Chinese man buys Volkswagen online for $14, seller says no

With just 116 yuan ($14), a Shanghai office worker Han Bin could be the proud owner of a second-hand Volkswagen Passat, if he wins a court battle against the car’s disbelieving seller. Han, 20, put in his ridiculously low bid for the car when it was offered over a leading Chinese auction Web site, EachNet.com.

By the deadline, no one else had bid and a jubilant Han received confirmation from the site that he had been successful. Yongda Automobile Sales Co, the hapless company that put the vehicle up for auction, tried to block the transaction but Han, took his case to a Shanghai district court, a Yongda executive said.

‘‘It’s unbelievable. We’re trying to find out how this could have happened,’’ said Zhu Baocheng, a Yongda marketing executive.

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‘‘We’ve tried to talk to Han, but he’s been very stubborn. Most people in his situation would be stubborn,’’ he conceded.

A second-hand Passat usually sells for about 100,000 yuan ($12,000), the executive added. Zhu said Yongda was pondering a variety of reasons for the low-price sale, from human error to a system flaw.

EachNet’s chief executive Shao Yibo said he did not know the details of the case. China’s largest online auction platform, EachNet is 33-per cent-owned by US auction site eBay.