Enterprising Charity Fundraiser Raises €250,000 on eBay by Selling a Piece of Cardboard

Would you pay €250,000 for a piece of cardboard shaped like the iPhone 5? Yeah… we didn’t think so, but believe it or not, the faux-iPhone was busy attracting mountains of bids on eBay before the online action site decided to pull the plug on the lot.

The Sun reports that the piece of “wireless” cardboard started at 1c but rocketed in less than five hours with more than 100 bids. The description for the ‘phone’ stated that it was fully biodegradable, never needed charging and was “thinner than the iPhone (probably) and at the same time you are far less likely to get mugged.” Sounds legit, right?

“If your thing is being individual and different then this is the product for you. Never be embarrassed by someone using the same gadget on the tube. Guaranteed to make you feel superior and cool – this is way ahead of the times,” the seller wrote in the item’s description.

Ebay officials promptly shut down the bidding wars on the piece of cardboard

So who on earth would auction off such a eh… unique… item? The cardboard iPhone was the brainchild of Fundraiser Julia McGill, who decided to list it on eBay.co.uk as a way to raise funds for a charity trek along the Great Wall of China for the organisation Dig Deep (Africa).

“All money raised from this auction will go towards a challenge (trekking along the Great Wall of China),” said Julia.

“I am undertaking for the Charity Dig Deep which is a UK registered charity that helps communities in Kenya improve access to clean water, sanitation and renewable energy,” she added.

If anyone needs us, we’ll be trying to auction off one of the JOE boys for charity (read: our collective shoe fund).