McGill created an eBay listing titled “A piece of cardboard (shaped a bit like an iPhone 5) – USED”. The title is self explanatory as the item that was being sold on eBay was just a piece of cardboard. These kinds of products don’t get much on eBay but this was a special case. The seller posted a detailed description of the item that basically summed up like this: no display, no camera, no wires to function, no video recording and no more annoying phone calls. The seller also added as extra information to the item description that she will give all money raised from the auction for the Charity Dig Deep.
Dig Deep, a UK registered charity, helps communities in Kenya get access to clean water, renewable energy and sanitation. Julia McGill’s initial goal was to raise £2,500 to fund a sponsored trek in China along the Great Wall. The item soon became popular and managed to generate 114 bids and a final max bid of £200100. Unfortunately eBay eventually took down the item. But this didn’t stop Julia McGill. She just went ahead and created another auction for the same item. Some eBay users, that saw how popular the iPhone shaped cardboard became, decided to copy the idea. Now you can find iPad shaped cardboards or just plain cardboard paper being sold on eBay with charity or personal gain in mind.
