Man Sells Soul to Hell Pizza, Goes to Hell

The TradeMe website is New Zealand's answer to eBay and just like its American counterpart, Kiwis try to buy and sell stuff that is not always in keeping with the rules and regs. Leave it to 24 year young Walter Scott who, according to 3 News, sold his soul for a whopping $5,001 - but not until there were plenty of complaints to the TradeMe website. Hell Pizza, a New Zealand restaurant chain, made the offer which was indeed accepted.

While Walter Scott now sold his soul for $5,001 and will deliver a deed to it to Hell, well Hell Pizza, others have gone this route before him. In 2002 one Adam Burtle of Washington managed to use eBay to sell his soul for $400. USA Today reported that the soul was purchased by a Des Moines, Iowa woman. It appears that there is a distinct inflation in the soul selling business.

All kidding aside, even though the above are examples of bored computer geeks half in jest and half with an eye on the money trying to sell their souls - something which they neither understand nor value at that time - to the highest bidder, there are also news of a different kind of soul deal on the Internet.

There is the heartbreaking story of Todd Beezley who believed that he sold his soul as a child in return for a healed leg. The 700 Club reports that another child promised his leg which would have had to be amputated would be healed if he joined the devil's club. Upon so doing, Beezley's life spun out of control in a near self-fulfilling prophecy.

Throughout history there are allegations of artists and others selling their souls to the devil for fiscal gain. Niccolò Paganini, perhaps one of the most versatile and gifted violin virtuosos then and now was rumored in the early 1820s to have sold his soul to the devil because of his stunning abilities. It is now surmised that his extraordinary finger length, potentially brought on by Marfan's syndrome, is to blame or credit for his skill.

At the root of the Faustian bargain may have been Johann Georg Faust who may have been the inspiration for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Doctor Faustus. Engaging in the practices of astrology and alchemy, it was only a matter of time before he would be rumored to have sold his soul to perform some of his tricks.
Currently there is an eHow guide that teaches you how to sell your soul, without receiving any money, to the devil himself. If you want to make money off the deal, eBay and TradeMe have already caught on and banned soul selling; I don't know if New Zealand's Hell Pizza is still in the market for any more souls, but you might try some other places instead: there is Hell, Michigan, or Norway, where it is part of Stjørdal.

One word of warning: all sales are final!

Sources:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/
http://www.3news.co.nz/News/HellPizzabuysmanssoul/tabid/209/articleID/61796/Default.aspx?ArticleID=61796
https://www.hell.co.nz/chooseCity.jsp
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2001-02-09-ebay-soul.htm
http://www.cbn.com/700club/features/amazing/salvation_todd_beezley.aspx
http://www.ehow.com/how_110916_sell-soul-devil.html
http://www.hell-mi.com/
http://www.stjordal.kommune.no/