Sprite bottle of bankrupt Chinese millionaire auctioned, netizens say ’waste of resources’

Bankrupt millionaires in India often tend to get with their ways, but not in China. In southeastern China's Dafeng District People's Court, an item owned by a bankrupt millionaire was posted online for auction and this has become a matter of debate for the people in the region.

According to a report by Yangtse Evening Post, a Dafeng District People's Court in Yancheng, Jiangsu province posted the soft drink Sprite bottle of the bankrupt millionaire for auction.

The report added that the bankrupt millionaire was associated with two companies that were registered capital of five million yuan (US$713,000) and US$1.725 million, respectively, but both declared bankruptcy, leaving no significant assets.

To recover the amount, the court auctioned the bottle of sprite with a starting bid of 4.2 yuan, increasing in increments of 0.08 yuan. A bottle of Sprite typically costs 6 yuan in China.

Though the auction was withdrawn later from the judicial auction platform after several questions were raised, it attracted significant attention among the citizens, with 366 people registering to bid and 652 setting reminders.

How netizens reacted:

South China Morning Post reported that social media users, as the case garnered attention, also asked for the use of judicial resources. Some even called this auction as wasting resources, while others found it ridiculous.

One commented, “This auction is just wasting resources.”

Another said, "This is so ridiculous. I bet Sprite itself never imagined it would be auctioned one day."

A third person commented as NDTV quoted, "This will fail to sell. Even when you add the bus tickets, which are 4 yuan round trip, to the auction price of 4.2 yuan, the total comes to 8.2 yuan. However, you can buy it at the market for just 6 yuan. Unless someone from the court decides to buy it themselves."