Seattletimes.com:

City officials have finally gotten rid of five high-tech self-cleaning toilets that cost Seattle $5 million but sold online for just $12,549.

Four years ago the city installed the modernistic stand-alone toilets in a hope they’d provide tourists and the homeless a place to do their business downtown. But the automated loos became better known for drug use and prostitution than for relief.

Neighbors and city-commissioned analysts said they were less cost-effective than regular public restrooms, and in May, the City Council voted to sell them on eBay.

After a failed first attempt, where a $89,000 minimum failed to attract a single bid, the city revised its strategy in a hopes of sparking a bidding free for all.

But despite more than 9,000 combined page views, only 148 bids were cast.

One of the five toilets, which currently graces the downtown waterfront, sold for $4,899, but the average sake was just over $2,510.

Here’s the link to one of the auctions which has ended, and with lots of pictures.

Continue reading: High-tech Self-cleaning Toilets Cost Seattle $5 Million