The term “unusual” is defined as: rarely occurring or appearing; not usual or ordinary; deviating from the customary; far beyond what is usual, normal, or customary.

Despite the clarity of the above definition, it so happens that many items of mass production (some, admittedly, a little quirky) somehow always find their way into the bidorbuy Un§usual section. Among other thing, you can find there: how-to and DIY CDs and DVDs; kitchen appliances; key chains; lighters; sea shells; tools; party outfits; knitting wool and knitting needles; brushes and combs… Now, what is so unusual about those items? And would not they fare better in their proper categories, where shoppers would be more likely to search for them?

Still, a quick look through 21 pages in the bidorbuy Unusual category did reveal several truly unusual items.

For example:

A fearsome and fiercely beautiful full mount leopard. The listing attracted a decent number of visitors, though so far only one was ready to meet the seller’s opening bid of R10,500.

A very scary crocodile skull. This one is still awaiting its first bidder, someone who is ready to offer… How much exactly? The starting bid is R10,800, but there is a reserve price too.  In case you find this mystifying or even off-putting, find the explanation here. In short, one of  bidorbuy rules says that the starting bid amount cannot be less than 80 percent of the reserve price. Do your maths and you’ll discover the seller’s acceptable minimum price.

Chicken biltong. Now, why is that unusual? Well, a search of the South African-based World Wide Web reveals about 543,000 results for the term “biltong” and only 230 results for the term “chicken biltong”. Surely that justifies the classification of chicken biltong as unusual! (Besides, we like the image.)

35 years old can of fresh air from Kariba. Hmm… All right, this is unusual, but one has to wonder: can the seller guarantee that the air is still fresh, after 35 years?