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At least three of these Acura handouts are on eBay.
Update: 11 a.m., Tuesday: A new eBay listing describes an item as "rare," which isn't how automotive journalists describe an Acura press kit handed out by the dozens at Cobo Center. One recipient who got it Monday during the auto show media preview leaves the shrink wrap intact and offers it for a $99.99 opening bid or a $199.99 "Buy It Now" price.
Acura media giveaways are a hot collectible item because they include a scale-model NSX vehicle (right). A seller named Rick from Ohio started at a more restrained $25, which rose to $81 after 23 bids). A Birmingham listing proposes a $20 opening bid or $85 purchase price.
Another listing for North American International Auto Show swag is for an electronic media kit from Mopar, cleverly distributed as a memory stick inside a miniature wrench (below left). A Porsche press kit with memory stick has an $8.99 opening bid.
Mopar's memory stick withproduct information for automotive journalists flew from Cobo to eBay in a day.
Original article, Monday afternoon:
Well, this didn't take long: Detroit's auto show preview week is barely half a day old and a few giveaways already are up for bids online.
Greed is fast, to recast Gordon Gecko's line.
An early front-runner for this year's Chutzpah Champ is an eBay member in Harrisburg, Pa., who goes by "michiles." He or she wants $250 for a pair of industry preview passes given to automakers, suppliers, service vendors and other insiders. They'd let a Buy-It-Now purchaser and guest get overnight delivery of tickets to enter Cobo this Wednesday or Thursday, instead of paying $13 each to get in Saturday. (We don't get it either.)
As happens in the middle of each January, the auction site also has other listings of Cobo collectibles that media preview guests try to turn into cash.
Among them is an Alfa Romeo Spyder 4C press kit listed by a Livonia seller who touts it shamelessly: "Available exclusively to members of the press, this is the Alpha Romeo press kit they just gave out. Contains flash card."
Another auction offers a blue 2015 North American International Auto Show logo lapel pin for a $9.99 bid or $19.99 purchase.
Dozens of carmakers' brochures also are listed as having a Detroit show tie-in, though photos suggest they're the same new model handouts stacked at every dealership.
After media preview attendees take care of other business by Monday night, the number of show souvenirs up for sale is likely to rise notably, if past patterns hold. This report will be updated.
Full-time journalists for newspapers, magazines. wire services and mainstream websites are not believed to peddlie swag -- a career-endangering ethics violation. But for some freelancers or bloggers whose fees may just slightly exceed Detroit visit costs, selling handouts reportedly can be tempting, a few media showgoers have commented privately.
Previous years' coverage at Deadline:
Quick Flip: Auto Show Media Swag Is For Sale On eBay Within Hours, Jan. 14, 2014
Corvette Stingray Press Kit, an Auto Show Giveaway, Fetches $500 on eBay, Jan. 17, 2013
