: “He always moans he’s poorly, he’s a hypochondriac, then he swans off to the gym for three – four hours at a time.
I told him that if he can go to the gym then he doesn’t deserve my sympathy.”
This isn’t Simon’s first rodeo when it comes to pranking his wife. The self-described “big kid at heart” has quite the history of jokes at Leandra’s expense.
“I work away from home quite often and said I’d found her a really nice BMW for sale that I thought she’d like and was going to buy for her,” he recalled.
“She was dead excited about it – then when I sent her picture it was one of a really battered £300 BMW.”
Another time, he told her he’d bought her a luxury Mulberry bag, but it turned out to be “just a bag from down the fruit and veg market.”
Leandra Gets Her Revenge
Despite being the target of Simon’s constant jokes, Leandra has her own ways of getting even. When she visits him at the gym, she enlists his intimidating cage-fighting friends to take her side.
“All his huge cage fighting mates are petrified of little 5ft5 me – they all cower to me, it’s really funny,” she said.
But for this particular prank, Leandra has something more substantial in mind:
“The punishment for this particular prank will be his bank card. I was going to have a new Mulberry bag for Christmas but I’m not waiting until then, I’m going to have it for my birthday in November.”
All’s Well That Ends Well
Despite the listing being taken down by eBay, Simon seems to have no regrets: “I was disappointed the listing was taken down, mainly because I wanted to see how high it would go but it was for a laugh so I wasn’t actually gutted.”
He added, “It wasn’t like I’d actually let someone have her – she’s too good. I’d like to say I’d have spent the cash on my dream garage and a bunch of lads’ holidays out on the bikes, but the reality is I’d have probably spent it on getting her back.”
The couple’s good-natured approach to the viral prank shows their relationship is built on humor.
Simon concluded, “I’m really lucky that she’s such a legend and takes all my pranks on the chin.”