The Berkbridge Foundation - Questions Regarding Legitimacy 8 8

[Naphtha]

4 minutes ago, kav said:

I feel confident Berkbridge will show up and clear this up like they did with the shilling accusations.

That was never cleared up more than just a response saying it was a "mistake". I just posted their 30 day sale total at $118,000. If this was legitimately being used for a charity they would have no problem addressing this by now. They have stated nothing. 

The fake sales were never cleared up, just redirected to a different issue before the thread was removed. I can tell someone that I accidentally forgot to correct myself on a record sale right before I relisted the issue to get the sale at the same price but I would likely be lying.

[Xenosmilus]

2 minutes ago, kav said:

GPA is aware of it but I thinks it's a slippery slope if you start digging into why people paid what they paid for a book.  

It should just be a "blanket" rule then, "Charity auction sales will not be used." Then it is not a slippery slope.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Xenosmilus

[batman_fan]

This thread has some real potential.  Would love to see some of their financials if anyone finds them.

[Cat]

Their email address is listed as info@berkbridge.org 

I suppose that would be the place to direct requests for copies of their IRS filings. 

[Naphtha]

8 minutes ago, kav said:

Didnt they address the 2 books mentioned as the buyer wanted a different payment option so they had to relist?  The thread was removed apparently.

I addressed 4 separate sales in the last two weeks. They claim all of them are "mistakes" or that the buyer didn't have a correct payment method. Do we seriously believe that a "charity" that has given not a single sentence of proof of their legitimacy and is selling ~one million in high value comics annually with record prices isn't manipulating the market?

Edited September 9, 2019 by Naphtha

[Xenosmilus]

4 minutes ago, kav said:

Thats a good point.

Maybe someone should suggest it to GPA and they can set up a poll/vote here.  Leave specific cases/foundations out and just ask "Should Charity Auction Sales be used in GPA": Yes or No.

[James J Johnson]

 

8 minutes ago, Mecha_Fantastic said:

Their email address is listed as info@berkbridge.org 

I suppose that would be the place to direct requests for copies of their IRS filings. 

Couldn't that be requested directly from the IRS? Don't they maintain a web site that provides that info when a charity is searched on their page?

Edited September 9, 2019 by James J Johnson

[thehumantorch]

3 hours ago, icefires said:

I am a retired fraud investigator, so I have some experience here. 20 minutes of internet research already has me SMH. Sad.

SMH?

[Xenosmilus]

Just now, kav said:

Wouldnt they have to check every single ebay sale and read the description to see if it's for a charity or not tho?

Easy to suggest but I have no idea how difficult it would be to implement . Berkbridge (for example only-I am not taking sides for or against them) states their account is a charity on eBay. I'm not a computer programer or anything like that but I imagine there might be away to exclude eBay accounts that are charities (?).

 

[James J Johnson]

22 minutes ago, kav said:

I feel confident Berkbridge will show up and clear this up like they did with the shilling accusations.

So does anyone know what exactly takes place with regards to the technical aspects of donating proceeds when a seller earmarks a charity as being the recipient of a portion or all of the funds collected for sales?

Any seller. Not any one in particular.

Say I was to start an ebay ID called "Wishes" and set my listings so 100% of all the proceeds from those listings go to the Make a Wish charity. I myself, would not be the Make a wish charity. I would simply be using part of that organization's name as my ebay handle. I might be a seller located in Denver, and the money goes to an organization in NJ, or elsewhere.

The fact that I'm stating in the listing that "all proceeds will be given to Make A wish", would point to my not being that entity, or I wouldn't have to funnel it anywhere else but to me, and then dispose of it myself for whatever needs arise.

So, when a seller donates 100% to charity from their auction, are the 8 to 10% ebay fees waived? Are the 3 to 5% paypal fees waived? I know income and corporate tax are waived, on a personal basis, but are any associated sales taxes also waived, due to the organization I'm donating to being designated non-profit? I ask because the neton $118,000 tax free, no ebay fees, no sales tax, etc.is drastically different than the net with all those fees. Maybe by as much as $30,000 to $40,000 difference.

I can research this myself. I was hoping somebody already knew all the answers to these questions.

[Artboy99]

7 minutes ago, thehumantorch said:

SMH?

Shaking My Head

[James J Johnson]

4 minutes ago, Xenosmilus said:

Easy to suggest but I have no idea how difficult it would be to implement . Berkbridge (for example only-I am not taking sides for or against them) states their account is a charity on eBay. I'm not a computer programer or anything like that but I imagine there might be away to exclude eBay accounts that are charities (?).

 

Based solely on the language of the listings, the Ebay seller using the handle, Berkbridge, is not the same entity as the Berkbridge Foundation. What's written is that all proceeds will be donated to the Berkbridge Foundation. If the seller and foundation were one and the same, there'd be no reason for it to be set up as a charity auction. The seller would simply state, "We are the Berkbridge Foundation and we will use this money to assist.... etc." At least, that's what would seem to make sense given the language of the listings.

[James J Johnson]

2 minutes ago, Artboy99 said:

Shaking My Head

A whole lot of shaking, it would seem

 

[Naphtha]

2 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

Based solely on the language of the listings, the Ebay seller using the handle, Berkbridge, is not the same entity as the Berkbridge Foundation. What's written is that all proceeds will be donated to the Berkbridge Foundation. If the seller and foundation were one and the same, there'd be no reason for it to be set up as a charity auction. The seller would simply state, "We are the Berkbridge Foundation and we will use this money to assist.... etc." At least, that's what would seem to make sense given the language of the listings.

If that is the case, who is the seller in San Diego? Would all sales be transferred to the account registered in NV?

Edited September 9, 2019 by Naphtha

[Buzzetta]

@Buzzetta

[comicwiz]

7 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

Based solely on the language of the listings, the Ebay seller using the handle, Berkbridge, is not the same entity as the Berkbridge Foundation. What's written is that all proceeds will be donated to the Berkbridge Foundation. If the seller and foundation were one and the same, there'd be no reason for it to be set up as a charity auction. The seller would simply state, "We are the Berkbridge Foundation and we will use this money to assist.... etc." At least, that's what would seem to make sense given the language of the listings.

In the thread that was deleted, I posted this - the EIN number is for Berkbridge Foundation. They are one and the same.

[bababooey]

2 minutes ago, Buzzetta said:

@Buzzetta

[James J Johnson]

4 minutes ago, Naphtha said:

If that is the case, who is the seller in San Diego? Would all sales be transferred to the account registered in NV?

Yes. That much I know. That's easily understandable by reading eBay's charity auction data. Any seller can set up a charity auction where the proceeds from that seller's item are donated to a charity designated by the seller when the listing is made. For instance, say I want to donate 10% of my sale price to the Red Cross. I fill out that section on my listing and when the item sells, if for $1000, I'm credited with a $1000 sale, but $100 of that $1000 is automatically sent to the Red Cross. But I'm not the Red Cross, even if my ebay handle is "Red Cross111". I'm just making that donation to them. I'm a separate entity.

[James J Johnson]

4 minutes ago, comicwiz said:

In the thread that was deleted, I posted this - the EIN number is for Berkbridge Foundation. They are one and the same.

I don't understand the EIN number. So what you're saying is that the Berkbridge Foundation is actually the seller Berkbridge? One and the same, and not a separate entity?

[comicwiz]

3 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

I don't understand the EIN number. So what you're saying is that the Berkbridge Foundation is actually the seller Berkbridge? One and the same, and not a separate entity?

The EIN is the tax exemption number used to search the IRS database - this link will show you the details about the company using that EIN (Berkbridge Foundation).

Edited September 10, 2019 by comicwiz