Woodworking that REALLY pays

It was obviously a simple typo. But, oh, what a typo. Would you pay $130,868 for a mass-produced pine bench? Although obviously a typographical error, the Amazon.com listing for the…

It was obviously a simple typo. But, oh, what a typo.

Would you pay $130,868 for a mass-produced pine bench? Although obviously a typographical error, the Amazon.com listing for the "Sand Castle Storage Bench - Sunny Pine" did indeed list it at that price. The piece – part of a seven-piece set of furniture designed for a child's bedroom – is a simple bench with bun feet, open at the front. Nice, but I suspect I could find it cheaper elsewhere.

The best part about the listing was the comments, some which I'll share here.

"I thought this bench was going to get me some ladies… being that it's $130,000+. But I'm still single and now broke."

"I needed this to complete my child's play room, but Visa wouldn't approve the charge. What kind of half-wits work at Visa?"

"Good price for me. I use it to store my mounds of extra cash. I fit about $1.45 million in here in 5's and 10's, and then it smells like pine, which is awesome."

"Great price, but the version with the doors is much better. The difference is only $90,000."

"For a little less than $131,000, you can't go wrong with this bench. Not only can you use it to store your millions, but you can also use it for toys."

"The only negative was the $27 shipping."

They've since corrected the price to $79.99, but interestingly all the original comments are still there if you'd like to read them all (just put the full product name I listed above in the Amazon search box). Plus, they have yet to correct one of the Amazon "Add to Cart" buttons on the right side of the screen, which will still allow you to buy it for $130,868. Fortunately, though, if you do add it to your cart the shipping has come down to only $21.55.

I wish them luck. At that price, they only have to sell one.

Till next time,

A.J.

 A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.