Businessman John Pearson said Wednesday that the realisation of how much money he had lost was "like winning a small lottery jackpot and losing the ticket".

The BMW M3 convertible, bought by Beckham for 42,000 pounds during his first full season at Manchester United in 1997, sparked a bidding war on Internet auction site eBay, receiving 140 bids.

It eventually sold to an anonymous buyer for 90,100 pounds, compared to the 16,000 Pearson received when he sold it privately two months ago.

Pearson said he had spoken to several car car dealers who told him the blue BMW was only worth a little more than 12,000 pounds despite its illustrious former owner, now with Real Madrid.

Despite getting 60 calls as soon as he advertised the car, Pearson said he had opted to sell the vehicle to the first person who came up with the cash.

"I'm pretty annoyed. If I'd have known I would never have let it go for that price. You just have to learn from these things," he said.