Viral video: Saudi chilli pepper box fetches more than Dh4,400

Cairo: A box of famed chili peppers was recently auctioned off for charity in Saudi Arabia, according to a social media video.

The product was grown in Shaqra, around 190km north west of the Saudi capital Riyadh, famous for premium peppers. The video shows a group of businessmen, wearing traditional Saudi attires, attending the indoor auction with the opening price set at SR2,500.

An auctioneer is seen announcing successive bidding prices.

The box eventually fetched SR4,500 (Dh4,406) and the proceeds were reportedly to go to support an orphanage.

Neither the exact date or venue of the auction was clear. Earlier this week, a video circulating online showed a box of Shaqra chili peppers coming under the hammer at a Riyadh auction and selling for SR1,600.

The Shaqra peppers are noted for their distinct texture and appetising taste. Owners of rare and exotics objects usually flock to public auctions in different areas of Saudi Arabia.

Last month, a traditional photography camera, reportedly 200 years old, sold for SR400 at an auction at a famed market in Riyadh. An antique Baghdad-style teapot fetched SR1,120 at an auction at the same market.

Also in July, a social media video showed a wood-framed traditional television at the centre of an auction at the Riyadh souq. The auction opened with SR460 and the set eventually fetched SR950.

Another reportedly rare teapot fetched SR850 at a March auction. It was not clear how old the vessel was, or what made it particularly rare.

Another video showed an auctioneer putting up for sale a chest for keeping pearls, which fetched SR750.