Seattle sells malfunctioning toilets on eBay

Seattle’s five problem-plagued public toilets could be yours if you’re price is right.
City officials decided to pull the plug on the multi million dollar self-cleaning toilet stalls and instead put them on the auction site eBay. Bids start at $89,000 apiece.

Neighbors and city-commissioned analysts said the unisex facilities attracted drug users and prostitutes, and were less cost-effective than regular public restrooms. On May 19 of this year, the City Council voted to remove the toilets. Council President Richard Conlin said although people were using the high-tech, self-cleaning silver stalls, they also fostered illegal behavior, such as prostitution and drug use.

The German-made automatic, high-tech toilets were installed in 2004 and have cost the city about $5 million. Each has hands free washing and drying ability and an emergency button that automatically dials 911. The automated doors on the impact- and graffiti-resistant toilets will close Aug. 1, The auction will last for 10 days.

As of Thursday morning, none of the toilets had received any bids.


You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Leave a Reply