I don't share the indignation.

The club is a commercial enterprise. Purchasers are entitled not to buy and make donations privately to any charity of their choice. The club is supporting a worthy charity and the charity will benefit from income and increased awareness, hopefully.

Why didn't you express such indignation when the club only donated $5 from each replica jersey to the charity rather than the full sale price? Isn't it the same principle?

Quite frankly, no.

In the John Holmes book he once auctioned a shirt for charity.

It was bought & given back to him & told not to give away something he'd worked hard to earn

So are the club making any money from the auctions?


From the rhinos site"and a percentage of money raised from sales of a limited edition replica of the shirt will go towards good causes nominated by the Holmes family"[/i


Which particular charity did the Holmes family chose? and are they registered on ebay?

Why not? Could you illuminate me then I might understand your feelings?

Its £5 per replica shirt sold across the counter and the nominated charities are MacMillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research UK.

For the three player shirts currently fetching premium prices on eBay (plus two other items for shorts and socks) there is no indication of what the "charity donation" might be as I suspect it was added in a bit of a hurry yesterday by someone with access to here and the Leeds club eBay site, maybe there will be some clarification later ?

I'm still puzzled as to why cheques should be made payable to Leeds Rugby Union and still puzzled as to who is the main benificiary of these sales, in particular why isn't Keith Senior selling his shirt on his own eBay site, suggesting that the players will not be the benificiaries but the club (maybe even Leeds RU).

I'm also sitting here today with four t-shirts left over from our recent charity bike for the rlJoseph Salmon Trustrl, these t-shirts were provided to me free of charge by the charity to distribute to the participants and I had some spare - presumably using the same logic I can now feel free to flog these off on eBay and pocket the money for myself ?

Indeed it is, though I would expect the club to still be making a profit and so they should.

I agree that it should clarify exactly what proportion of the sales proceeds will be donated. That's just a little bit sloppy on their part. Not worth your excitement mind.

What difference does it make that the players don't benefit? Why should they? I though you only wanted the charities to benefit.

You're free to do what ever you want with them. And if you profit from having helped a very worthy cause then good for you and good for them. However, you've highlighted the major difference. I doubt anyone gave Leeds those player issue (or indeed replica) shirts free of charge. They will have been ordered, manufactured and paid for.

Just how benevolent do you expect this large commercial organisation to be?

Profit personally from goods that were produced with the sole aim of aiding bereaved parents ?

My morals are raised slightly above gutter level, from where I gaze down on yours.

But I still love you.

for me the whole amount should go to the charities

When you're in the gutter you can gaze at the stars.

I share the sentiment you express here. Luckily it is in no way comparable with the Rhinos pink shirts which were NEVER produced with the SOLE aim of aiding a charity. Which makes me wonder why you brought it up?

I welcome your love but I'd have genuinely liked you to rationally explain your feelings on the subject but clearly it's a subject you're very emotional about and unable and or unwilling to do so, so I will leave it there.

There are a number of unanswered questions about these eBay listings, of which more have now appeared for auction, new listings where the opportunity to use one of eBays charity templates was ignored again, listings which could have benefited any charity by any nominated percentage and more importantly from the addition of Gift Aid to the final total.

Since the hastily scribbled addition on Sunday lunchtime to the existing listings after these points were raised here (so we know you are watching) there has been a deafening silence from the club, a great PR opportunity missed or simple embarrassment ?

I'd personally love to know...

1. Who is authorising these sales ?
2. Who (an individual) or what (a corporate) is the beneficiary of these sales ?
3. How much from the sales is to be donated to charity ?
4. Why not use the well established eBay charity listings ?
5. Why not take advantage of the well established Gift Aid scheme ?
6. Why is the Rugby Union bank account being used ?
7. Are accounting matters so dire that the club have to flog off old kit on eBay to survive ?


These are not difficult questions to answer, any marketing employee should know the answers without recourse to senior management.

It could be a magnificent PR exercise, or a spectacular PR disaster...

I'm not defending the club but it's obvious that no one on here knows how much from the auctions will be going to charity or how much the shirts cost to manufacture, stock, sell etc.

It's a limited shirt (only 1000 IIRC) so it will cost the club more than the standard replica and -£5 for charity, does anyone know what profit is left?

Would some people be happier if the club had never done this exercise and no money had been raised for charity.

IMO only 2 & 3 are of any importance.

This sums up my feelings, especially your final sentence.