It was a story that garnered attention around the world.
The crypt above Marilyn Monroe's had sold for more than $4.6 million on EBay. When it came time to collect, though, the deal fell apart. The winning bidder, from Japan, backed out. But because 11 other bidders had offered at least $4.5 million, certainly one of them would come through.
None did. No one even tried to make a low-ball offer at the $500,000 minimum. "They were all phony balonies," said Elsie Poncher, who was selling the crypt that holds the remains of her husband, Richard.
What made Poncher's crypt at Pierce Bros. Westwood Village Memorial Park even more glamorous was that her husband had bought it decades ago from baseball great Joe DiMaggio, who was divorced from the actress.
Poncher, who wanted to use the proceeds to pay off her mortgage, didn't seem upset by the failed auction.
"You've got to take the good with the bad," she said.
But what happened, according to Poncher's representative, is that although EBay said it was checking the bids to make sure they were legitimate, the company didn't tell him about a more elaborate procedure that could have ferreted out the fake bids.
EBay would not answer questions about the auction.
But Usher Lieberman, a spokesman for the Internet auction company, sent The Times an e-mail last week, saying: "For high-profile auctions such as these, our strong recommendation is that sellers contact EBay prior to listing the item as we can help them establish a process for pre-approving bids."
The e-mail said the company uses this system "to successfully sell high-profile items, including an annual charity fundraiser of a lunch with Warren Buffett, which consistently sells for several million dollars."
Steve Miller, the mortgage broker and banker who represented Poncher, said that option was never offered to them.
Miller listed the crypt on EBay on Aug. 14, starting the bidding at $500,000.
The listing quickly grabbed the attention of EBay officials, and Miller said he received a call from company executives who wanted to verify that he was the person selling it. The EBay representative said she had called the cemetery to ensure that the crypt could be sold.
Miller said she told him that EBay had a service for expensive items that vetted bidders to make sure they could pay for the item. "She was sort of vague," Miller said. "I said, 'Great, I really want that.' "
