EBay for Ron Paul!

[runderwo]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300155903173

Help me start a trend! Use the Ron Paul campaign sign as your 0.35 Gallery picture and it shows up in the search result listing... Awesome!

This is a great way to get rid of gift cards that are collecting dust.

[runderwo]

I didn't even think about it at first but this is a way even people outside the US can support RP. You put an item up for bid, they pay you for it with their donation, and then you donate their bid as long as it's under your personal FEC limit. Kind of a donation by proxy. Already had a Canadian asking if he could bid on it.

[empirenine]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300155903173

Help me start a trend! Use the Ron Paul campaign sign as your 0.35 Gallery picture and it shows up in the search result listing... Awesome!

This is a great way to get rid of gift cards that are collecting dust.

I just bid on the item in honor of your good idea!

[runderwo]

bump :-)

[runderwo]

I guess this is really hard to understand? I don't get it. The winning bidder sends me a message "confirming" that no donation will be made to the campaign. That's the whole point of the auction, dummy!

I had to relist it....with more specific instructions. Hopefully somebody with a brain will win it this time.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300156384545

[runderwo]

Well, the relisted auction ended with a similarly crappy bid, so I guess this isn't as good an idea as I thought.

[empirenine]

I liked the idea but I wanted to pay less than the winning bid. I've been in transit between homes the last week too, so I couldn't have won. Sorry!

[bc2208]

I've been using "VOTE RON PAUL" for feedback.

[runderwo]

Time for some more Ebay plunder:

$410 Home Depot Gift Card
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300165879862&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=020

Ipod Nano 2nd Gen 4GB, $15 Itunes card, extras
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300165879168&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=020

[CCTelander]

Just be VERY sure not to violate any of eBay's rules or policies in the process. They'll just pull your auctions and you'll be out the insertion fees. That doesn't help anyone.

[runderwo]

Can you clarify what rule or policy I might be violating? :confused:

[CCTelander]

Can you clarify what rule or policy I might be violating? :confused:

I'm not certain that you're violating any. I haven't had a chance yet to look for any rules specifically violating auctions to promote political candidates.

One rule I HAVE seen violated regularly is the rule barring the posting of ANY links to cites outside eBay in your actual auctions. If it gets reported, or someone from eBay happens to see it, the auction WILL be pulled and you'll get an e-mail from eBay notifying you of the violation. Too many violations results in the termination of your account.

Also, while I'm not very knowledgable on campaign law, I have seen auctions suggesting that winning them would be a good way for people who are maxed out or noy US citizens to contribute. I could be wrong on this, but it seems to me that such could be construed as soliciting an illegal contribution.

Whether the above actually violaters any laws or not, you can bet that eBay, if they see it, will go into full-blown CYA mode and pull the auction anyway. That's a typical corporate response to such situations.

My advice is to just be VERY careful, be sure you give the rules a thorough look over, just to be safe, and then proceed as you think best.

This is an EXCELLENT idea, and I was already planning on giving at least 10% of my eBay proceeds to the campaign and various chipins. (I run a VERY small eBay biz from my home, and at the moment it's my only income.)

[runderwo]

There seem to be a lot of other people doing the same thing (if you search for RP08)... I didn't post any outside links and in the auction I said specifically that I would donate the proceeds myself. So I can only guess that I have covered any potential concerns, unless like you said they suddenly go into CYA mode for some reason?

[CCTelander]

There seem to be a lot of other people doing the same thing (if you search for RP08)... I didn't post any outside links and in the auction I said specifically that I would donate the proceeds myself. So I can only guess that I have covered any potential concerns, unless like you said they suddenly go into CYA mode for some reason?

I would guess that you're OK. If you want to be extra safe, just read through the rules and policies to be sure. I'd provide a link but I don't have one handy at the moment.

Usually, eBay's enforcement consists almost entirely of acting against violations that somebody has actually reported to them. I've seen people run auctions, literally, for years that violated certain rules and never gotten pulled. I've also seen people running a BUNCH of auctions, all violating the same rule (say, containing an external link), and have SOME of their auctions pulled and others not. It really is a hit and miss kind of thing.

In any event, it sounds like you'll be OK, and even if you do inadvertantly break some abstruse rule and have an auction pulled, as long as you don't keep doing it, it won't be the end of the world.

Good luck!

[runderwo]

Ipod Nano 2nd Gen 4GB, $15 Itunes card, extras
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300165879168&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=020


bump :-)