LOS ANGELES - An empty gourmet dog food can plundered from Paris Hilton's trash has launched an eBay bidding war reaching US$1.5 million.
A pair of enterprising scavengers from the website HollywoodStarTrash.com also put three other Hilton items for sale on eBay: a used toothbrush, an autographed postcard and a fan letter to the celebrity heiress. The highest bid for those was $285 offered for the toothbrush. Bidding closes Sunday.
Although the top bidder's eBay profile shows the person has received no complaints from sellers, one of the scavengers said he has asked the website to check on the bid's legitimacy and pull it if it is fake.
"I'm definitely skeptical," said one of the HollywoodStarTrash guys, who declined to give his full name for fear of jeopardizing his day job.
"I'd hate to get that eBay bill and then nobody pays," he laughed.
An eBay spokeswoman who said she would check on the bid did not immediately respond.
At least one person who has found gold in Hilton's trash is Daryl Abrams, president and CEO of Party Animal Inc., the West Hollywood business that markets the Party Animal organic gourmet dog food found in Hilton's trash.
"We have received a ton of Internet orders," Abrams said.
"The last 24 hours have been the most amount of orders that we've had."
Party Animal, which goes for as much as $2.99 a can, can be found in about 150 stores in southern California and about 40 in New York City, Abrams said. It can also be purchased through the company's website.
Abrams said Hilton, one of his best customers, buys it by the case.
"They are the most well-taken-care-of dogs," he said of her pets.
