Derek Jeter’s used game socks are for sale -- just $409.99 each

You know the old saying -- one man’s dirty laundry is another man’s collector’s item worth hundreds of dollars.

In this case, the first man is retiring New York Yankees great Derek Jeter.

The second man (or woman or wealthy child) is whomever is willing to pay $409.99 for “Derek Jeter’s game used sock” -- that’s the exact listing for an item for sale on the Steiner Sports memorabilia website.

The product description assures that “this Derek Jeter product is guaranteed authentic,” although there’s probably other ways of knowing that as well.

Seriously, I know that Jeter is a legend and that many Yankees fans would love to have just about any piece of his greatness, but isn’t this taking things a bit too far?

Or maybe not. If you’re into clothing worn by sweaty, dirty athletes at their sweatiest and dirtiest, the game sock is actually a bargain on the Steiner site.

A game-used Jeter wrist band will run you $609.99. A single batting glove costs as much as $859.99. A spring training baseball cap is $2,150. And just in time for Halloween, a jersey and pants complete with a dirt stain is $25,000.

But the most expensive game-used item I could find on the site (I wore out after about 13 pages -- there were many, many more) was a gray road jersey for $25,010.

Oddly enough, there’s a new and autographed version of what appeared to be the same jersey for just $1,209.99 -- or $23,790.01 less than the nasty old used one. That would seem to be the more desirable item, at least in my opinion.

But then again I’m not a Yankees fan. And I’m not into gross things either, so what do I know?

Twitter: @chewkiii