Quote Originally Posted by GlassMan

The proper response to all of this is for the doctor and the charity to redo the auction but do it according to the appropriate regulations. Then everyone is happy and everyone wins. It may seem picky, but it undercuts the legal standing of the regulation if it is applied in some cases but not in others.
Hear, Hear. I know someone who used an e-bay auction done this way to raise money for a charitable cause. It didn't work all that well, in that he targeted a couple hundred thousand bucks and he raised ten thousand, but still and all, if there's a system in place to do stuff like this ebay should stick with it.

That doesn't change the fact aht a lot of ebay "buyers" are deadbeats, but that's not ebays fault. I got stiffed by a seller once, fortunately only for about $20...it was 3 yards of New Brunswick tartan too, dangit. Why HER? Why couldn't the guy who sold me the stupid BAROMETER have stiffed me, instead? laughing, here