Cancer Research bracelets sold on for profit on eBay
Howard Lake | 22 September 2005 | News
The Sun reports that fundraising bracelets designed by celebrities to raise funds for Cancer Research UK are being sold on by individuals on eBay for personal profit.
Just two weeks after the charm bracelets, a collaboration between Cancer Research UK and high street store Wallis, went on sale to raise funds for the charity, some have appeared for sale on eBay at £80, up to five times their original value.
Only 10,000 of the bracelets were produced and they all sold out at £15 within 24 hours via the Wallis website. The involvement of celebrities such as Sienna Miller, Jemima Khan, Damien Hirst, and Jimmy Choo and the fact that the bracelets are a limited edition has clearly driven up their value.
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Some of the bracelets on sale on eBay are, it seems, being sold to raise further funds for Cancer Research UK. Other sellers though are clearly selling for personal profit. Only two of the 13 items currently listed on eBay were being sold on explicitly for charity.
Although eBay helps many charities raise funds, it has been used by individuals to make personal profit out of charity items. Numerous charity wristbands have been sold on the site for personal gain, and eBay for a while was used by individuals to sell their free tickets to the Live8 concert earlier this year.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.