Earlier today The Wall Street Journal reported that eBay is hosting the auction of hundreds of individual LiveStrong yellow wristbands because they do not have a rule against profiting on the resale of them. [ Paid subscription required to access the article. ] I visited eBay today and saw that eBayers are doing a brisk business reselling these wristbands. Here are a few examples of auctions I saw:
- One LiveStrong wristband with a BuyItNow price of $30.00.
- Multiple LiveStrong wristbands in one day auctions, with multiple bids well in excess of $1.00.
- Shipping charges of $4.00 or more for one LiveStrong wristband.
The examples I chose don’t say anything about donating profits from the auctions to the The Lance Armstrong Foundation. So, I have to assume that these people are hoarding LiveStrong wristbands and trying to profit on their resale.
Some people would say that these eBayers are performing a useful public service by making LiveStrong wristbands available at prices that reflect their true market value. But, by hoarding the wristbands in the first place, they are contributing to the shortage and increasing the likelyhood of receiving a small windfall.
Nobody has to stop doing business because I say so. But, I have no respect for people that bought extra LiveStrong wristbands with the intention of making a profit.
Update: Here are a couple of other articles about buying a LiveStrong wristband: