Martin Shkreli's Million-Dollar eBay Sale of Rare Wu-Tang Clan Album May Not Happen

The Shkreli saga continues or whatever.

For the latest update to the Shkreli files, let's dive into some admittedly confusing details about the recent alleged sale of that extremely rare Wu-Tang Clan album. While the usual Martin Shkreli-reporting outlets were understandably convinced of the recent eBay sale of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, Wu-Tang affiliate Matt "M-Eighty" Markoff now claims that all is not as it seems.

Markoff, who worked alongside the Wu-Tang team as an A&R rep and in other capacities for more than a decade, toldHipHopDX Wednesday that Shkreli's recent jailing puts the eBay sale in jeopardy. Additionally, the sale itself is reportedly "bogus" anyway. "There is doubt the buyer is a qualified candidate who has the requisite funds, meets sellers' specific deadlines, and is a real candidate versus a friend of the seller who may have intentionally bid up the auction in hopes of reaching a greater sales potential," Markoff said.

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But that's not all. According to Markoff, the winning bid on the eBay auction from Darby Welch of Colorado (for a mere $1,025,100) hasn't been followed by a payment to Shkreli's attorneys. In fact, Markoff had been discussing a bid of his own—which he said Wednesday is the only formal offer Shkreli has received—until Shkreli was jailed. Markoff said he's "70 percent sure" that he'll still end up being the new owner of Shaolin, though he also expressed a dash of doubt.

"Coupled with the fact I was not sent the original purchase docs for review from Martin, and most recently from his counsel who informed me as of yesterday [Sept. 19] that the album is still available for sale, regardless of what eBay dictates, my other fears include the fact that Martin himself noted in the auction that the tangible items that accompany the actual music discs have been slightly damaged," Markoff explained.

View this video on YouTube

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RZA, in an interview with Power 106 Thursday, echoed Markoff's comments about the sale not being finalized. "I'm trying to buy it," RZA revealed at around the 14:22 mark in the video above. "I got legal parameters stopping me, but I'm trying to figure out a way." RZA added that, regardless, the album has served its purpose. "We wanted to bring out the debate: should music be devalued?" 

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