Thought this was interesting... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5164013454 I actually know the son who is running this auction. He has 2 kids and recently underwent a bunkruptcy - Usually he would just buy it himself. Not sure what to think?
My first instinct is that he shouldn't have mentioned he was flying to see his dad's reaction to the new computer. That kills it for me. For the price of a plane ticket, he could find a refurbished CPU that would easily outperform an older computer. And get it drop shipped to Dad.
That is a good point - I'll pass it along. Usually I hate this kind of crap..... Guess it is different when you actually know the person.
Well, if you know the person doing it (I didn't catch that part.), then that changes things a bit. Wish them luck.
I wrote a big long response about this situation. I cannot say I agree with the recent ebay panhandling fad which seems to be sweeping through. I didn't realize this was and aquaintance of yours, so I got rid of my response. What I will suggest is: Like another poster said, get rid of the flight to washington, that is a real turnoff. That would easily double the total cost of this venture. This guy could have a perfectly capable computer delivered to his dad for less than 500 bucks. As well, he should get rid of the "I'm not really looking for pity" thing. That is EXACTLY what he is looking for!! If he wasn't, there would be no mention of child support, rent, divorce, vetran etc etc. I don't see panhandlers on the side of the street saying don't pity me, but give me some money for free, quite the contrary. Good luck to him
No worries - I totally agree - It seems these types of auctions are coming up way too frequently. I told him about the flight thing, but he can't edit the auction since items were already bought (me). I think the reason he mentions the child support, divorce, etc. is to explain why he just doesn't buy it himself. I don't think he is too proud or happy about starting the auction - I guess he is just losing his dignity for the benefit of his dad - I guess I can admire that. $500 for a computer may not sound like a lot - but for a guy in his situation it is - He has to borrow a few hundred dollars from friends between each pay check just to make ends meet.
He is up to 8 ($80). 7 donations from friends & 1 F-Chatter. Looks like he can get a low end comptuer from Dell with shipping for $380. I don't really care for the method involved (Ebay shouldn't be for donations IMO), but if his dad can get a much needed computer out of it, that makes me happy.
