Quote Originally Posted by GlassMan
This isn't about denying children the charitable donation. This is about getting them their donation through the proper channels.

eBay has a method of doing an auction for charity. The charity must provide eBay with proof that it is in fact a charitable organization. Then the seller creates his/her auction with a portion of the proceeds (from 5% to 100%) dedicated to the registered charity.

eBay strictly prohibits auctions that claim to be raising money for charity but that have not gone through this system. There is not charge to the charity to be registered and there are no extra listing fees if your auction benefits a charity. So it doesn't hurt the charity or the seller at all to follow eBay's regulations. However, those regulations do protect bidders from scam artists who try to increase profits by posing as charities.

I'm not saying that this doctor was doing a scam, far from it. I believe he was actually trying to raise money for a charity. But you have to do it the right way. If a rule designed to protect charities and bidders from crooks isn't applied all the time, how can it be enforced at all?

The proper response to all of this is for the doctor and the charity to redo the auction but do it according to the appropriate regulations. Then everyone is happy and everyone wins. It may seem picky, but it undercuts the legal standing of the regulation if it is applied in some cases but not in others.
A very enlightening post and something I hadn't thought of, thank you GlassMan for the education, I stand re-educated and e-bay is back on my Christmas list.

Chris.