Olympic Torch for sale on e-Bay, days after arriving in UK

My name is URL

One of the first participants in the London Olympic relay tried to make a quick profit by selling his torch and uniform on eBay within hours of the 70-day event starting.

The unnamed seller's location was given as Probus in Cornwall, the south-west English county where the relay had started in the morning after the flame was flown in from Greece on Friday.

The Sun named the seller as Andrew Bell, who finished his leg of the relay in Marazion. He was nominated for the relay as a result of his coaching and fundraising efforts for a local rowing club

He told the paper that the torch - pictured with triple Olympic yachting gold medallist Ben Ainslie - looks "weird" in his home and said he needed the money.

"I understand some people may find the idea of selling an Olympic torch offensive but we could genuinely use the money," he said.

"Without giving you a sob story, we've a lovely baby boy and my wife has just gone back to work after maternity leave.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/londonspy/london-2012-torch-sale-ebay-100324684.html

Its opening price was £200.. and atm it stands at £150,800!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/London-2012-Olympic-Torch-/270981379377?pt=UK_Sports_Memorabilia_ET&hash=item3f17bfb531

What do you think about him selling it? I'd do the very same thing tbh!

Why shouldn't he want to sell it? It's his, right?

Fair play to him, I say!

Biggins

Well thats what the Olympics is also about nowadays.
Massive selling and mark-ups.
The seller of the torch is just doing what a lot of others will be doing or have already done (a few businesses have laid out their over priced goods for the Olympics with marked up prices - here).

Mr.Biscuits

Be handy for lighting up massive joints.

k.p.h

Or Clubbing baby seals ...


not funny really

Miguel_Sanchez

Fair play to him. If somebody wants to pay that much for it that's their lookout.

Battered Mars Bar

Wish I had nolympic torch to sell

Biggins

The person selling it by the way - didn't get it for free.
They had to buy it too. (See HERE)

LOCOG announced today that it would be charging torchbearers like Kirkwood 247.45€ or about 251.55€ to actually buy their own torches.

The seller is doing the right thing in selling their's now.
By the end of the running with the (by then) many torches, the market will have flooded and any high price might not be as substantial.

DrumSteve

Battered Mars Bar wrote: »

Wish I had nolympic torch to sell

But you dont?

Lando Griffin

Wonder as most Olympic athletes do have a can of Pepsi and eat a big mac before he ran with his torch.

argosy2006

I don't under stand?
He had it for one leg of a journey, start? now he sells it, SO rest of journey is with out the torch ?? needs to be replaced?
someone explain how he has right to sell something that is not his?
Its loned, borrowed,,,,,,,,

Biggins

Tomorrows news...

"Olympic Torch Carriers Get Mugged En-mass!"

argosy2006 wrote: »

I don't under stand?
He had it for one leg of a journey, start? now he sells it, SO rest of journey is with out the torch ?? needs to be replaced?
someone explain how he has right to sell something that is not his?
Its loned, borrowed,,,,,,,,

EVERY carrier gets one.
See links above.
They then get the right to buy it.
After that, they can do what they like with it.

Micky Dolenz

argosy2006 wrote: »

I don't under stand?
He had it for one leg of a journey, start? now he sells it, SO rest of journey is with out the torch ?? needs to be replaced?
someone explain how he has right to sell something that is not his?
Its loned, borrowed,,,,,,,,

Or there is more then one.

argosy2006

So the bid on ebay is just silly then,
its people ****ing with the seller?
as its not worth 150,000 ?

Biggins

argosy2006 wrote: »

So the bid on ebay is just silly then,
its people ****ing with the seller?
as its not worth 150,000 ?

Given that there will be many of them eventually - I suspect that the seller will be very lucky indeed to get the money.
I hope they do - but I have my suspicions...

My name is URL

argosy2006 wrote: »

So the bid on ebay is just silly then,
its people ****ing with the seller?
as its not worth 150,000 ?

It's worth whatever some fool is willing to pay for it.

argosy2006

My name is URL wrote: »

It's worth whatever some fool is willing to pay for it.

Maker said its worth 495 pounds though

argosy2006

''Organisers LOCOG had set a cost for their nominees of £199 if paid for before May 1 and £215 thereafter. They said they are actually worth £495.''

Bids are joke bids i think,
As he cancelled auction yesterday when it went to 50,000
as it just jumped from 600.00 to 50,000 fast,
I think its people who saw it in paper and are now messing with auction,


'''However a raft of what appeared to be fake bids sent the figure to £50,000 and Bell ended the auction early shortly after 6pm, cancelling all bids.'''

Logical Fallacy

The only people who should be allowed to make money from the Olympics are the corporate sponsors and WADA when they decide who fails what test and which results go public.

Biggins

A bit from todays The Time's (England):

Last night, two days into the 70-day national relay, at least 28 torches were listed on eBay, the online auction site, with prices ranging from 267.35€ to 155,433.97€
The 8,000 nominated torch-bearers are offered the chance to buy their torch after completing their leg, for 247.45€ in advance or 320.82€ if they pay on the day. They cost 615.52€ each to make.

Link.

The number of them for sale has gone up as expected.

Why one chap is selling his:

Ben Pacey, 25, a former water polo player, had his Olympic dreams cut short when he contracted leukaemia six years ago. After receiving a bone-marrow transplant and recovering his fitness, he is selling his torch to fund a trip next year to the World Transplant Games in South Africa.
“I need about 2,486.94€ to go to South Africa,” he said. “I’m a big lover of sport and I think the Olympics is the best event ever. I’d love to be able to keep my torch but I’ve got to think about myself.” Mr Pacey is donating 10 per cent of the proceeds to the Anthony Nolan Trust, the cancer charity for which he will be competing during the World Transplant Games.