(7 April 2014) A 500 kilograms heavy, 1.9 by 3 metres big painting made out of chocolate is currently being auctioned off on South African marketplace www.bobshop.co.za. The auction ends on 13 April and the starting bid is R30,000.

The edible chocolate painting, probably the largest in the world, was created by the chef Nicolas van der Walt and a group of students from his FBI Chef School for the SA Sweet & Snack Expo, and will be exhibited in the Coca Cola Dome, Johannesburg, from 11 to 13 April. About 200 kilograms of chocolate, 150 kilograms of glucose, three litres of food colorants and several weeks of moulding, carving, painting, air-brushing and dry-brushing went into the making of the cake. The ten centimetres thick product, set in an iron frame, can be eaten within two weeks – or hung on a wall and enjoyed as a decoration for years.

The proceeds from the Bob Shop auction will be used to fund the scholarship costs for one or more less-privileged students at the FBI Chef School.

“This is just one of unusual auctions that we see from time to time”, says Bob Shop CEO Jaco Jonker. “Our platform is so flexible that it can accommodate a practically unlimited variety of products”.

Among the unusual items that have been auctioned off on the site are the vest worn by Justin Bieber on his 2013 Cape Town concert; a series of simultaneous chess games with Garry Kasparov in 2011; and, back in 2000, several plastic surgery procedures.

The site has also seen several gimmicky listings, auctioning off a “guilty conscience reliever” or an “air guitar”.

Some auctions, deemed unsuitable, were closed by Bob Shop shortly after the sellers uploaded them onto the site. Among the offending listings, one featured toilet paper with the image of one controversial politician, while in another one citizen offered to sell his vote for the 2009 elections to the highest bidder.

However, “the unusuals” are just the spicy tip of the iceberg.

“On average, every minute about three items are bought on Bob Shop, and the great majority of them are everyday items of mass consumption such as jewellery, watches, kitchen appliances, high-tech gadgets, and similar, with collectibles such as rare coins, stamps and antiques holding their own in such competition”, says Bob Shop Jaco Jonker and adds: “Although unusual items are by definition an exception, they go to show that our platform provides an easy sales channel for unusual items that the seller might otherwise find too expensive, or difficult, to sell by other means. As a matter of fact, one can sell absolutely anything on Bob Shop, as long as it’s not illegal or offensive.”