Taika Waititi's armchair up for sale on Trade Me

Director Taika Waititi reportedly owned the chair while writing his first feature film. Photo / AP

An old armchair previously owned by Taika Waititi and described by him as a "national treasure" is up for sale on Trade Me.

The pink chair is listed with a starting bid of $70, a steal for fans of the Jojo Rabbit director.

According to a post on Waititi's Facebook page, the Wellington-based seller bought the chair on Trade Me himself several years ago and contacted Waititi to find out if it was really his.

"I bought an armchair on Trade Me and when I went to pick it up the seller said you had written your first feature film in it (Eagle vs Shark) . . . just want to verify if true," he wrote, sending a photo of the chair.

Waititi was quick to confirm.

"That is my old mother f***ing chair!!!" he wrote back.

Waititi then posted the exchange on social media.

"It's a national treasure. It belongs in the Te Papa of chairs. Or even the real Te Papa with all the other old pink chairs that people did stuff in," he said.

Seller Damien Hannah told the Herald he bought the chair to furnish a small flat he shared with his partner in Thorndon. He paid just two 50 cent pieces for the chair at the time.

When the person he bought it from said it belonged to Waititi, he thought they were just "spinning a yarn". Finding out the claim was true was "pretty cool".

This guy bought an old chair of mine. It's a national treasure. It belongs in the Te Papa of chairs. Or even the real Te Papa with all the other old pink chairs that people did stuff in.

Posted by Taika Waititi on Thursday, 24 March 2016

"I told my friends and stuff, each time they came around . . . they would sit in it, we would always have a joke that people would feel inspired and feel like a genius."

Hannah and his partner plan to move overseas later in the year if possible and are slowly selling off their belongings to prepare for it, which was why the chair had to go.

"Hopefully it could inspire someone. I know it's just an armchair at the end of the day."

Trade Me spokeswoman Ruby Topzand said armchairs were already a popular item on the site at the moment, with 11,000 hits in the last two weeks.

"Unsurprisingly, we often see a tick up in bids and interest when an item associated with a well-known New Zealander is listed on Trade Me," she said.

"We hope the next owner of the armchair is inspired to do great things in it."

She thought the chair could make a good gift for "any budding directors out there".

"In less than 24 hours the listing has already had 600 views but we expect that number to soar once word spreads."

It's not the first time an item associated with a celebrity has been up for sale on Trade Me.

Earlier this month, Jonah Lomu's ripped shorts from the 1996 Super 12 final went up for sale onsite for $500,000.

When Dan Carter sold his iPhone 5s in 2014 to raise money for iSport Foundation, it had 130,755 views and sold for $2210.

In 2009, one Trade Me member stumbled across Paris Hilton's Fiji boarding pass and sold it onsite for $710. The auction fetched close to 48,000 hits.

Just last year, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong's old 1961 Chevrolet Greenbrier van went up for sale onsite. The vehicle had more than 46,000 views.

There are no bids on the armchair yet, with the auction set to finish on Tuesday next week.