If an earlier eBay auction of an Xbox 360 purported to have been autographed by Sara Palin was too rich for your blood another Microsoft console owned by a female politician is now up for sale on the auction website.

The 360 in question was actually a key component in the resignation of ex-Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon (D), who was charged with taking gift cards intended for charity and using them to buy videogame systems for her family. Dixon resigned in January of this year.

The listing/delisting saga of the purported Sara Palin-autographed Xbox 360 continues as the scribed console has reappeared on eBay once again after another brief disappearance.

As noted previously, following about a month-long hiatus, the 360 was relisted on the auction site after the seller, David Morrill, made a few concessions in the listing and altered the payment method. According to the item’s listing history, eBay delisted the console again on October 5 because “listings with the apparent, primary purpose of expressing the seller's personal views are not permitted.” Morrill took down the story of how he acquired the ex-VP candidate’s autograph in order to comply with eBay’s policy.

eBay also told the seller that a second reason for the recent delisting was a miscategorization of the item. Morrill had the item listed under Collectibles > Pinbacks, Bobbles, Lunchboxes > Pinbacks > Campaigns, Elections, Politics, but eBay stated that the 360 was not actually any of the previously listed items. Morrill moved the item to Collectibles > Autographs > Political > Other. Morrill now feels that “all listing requirements have been met.”

The price remains the same—$1.1 million U.S.

Thanks to GP reader Phillip for the heads up.

The perfect holiday present for the Republican in your life is only a few clicks and $1.1 million dollars away as an Xbox 360 signed by former Vice-Presidential candidate Sara Palin has made its way back on to Ebay.

The marked console first appeared on Ebay in early August, and was delisted soon after for (then) unknown reasons, though there was speculation that Palin’s first name was misspelled in her signature, lending an air of illegitimacy to the auction.

Reappearing at the original price of $1.1 million, the 360’s seller, David Morrill, stated in the auction listing that the original auction was pulled due to “Insufficient description of the item or no photos of the item,” and because “Pay Pal is unable to process a payment of this size.” He remedied the first issue by uploading additional pictures and information and tackled the second problem by using another payment processor.

Thanks to the multiple GP readers who sent this in.
 

Recently, GamePolitics reported on a million dollar Ebay listing for an Xbox 360 supposedly autographed by former Alasksa Governor Sarah Palin.

Canadian David Morrill told the Anchorage Daily News that he obtained the signature from Palin at a picnic event earlier in the summer. The auction was quickly removed by Ebay, however, with no explanation forthcoming.

Not long after, a second auction which advertised a "replica" of the original Palin 360 appeared. That listing, clearly a parody, also has been removed.

Now, David Sheets, who blogs about games for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has a theory as to why the original listing was taken down. Sheets believes that Palin's first name is misspelled:

Game Guy thinks he knows why the bid was yanked. If you look closely at the signature, former Gov. Palin’s first name appears to lack the final “h.” Last he heard, she spelled her first name “Sarah,” not “Sara.” Even Alaska’s official website spells it with an “h.”

And hey, you can’t ask for a cool $1.1 million for a signed Xbox if the signee can’t spell her name correctly.

GP: I'm no handwriting expert, but I'm not so sure that I buy into Sheets's theory. For one thing, the ex-Guv's purported autograph tails off after the "r" in "Sarah," as if she (or whoever wrote it) was signing hastily. So the missing "h" is not all that farfetched. Beyond that, the authenticity of high-priced autographs is always an issue, which may have prompted the Ebay removal.