Are charity auctions a good idea?

Question

There's a charity auction on ebay right now, where a guy is asking for donations to help feed his family. You can check it out if you want, but my question is this:

Are they a good idea? I mean I can see the man's point and I may even donate myself because I've been in his shoes. At the same time, do you think he's getting downed because of it? I don't know if I could do it myself.

What do you think?

Here's the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=300239638875

Answer 1

I clicked the link but Ebay removed it.. so there may be a chance that it seemed a little out there.

But desperate times call for desperate measures. You would be amazed by what people would do to feed their family. One night I was talking to a few co-workers about the theft in our store. We have people stealing everything from condoms to underwear to sharpies. It gets crazy. And one night when we were talking about it she said that she would steal for food if her family was starving but never would she would steal the stuff that was unneccessary. I was kind of surprised by the answer but her children and grandchildren mean everything to her.