"12 Days of Christmas" for $75,000? Not on eBay

While the average shopper will spend hundreds of dollars on gifts this year, a bank in Pittsburgh says it'll cost almost $19,000 to buy each item just once from "The 12 Days of Christmas" song. And the big spenders who buy all 364 items from the song's verses will fork over $75,122, a 3.5 increase from last year. Apparently, wages for skilled workers like dancers, leapers, drummers and pipers have gone up.

But before you starting a buying frenzy, first consider having to deal with all that stuff. Partridge, dove and bird cages everywhere, all that racket from the drummers and pipers, and lords and ladies leaping and dancing, respectively. And don’t even start with the geese, swans and hens, and what they leave in their collective wake. Perhaps the eight maids a-milking could be redeployed.

There is a better way, people – and it’ll save you a bundle. Try buying the 12 Days of Christmas on eBay. To make this a glorious, yet practical, exercise, we turned to tree decorations representing the 12 Days, locating the highest priced ornaments sold on eBay over the past two weeks.

The 12 items total cost was $2757 (excluding shipping costs), with the highest priced ornament – a dazzling Seven Swans A-Swimming centerpiece bowl from Fritz & Floyd – selling for $611. That was followed by an eye-catching Christopher Radko Partridge in a Pear Tree ornament for $500 and a crystal Swarovski Amour ornament for $425. And finally, 12 Drummers Drumming is represented through a very cool Jerry Garcia original watercolor limited edition Iris print for $305, pictured. (ok, hanging a print on the tree is terrible feng shui but way better than picking up after six geese a-laying).

9 Out Of 10 Americans Say Oprah Got The Shaft

NEW YORK (Flashnews.com) – Since Tom Cruise jumped on Oprah Winfrey’s couch, you’d think he’d invite her to his wedding

Well, he didn’t and that has a lot of Americans in a tizzy.

According to a survey by In Touch Weekly, 89 percent think Cruise and Katie Holmes should have asked the Big O to their wedding in Italy and only 11 percent think she didn’t need to be on the guest list.

But the scandal known as “Oprah-gate” isn’t the only thing on the minds of celebrity-worshippers.

In fact, 59 percent think Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie need to settle down and stop taking their kids to every third world country under the sun.

36 percent don’t believe Emmitt Smith deserved to win Dancing With The Stars over Mario Lopez.

52 percent still say Pierce Brosnan is the sexiest James Bond but 13 percent have the hots for new Bond Daniel Craig (pictured).

Finally, 2 percent of Americans are convinced that Kevin Federline hasn’t used up all of his 15 minutes of fame just yet.

Scents & Cents-ability

What is with all these celebrity fragrances? JLo, Paris, Britney, Jessica, SJP, Hilary Duff and Danielle Steel, among others, all have nosed their way into the perfume game after getting a whiff of the business opportunity. So just how well are these scents selling on eBay and turning scents into cents for eBay sellers? Here’s a quick celebrity fragrance snapshot, based on sales over the last 30 days, according to eBay Marketplace Research:

Britney Spear’s fragrance lines, led by “Curious” and “Fantasy,” have been the hottest sellers of the celebrity set with over 2,300 units moving off virtual shelves over the last month, each item averaging just under $20. However, “Curious” has only brought $11.65 per bottle. One would think, in light of current events, a lemon-scented fragrance from Brit would do well.

Not far behind is Jessica Simpson’s “Dessert” line (pictured). Nearly 2,200 bottles of her perfume have sold, and while less than Brit's line, Jessica's items are commanding a slightly higher price of $22.50.

Despite slower than average sales for Sarah Jessica Parker’s “Lovely” (just over 1,100 items sold), at $24 per bottle, her scent is attracting the highest price of the named celebs, indeed lovely for sellers.

JLo’s three lines – “Still,” “Glow” and “Live” – as well as Paris Hilton’s “Just Me” (why is that name not surprising?) all saw strong sales in late October, but have tapered off throughout November. Both JLo’s and Paris’ fragrances have sold similar volumes (about 1,400 units each) and at a similar average prices ($17 per unit). One standout in the JLo line has been “Live,” (pictured, below) which is netting $23 per bottle.

All this said, by comparison over the last month, the lingering hint of celebrity smell still lags more established scents, such as the Victoria’s Secret (8,700 sold) and Estee Lauder (7,500 sold).

St. Elmo's (on) Fire

You’ve got to hand it to Tickle Me Elmo. The little guy has reinvented himself more times than Madonna, and today, his latest iteration – Elmo TMX – stands as the most searched term on eBay. In fact, Elmo TMX (No. 1) and Tickle Me Elmo (No. 4) trump “iPod Nano,” “PS3,” and even “Star Wars.” And to keep pace with the Material Girl, stay tuned for next year’s version: Adoption Elmo. Pictured: Potty with Me Elmo, circa 2004.

Hottest Ticket in Town...

And no, we're not talking about closing night of Bob Dylan's Broadway musical, "The Times They Are A-Changin." We're talkin' college football, and this year's Game of the Century happens on Saturday. No. 2 Michigan visits No. 1 Ohio State, with the winner in the bitter rivalry headed to the BCS Championship Game on Jan. 8. But by the looks of the average ticket prices, you’d think this was the Championship Game. A set of four tickets, 4^th row, 50- yard line, fetched $6,100. Think of all the Nintendo Wii’s you could buy with all the dough.

Overall, the average price per listing (not per ticket) is just over $1,000 this week. Interestingly though, the real jump occurred around the third week of October as Michigan slid into its current No. 2 slot in the polls, behind OSU. As everyone pulled out their pocket schedules and took note of the Nov. 18 head-knocker, sales jumped 100% during the last week of October. Thank God for pocket schedules. Oh, why not? Here’s an eBay Pop prediction: Michigan 31, Ohio State 28

Jeanne Wolf’s Hollywood: Celebrity Advance Items From Movies.Com

HOLLYWOOD (Flashnews.com) – Daniel Craig knew when he was cast as James Bond in the new flick, Casino Royale, that he’d have to say, “The name is Bond, James Bond,” but he tried to avoid it until the last possible moment. According to Jeanne Wolf, Craig avoided practicing the immortal line in front of a mirror because he didn’t want to “hex it.” As he puts it: “I realized those words had to feel just part of another day of shooting. I didn’t want to make them so important that when it came to saying them, I’d get nervous.”

More Hollywood News:

• Russell Crowe reunited with Gladiator director Ridley Scott for the new romantic comedy, A Good Year, and he says the two of them often talk about doing a sequel to the Roman drama. He tells Jeanne Wolf that he wants to do the Gladiator sequel but admits, “We did kind of make it tricky for ourselves, considering we killed the character at the end of the first one. But there’s been stranger things happen out of Hollywood.”
• Eva Longoria is no dog but she felt like one while filming an intense scene with Christian Bale in the new drama, Harsh Times. She tells Jeanne Wolf: “He is really tall and large and I’m tiny. I thought, ‘Here I am going ‘yap-yap-yapp’ like a chihuahua barking at a mastiff. Christian is yelling at me and I am yelling back at him so close that spit would come out of his mouth.”
• Eva Longoria is happy that she hasn’t been typecast in strictly Latin roles but admits there’s one part she’s desperate to play. She tells Jeanne Wolf: ‘Number one on my dream list would be to play Wonder Woman.”
• Will Ferrell is getting asked lots of questions about what it’s like to star in a serious film like Stranger Than Fiction after being associated with comic roles. However, his co-star in the film, Emma Thompson, thinks his work on Saturday Night Live was actually perfect training. She tells Jeanne Wolf: “Comedy’s your best possible training for acting because acting’s always got to be underpinned with humor. Otherwise, it’s, well, humorless. Will did it effortlessly. It’s really irritating, actually.”

Holiday Party Theme Alert: When Life Hands Britney Spears Lemons, She Should Throw A Party

LOS ANGELES (Flashnews.com) – Britney Spears may have married a lemon in Kevin Federline but that doesn’t mean she has to be a sourpuss during her divorce.

That’s according to a woman who specializes in throwing divorce parties.

Divorce party diva Christine Gallagher is suggesting Spears make the most of a bad thing and throw a lemon-themed party to honor the moment she decided to squeeze out K-Fed from her life.

Gallagher says Spears could celebrate with a lemon-flavored wedding cake featuring a bride and a headless groom on top.

Then, to add to the fun, she can bake the groom’s head into the cake and whoever eats it wins some lemon-scented lotion as a prize.

Spears can also ease her mind with a ritual wedding dress burning or by hiring a male stripper to dance to some of her tunes.

However, Gallagher says Spears should make it clear to her gal pals to leave their boyfriends at home because “no one likes to be reminded about how happy others are – especially when they are going through a divorce.”

For those so inclined to turn lemons into lemonade, check out these fun related items on eBay: lemon cake, lemonade health & beauty secrets, and of course, Dr. Phil books.

Bryant No. 24 Jerseys Jumping

The "retiring" of Kobe Bryant's No. 8 Los Angeles Lakers jersey has sparked sales in his next edition: No. 24. Overall, Bryant jerseys have been on a steady climb since late summer, and as the season began Oct. 31, No. 24 Bryant jerseys have hopped 22% from the previous week. The 100 that have sold since Halloween are fetching an average of $33 a piece, compared to just $19 for sluggish selling No. 8 jerseys.

So what's behind this jersey change? Well, apparently Kobe used to wear No. 24 in during his high school playing days, but in 1996, while still playing HS ball, he switched to No. 33, the same number as his father, Joe "Jelly Bean" Bryant wore in high school. With the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's No. 33 already retired, it ruled out that jersey number for Bryant as he joined the Lakers.

Reportedly, Bryant decided on No. 8 for a couple of reasons. First, it was the number he wore when he was a kid playing in Italy, and second (get your CPA for this one), he wore No. 143 at Adidas' ABCD Camp, and when you add up the numbers (1+4+3), you get 8.