Man Bags 2-Bedroom Flat For Just Rs 155 During China's 'Black Friday' Sale

A shopper in China has bought a two-bedroom flat for just 11 yuan (around Rs 155) during the country's annual Double 11 shopping festival. The unusual deal took place through an online auction on Alibaba Auction, attracting more than 1,600 bidders. The 68-square-metre apartment is located on the seventh floor of a residential building in Heilongjiang province in northeast China. The auction opened with a starting price of one yuan, with bids increasing in increments of 0.01 yuan and a maximum limit of 11 yuan, South China Morning Post reported. 

According to platform records, 1,677 bidders participated in the auction, placing a total of 1,001 bids before it closed on November 5. The winning bidder, an anonymous buyer from eastern China's Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, secured the apartment by being the first to place the maximum bid of 11 yuan.

Both the purchase amount and the platform's transaction fees have reportedly been paid. However, the buyer will have to pay around 2,000 yuan (approximately $300) in statutory deed taxes to complete the property transfer.

Speaking during an auction livestream, the buyer said he had no plans to relocate to Heilongjiang. Instead, he intends to use the apartment as an occasional holiday home during winter trips.

The deal was part of an Alibaba Auction promotion for the Double 11 shopping festival, China's equivalent of Black Friday. An auction agency manager told Fengmian News that the platform had subsidised the difference between the actual property value and the promotional selling price.

Local property apps estimate the apartment's market value at around 40,000 yuan. Resale properties in the same residential complex are reportedly priced at an average of 2,700 yuan per square metre.

The unusual purchase has triggered discussions on Chinese social media, with some users surprised by the deal. However, legal experts have warned prospective buyers against rushing into extremely cheap property auctions.

Wang Yuchen, a lawyer at Beijing Jinsu Law Firm, said such properties could come with hidden complications, including unclear ownership documents, unpaid taxes, outstanding maintenance fees and expensive legal disputes.

The Double 11 shopping festival was launched by Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao in 2009 and has since grown into one of the world's biggest online shopping events. Often compared to Black Friday, the month-long sale runs through mid-November. It reportedly generated more than 1.6 trillion yuan (around $240 billion) in online gross merchandise value last year.

This is not the first time an unusually cheap property deal has attracted attention in China. In November 2024, a woman bought a 40-square-metre seaside apartment in Weihai, Shandong province, for 11 yuan at an auction. The property was estimated to be worth less than 50,000 yuan.

Industry insiders said such heavily discounted auctions are often designed to generate publicity and attract potential buyers ahead of future property sales.