A torch bearer has put his torch on eBay in order to fund participation in next years Transplant Game. Bidding currently stands at £150,000!
Personally I think good luck to him, but Mrs JJ thinks its imoral and shouldn’t be allowed.
What’s the STW collective wisdom on the matter?

Good luck to them.

IIRC you have to pay £200 quid if you want to keep a torch. So if you’ve bought it, you can do what you like with it.
Ask Mrs JJ which moral she believes has been broken 🙂

Posted this earlier on the torch thread.

Ben keeping an eye on some of the auctions, they are either being ended early or being pulled by eBay

When you look at the item, there are three, one at £150K one at £140K the other staraight forward auction. The first two have paostage of £25 and £20 respectively. Now assuming you bought it would you really postit.

Ok make some cash if they want to however it shows the selection process for bearers is flawed and they dont appreciate the event if as soon as they get home they bang the torch on ebay. Thought it was meant to be a single torch handed over at each section anyway?

EDIT – In the time it took me to write this 3 others appeared, pathetic profiteering.

For this alone, the XXL unform wearing barsteward won’t be getting one single cent of my money.

The torch will be used on the 26th June by myself.

It’s an outrage and immoral. The buyer should be saved from his/her own stupidity.

8000 of them will be produced. There are folk selling theirs and they haven’t even done their stage yet!

meh, people need money more than stuff. I’m getting a medal soon. Its a shiny bit of metal to me, its £200 on ebay, I know which I’d rather have in my pocket!

if you bought it legit, its legit to sell it! If its going for lots then good luck to the people selling, remember, for most people £140k is a house paid for, I know I would!

Wish I’d have gone for the gig!

any good for night riding?

any good for night riding?

Apparently it runs rings around most other lights.

I’m shocked and stunned, not to mention outraged at the immorality of it all.

A google search for Olympic corruption would suggest that people making money from the whole venerable process are very few and far between.

Didnt know thay had to pay to keep it. I believed there was just one!

If it’s for his retirement good luck to him.

I think all the millionaires should be forced to buy one.

😈

I believed there was just one!

That’s what they want you to believe.

If you can get over £100k for an Olympic torch its gotta be worth mugging the carriers just after they have handed over the flame. All eyes would be on the current torch bearer whilst you quickly trip up the torch bearer, grab the torch, singe their eyebrows off and then leggit.

Putting aside the moral issue of selling a torch for profit.

The Olympic organisers know no bounds when spending our money, especially when there’s no money for hospitals, schools, etc, etc…

It’s an absolute disgrace and a national embarrassment

The corporations who are ‘partners’ of the games are going to make huge sums of money, so why shouldn’t the torch bearers?

I’d rather Mr Smith makes some money than McDonalds.

My niece will be a torch bearer next Friday. And she will def. be buying the torch ! Can’t belive she’d actually get £140,000 for it, real money cash in the bank !

taxi25 – Member

My niece will be a torch bearer next Friday. And she will def. be buying the torch ! Can’t belive she’d actually get £140,000 for it, real money cash in the bank !

Tell your niece to buy two for her future retirement.

Then once she got them get people or someone to hype up the importance of the torch, best with those PR leeches and make a killing by selling one to the highest turnip.

Can’t belive she’d actually get £140,000 for it, real money cash in the bank !

There’s a reason why you can’t believe it.. 😀

It was a jokey bid on the £150,000 as auction ended with minimum of £3250 …. muppet.

Realistically they seem to be worth a few grand rather than 100k

Who TF would spend money on an olympic torch? I mean, what the hell would you have it for?

‘Look, honey. I bought one of thousands of olympic torches for one of many olympics that no one will remember a week after the event, never mind years after.’

‘Good for you, dear.’

Hmm. That’s some satisfaction in that purchase. And people criticise Bono for whatever he spends his money on. 🙄

from BBC Website

Olympic organisers Locog defended the cost at the time, saying a torch costs £495… …each of the torchbearers will run with the flame for about 300m.

If it wasn’t so obscene it would be funny, 8000 x £495 = £3,960,000 (would pay for a fair few teachers/nurses).

Probably pennies in the grand scheme of waste. 😯

The olymics is a massive money making machine that sucks money out of the host country and the supporters and transfers it to the multinationals corporate partners. We have even had to change our criminal law and set up special courts so that anyone who unofficially links themselves to the Olympics can be prosecuted for their crime.

If they make it so obviously about the money who cares if the little people also cash in.

My local Tri club were threatened with court action just for advertising an olympic distance triathlon. They had to cancel it. FFS!

There will be enough businesses making millions of £’s profit out of the olympics, so fair enough if you ask me.

I like the picture of an official torch which is currently at £50k!

the first 5 or 10 will go for daft money, but as people get wise and the high rollers stop bidding then they’ll be selling for £205

Do they come with official (lets keep it burning) olympic flame, or is it just normal calor gas when its no longer ‘olympic’

Ah the difference between selling for and actually costing

This is my favourite….

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Olympic-2012-Torch-including-security-guards-Hi-Viz-jacket-/170846818704?pt=UK_Sports_Memorabilia_ET&hash=item27c7439190#ht_782wt_1139

pingu66 – Member
Thought it was meant to be a single torch handed over at each section anyway?

Same here! 😆 £150k is a hell of a lot of money though…

It’s an outrage and immoral

😀

No, it’s fine, they’re probably planning to donate the profit to a sanctuary for orphaned baby rabbits or something.

The idiocacy of management in this kinds of projects is legendary. Why on earth is it not one torch ( with a couple of back ups?) perhaps 2012 is not a satire after all!!

If it is true that you buy the torch after running with it and then chose to sell it. Well so be it. The fault seems to be with the idiocy of the system rather than the individuals concerned. Perhaps they are simply vulgar, who knows!?!

It’s a blimmin’ good job Seb Coe didn’t have any STWers on his team, they’re all a right miserable rabble when it comes to the Olympics 😀

I expect someone thought that offering members of the the public the chance to own an Olympic torch would be a nice touch to the whole proceedings, what with trying to get people involved etc