Weird

[Former_Member]

I have just received this email today concerning one of my items and I am wondering if anyone could give me some feedback? My shop will be in holiday mode as of tomorrow anyway, but I would still like some advice!
The lady that has requested that I donate my necklace for her "silent auction"; I checked out her profile and she hasn't got any items for sale in her shop or a country where she comes from!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/voodoodaul

My gut says don’t give her the necklace but my heart strings are being pulled because my Mum has Cancer too. There is no mention of an organisation and it all feels very strange. Has anyone encountered this sort of thing???
The email is as follows:
“This may seem a strange request, but would you consider donating one of these? I am putting together a basket for a silent auction for a man with brain cancer - grey is the color I am using to put together a basket - along with pink, as his wife has breast cancer- to raise money for their family. They are from Kiel, WI and have two teenage sons. This man is terminal, but the benefit will help with his treatments (a form of radiation called "cyber knife" - to treat inoperable tumors in the brain) & also to help his wife with her treatments. I think your necklace would be a perfect addition to my basket, and you will be credited by name in a list I am also placing in the basket, so the winner of the auction knows where everything came from. Please let me know if you would be willing to donate. Thank you so much for your time & consideration. –Audrey”

Listing: www.etsy.com/listing/94135349/mens-silver-plated-black-chain-hope

[Former_Member]

Hmmm thats a hard one, maybe you could ask for a bit more information, like will the proceeds from the raffle of the basket be put into a fund or will it just be given to the family as cash or a cheque.
and ask for a little more info on the family and if any other store have donated...
You would think if shes a scammer then she wouldnt go to all the effort to keep replying to you, they would just move onto the next person...
Its up to you though!

[UrbanJule]

This is really disturbing to me on several levels. Granted, in my old age--having been taken advantage of too many times--I've become cynical, but it just seems this person is taking advantage of your good heart by painting a heart-wrenching scenario that may not even be true. Especially since he/she gives you little, if not no, information on herself/himself, I would be extremely hesitant to donate my hard work to this person. I received a similar email from someone when I first opened my shop on etsy and frankly ignored it (feeling guilty, too) because I just couldn't afford to participate in what this person was asking. Has she/he contacted you more than once? I'm not sure what the etsy rules are on this but if they don't consider it spamming, they should, and you might want to seek the advice of an etsy admin.

Good luck and wishes for recovery for your Mum.

[WilliamsGiftshop]

My experience is that 9 out of 10 of these requests are fake.
I learned that the hard way too.

[Former_Member]

If it's real, she'll have no problem giving you the name of the cancer program she's working with and their tax ID number - even 501(c)(3)s (fancy IRS language for a non-profit organization) have to have an ID number of some sort. She'll give you contact numbers, references, and if there's any sort of website associated with this organization, she'll give that to you, as well.

[Former_Member]

I would ask her where and when is her silent auction taking place and then try and check if that is true. Maybe call the venue or organisation or something like that.
Good luck!

Let us know how it went and what happened in the end!

[SheEarth]

hello Amy,
I haven't encountered that here on etsy, HOWEVER I have encountered it through my street side shop via email and I would say follow your gut because I found out through digging that the person approaching me in similar email setting was a fraudster just trying to get free stuff. Ask them for which foundation they are from and you would like a receipt number and etc so you can claim it on tax - if they can't provide this I would be highly suspicious and I would ignore them.

I would Donate some cash to a organization you know to ease your heart strings and follow your gut ignore/block or report the person

Good lucky

[thedots]

There are other organizations you can donate to, so don't feel bad about not donating to this basically invisible person.

Also, if she is (or was) an etsy seller, she knows full well that she has no business hitting someone up for donations via etsy.

[artangel]

It's completely up to you of course, but personally I don't donate to individuals who contact me directly, only to registered charities.

This message may well be genuine (or it may not) but at least if you donate via a charity there's no doubt that your contribution is going to the right place.

[GoTo]

I'd report the convo to Etsy:

"Conversations (also called "Convos") are your way to communicate privately with other Etsy members....

You must not use Conversations to send unsolicited advertising or promotions, requests for donations or "spam."

Source:
http://www.etsy.com/help/article/483#conversations





Cancer in one person
plus
cancer in a second person
plus
they have kids
plus
the type of treatment he's receiving has a scary nickname that she shares with you for the "punch" of it...

now back to what I want you to give me,
a total stranger,
for free.


I wouldn't believe the story for minute, and I'm sure there's plenty of local businesses she could get involved if she needs donations for a real fund raising event for someone in her area that needs help.

If you don't want to feel mean/bad turning her down you can always say you already donate for cancer elsewhere and send a donation to a real charitable foundation.

[MadScientistsDesigns]

I agree with GoTo.

[Former_Member]

If you look around your own community, I'm sure you'll see benefit dinners/silent auctions for cancer patients and others in need. Donate to them. Call them up and offer if you are not approached. In addition to helping the person (most importantly) it will also spread the word of your business in your own neighborhood and you can feel good about it all!

[wildwomanbeads]

If I was doing what she claims to be doing, I would make darn sure anyone I approached had very clear information about who I am, what I'm doing, who I'm doing it for, and where /when I'm doing it SO THAT I don't sound like I'm a shyster or a fraud. I suspect you're right to feel leery about this.

I agree with the strategy to tell her you don't give things away unless you know the person or the cause, and that you wish her well with her efforts.
I now even do this with phone requests. I'd never agree to send money unless I've seen something in writing that tells me the person is who they say they are. I tell them this outright. You would be surprised at how many "charities" aren't.

And the ones that are real, and their efforts genuine, have no problem with sending me information. I tell them I'll decide what to give when I look it over. The good guys are always very courteous about this.

Good information for all of us to have should we be visited by requests like this! Thanks for sharing it.

[Former_Member]

Maybe what you could do is skip this sketchy one. But, will your mom's history (very sorry, btw), and feel like you'd like to support something like this, maybe find a good reputable organization in your area. There are silent auctions going on all the time. And, I'm sure you could find a great one to donate an item, items or a gift certificate - and it would give your shop some local exposure.

[Former_Member]

Oops sorry. I just saw that you've already been given the same advice - sorry for the redundancy!

[Former_Member]

I ran my campus branch of a global nonprofit while I was in college, and I can say with almost 100% certainty that that letter is a fake. I *always* identified myself, my organization, provided a link to their official e-mail and telephone contacts in NYC, and had the tax deduction paperwork ready.

No personal details=fake. No names of the person suffering=fake.

Fwiw, my heart strings would be pulled too. While my uncle was dying of terminal pancreatic cancer two years ago, his dear wife was battling breast cancer and getting a double mastectomy. But I also saw a LOT of people prey upon my uncle's desire to live and swindle him by selling him magical potions to cure him. Some people are cretins, and using cancer to profit doesn't phase them.

You could always ask, as others have suggested, for the date and location of the silent auction. If she doesn't give it to you, or doesn't respond, I'd report her--both to Etsy and your local PD. If she's trying to scam you, she's trying to scam others, and that's illegal. But maybe I just want vengeance on all the snakeoil salesmen who exploited my uncle.

[ThePlaidPineconeCo]

1. Report the conversation. It's against Etsy's TOUs.

2. This looks like a scam.

3. There are plenty of cancer organizations to donate to if you so choose. Don't fall into this trap.

[Former_Member]

I just googled "Kiel, WI silent auction cancer" and this thread came up eighth in the list on the first page. I don't think you're supposed to post a link to her shop here on the forums. That's considering "calling out."

If your gut is telling you not to donate then politely say no and move on. And most definitely report the convo to Etsy.

[Former_Member]

Thank-you all for you very important feedback - I received the confirmation I needed from all of you.
I have politely declined donating my necklace, and have reported the email to Etsy as spam, as I am not sure what other button there is for reporting the sender!

Judy thank-you for letting me know I am not supposed to put the shop name of the sender up here on the forums, as I had no idea.

Thank-you one and all for your support...

And I will definitely be donating to a local silent auction associated with a cancer foundation!

May you all be blessed with the spirit of the creative!

[Former_Member]

Let's think about this for a second...say one of your friends got cancer and you were really down about it. What would be the first thing you would do? Make an account on Etsy and ask someone you don't know for a necklace?

Well, I know that I'd probably be too sad to even think of Etsy at all. And I'd seek help from friends and family before I ever contacted a stranger. This sounds like a scam to me. No website or profile info. Please report this!

Trust me, if you donated to every blogger, reviewer and donation seeker, you wouldn't have any items left.

[SesenDesign]

Don't go there. Alarm bells ringing!