A 'phallic' carrot is expected to fetch a healthy sum in a Trade Me auction this week, but prospective bidders should be warned - name your price before it goes soft.
It's all for a good cause, with the Porirua-based seller promising the proceeds will be donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
After pulling the phallic carrot from their garden last week, the seller said they knew they had to use the root vegetable "for good".
"The funds from the sale of this carrot will go to prostate cancer research. Please bid before this carrot goes soft (happens with age apparently)," the seller said in the listing's description box.
"It's hard to part with this but when I pulled it from the garden I knew I had better share it and use [it] for good."
At the time of writing, the highest bid is sitting at $200 and the listing - which has been viewed more than 121,600 times - has been watchlisted by 776 users. Twenty-eight people have bid on the carrot to date, with the auction set to close shortly after 2pm on Tuesday.
The fruity veg has attracted some cheeky banter in the listing's question-and-answer section, with several people wondering what constitutes its "used" condition.
"It has done the work of me feeding the tops to my bunnies and making me snort laugh in the kitchen when I realised the shape," the seller clarified, adding: "Used to make me smile, it is hygienically stored in my fridge veggie drawer."
"Why had the bottom round part turned blue? Seems like it needs attention," one user quipped, with the seller replying: "I think I waited too long between extracting it and placing it in the veggie drawer, causing some organic frustration which maybe a massage would relieve."
"Impressive, but nothing like the real thing," another deadpanned, to which the seller responded: "Yes, but this will help you see in the dark and is high in vitamin C."
In a comment, the seller explained why the charity is close to their heart, with their father passing away from prostate cancer in the UK last year.
"I lost my dad to this in the UK last year and wasn't able to see him before he passed, it's an awful illness," they said.
"If you win I can send the carrot with a selection of other veggies from my garden if that helps."
In an update to the listing, the seller said the lucky winner will receive a bonus gift - an additional carrot with a similarly penis-like shape, "which is certainly not for the faint-hearted".
"What the heck is going on in my veggie plot, I'm too scared to look at my eggplants," they joked.
Speaking to Newshub, Trade Me spokesperson Ruby Topzand said the auctioneering platform loves to see members "have fun with their listings and make the ordinary extraordinary".
"This is the sort of listing that Trade Me members gravitate to - it's fun, unusual and there's a massive amount of tongue-in-cheek. It's not for everyone, but we reckon the vast majority of Kiwis think it's a good laugh, and will love that a charity is going to benefit from this unusual harvest," Topzand said.
"We knew Trade Me users would love it because the seller is having a laugh but also doing something really cool for charity. We expect to see a lot more interest and plenty more bids before it closes on Tuesday afternoon."
Kiwis have a history of raising money for prostate cancer by selling phallic vegetables on Trade Me. In 2016, an 'Erotic Eggplant' went for $115 and amassed around 57,000 views, and in 2019, a phallic-shaped kumara raised $245 for the cause after fetching 88,000 views.
"We will, of course, waive all the fees on this listing to make sure every dollar goes to charity," she added.
