12-03-2025
5 Most Expensive, Seemingly Useless Things
Today, there are few items money can't buy. With cutting-edge technology and extravagant innovations just a click away, the possibilities for spending obscene amounts of money on over-the-top purchases are endless. From fast food to a ripe banana, here are five of the most outrageously impractical purchases people have made over the years.
Also for the average person, here are ways you are spending frivolously, according to Suze Orman.
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Price: $100,000
While a four-piece order of McNuggets costs only $2.99 (or a mere 75 cents per nugget), one particular nugget sold for a jaw-dropping six-figure sum.
'In 2021, someone paid nearly $100,000 for a McDonald's Chicken McNugget that was offered on eBay with a 99-cent opening bid,' said Nora Curl, fine art and antiques expert and accredited appraiser for 'The Chicken McNugget was part of a promotional package with BTS, the Korean pop band and resembled a character from a video game called 'Among Us.''
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Price: $6.24 Million
Fine art often commands sky-high prices, but when the art piece consists of a ripe banana duct-taped to a wall, its artistic merit — and price tag — becomes hard to justify.
'In 2019, the talented and witty conceptual artist, Maurizio Catalan, shook the art world by duct-taping a ripe banana to a wall during the annual Art Basel Fair in Miami,' Curl said. 'The art piece is entitled 'Comedian' and it obviously requires replacing the banana each time before it rots to mush. In 2024 a Chinese cryptocurrency founder bought the rights to 'Comedian' at a Sotheby's auction for $6.24 million.'
Just DIY this masterpiece at home and save yourself over six million dollars.
Price: $143 Million
If you have money burning a multimillion-dollar hole in your pocket, rest assured — you can spend it on a 70-year-old car. Whether or not the vehicle runs is beside the point.
'It is almost common knowledge that a new car purchase will immediately lose value once the owner drives it off the lot,' Curl said. 'However, that is not the case for a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe, one of only two made, that sold for $143 Million at a private, invite-only auction conducted by Sotheby's in 2022.'
Price: $450.3 million
While Leonardo da Vinci's works already come with premium prices, the 'Salvador Mundi' shattered records with an almost unimaginable price tag–despite the paintings' unconfirmed authenticity.
'Original paintings by Old Masters and Blue Chip artists frequently hammer down at auction for 7 figures and up,' Curl said. 'The highest, to date, is the 2017 purchase of 'Salvador Mundi,' by Leonardo da Vinci, for $450.3 Million at Christie's. The kicker, though, is the authenticity of the work, actually having been painted by da Vinci, which remains in question.'
Price: $12.6 million
Jerseys, posers and signed balls are among the most valuable sports collectibles. While they serve little purpose beyond bragging rights, for deep-pocketed sports fanatics, a $12.6 million baseball card is money well spent.
'Collecting sports memorabilia is a sport in itself. The bigger the fan with coffers to afford Holy Grail items, the more seemingly frivolous the purchases,' Curl said. 'The highest price paid, thus far, for a sports card is $12.6 Million, in 2022, for a 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle baseball card, graded 9.5 Mint+.'
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This article originally appeared on 5 Most Expensive, Seemingly Useless Things
