EBay on Wednesday confirmed that it removed a listing that tried to sell the identity of street artist Banksy for $1 million.

"EBay removed the listing because it didn't abide by our listing and user policies," the company said in a statement.

EBay did not elaborate about what particular policies the seller violated. The site's rules, however, ban the sale of personal information as well as IDs.

In a cached version of the now-deleted auction, however, seller jaybuysthings said eBay previously deleted his listing because he was not selling anything tangible. He updated the listing to sell a piece of paper with Banksy's identity written on it, but that does not appear to have appeased eBay.

The listing was scheduled to expire today at 7:22pm Pacific time. It had received 38 bids, the last of which was for $999,999, according to the cache.

"If you win this auction I will mail you a piece of paper revealing the true identity of 'Banksy.' I have uncovered his identity by matching up the prices of his sold pieces to corresponding tax records. I will reveal no more details," jaybuysthings wrote.

"The winner of this auction is the only person I will ever share this information with. The piece of paper will say his name, nothing more," he continued. "I give you 100% assurance that it is most certainly the full name of the street artist known as 'Banksy.'"

Banksy is an English street artist who emerged in the early 1990s, but started making a name for himself around 2000 with stencil drawings placed on various buildings around Bristol and London. His works have been on display at several exhibitions, attracting a variety of celebrity buyers, but his identity has never been revealed.

Last year, Banksy was featured in the documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop," though his face was obscured. He provided LA-based film enthusiast Thierry Guetta unprecedented access to his process in Los Angeles and throughout Europe. Guetta also featured other well-known street artists in his film, including Shepard Fairey, who created the now ubiquitous Obama "Hope" poster; a move that got Fairey into some copyright trouble with the AP.

"Exit Through the Gift Shop" has won various accolades, and was recently nominated for 'Outstanding Debut' for the 2011 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTA), the UK equivalent of the Oscars.

Though eBay admitted to pulling the listing itself, Banksy's history has prompted some to suggest that the whole thing is an elaborate publicity hoax for the documentary.

eBay Banksy ID listing