Five things you didn’t know you could buy online

It’s so easy to order online these days that we often take the wonders of the internet for granted. However, though you might think you’ve seen it all, you may well be surprised by some of the more obscure items you can access at the click of a button.

A human skull

We aren’t saying we recommend buying this particular item but rest assured, at specialised anatomy sites you can purchase your very own, authentic human skull. Maybe you are so method that your adaptation of Hamlet simply wouldn’t be immersive enough without a real-life prop. Maybe you have a fascination for the morbid and you want to ramp your Halloween celebrations up to the next level. Or maybe you’re a doctor and they’d come in handy for your medical demonstrations. Whatever the function, you can get them shipped to your door without leaving the house. 

A jetpack

Flying might not be affordable, but it will soon be accessible if you’ve got around £100,000 to spare. Though they can currently only be ordered for specialist/commercial purposes, Martin Jetpacks are hoping to be offering private/recreational products by 2020, meaning you will be able to live the James Bond dream with your very own flying machine. It might be a slightly more turbulent learning curve, though, then that of the suave Hollywood agent.

Weed

Admittedly, it’s still not on the cards in this country, but now that Canada has legalised cannabis, the North American nation now has the option to buy weed online. All sorts of mail order items are available, from edibles and recreational cannabis to products for medicinal use. This new online market will most likely revolutionise the way that weed is consumed, and though making the substance more accessible is undoubtedly controversial, it will also lead to greater quality control, tighter regulations and better access to specialist health products.

Nothing

If you are fond of a joke and have even more money to throw away, then you could consider buying your friend their very own “Gift of Nothing”. Marketed at “the person who has everything” (ha ha), this non-product could certainly be a talking point for environmentalists, given that it’s 100% excess packaging and carries a completely unjustified carbon footprint. Worth the joke? Most certainly not, but it is perhaps a good reminder that just because we can buy things, it doesn’t mean we should. In this case, less is not more. 

A dud phone

On the line of seemingly useless purchases, you can also buy yourself a fake phone. The NoPhone is shaped and weighted to feel the part, but there’s one main difference: it doesn’t do anything. Designed to act as a “surrogate to any smart mobile device”, the faux phone is supposed to give the user a “technology-free alternative to constant hand-to-phone contact”. It might be laughable initially, but actually, this product could be the answer to the global smartphone obsession which is becoming an increasing problem among the millennial generation. Think of it as a nicotine patch for mobile addicts. 

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Photo: Courtesy of Martin Jetpack