A £40 wetsuit which was posted on eBay to raise cash for victims of the Japan earthquake today sold for a staggering £9,000.
Kind-hearted Dan Morgan listed the item, which he described as a ”urine free” wetsuit, last week and the advert went viral thanks to his comical description.
Amazingly more than 650,000 people viewed the page, in which Dan describes the condition of the product and his own impeccable grooming.
As the advert spread on Facebook and Twitter, Dan, from Truro, Cornwall, was bombarded with offers after announcing that 90 per cent of the cash raised would be given to those afflicted by the Japanese quake.
Speaking yesterday, he said: ”I genuinely thought I might make £40 for it.
”I’m going on a budget holiday soon and I was just trying to make some Portuguese beer money.”
Dan wrote on the ad: ”This listing for my urine-free wetsuit is getting a lot of unexpected attention which is nice but I’m feeling I should do something positive, so I’ve decided to give 90% of the money it makes to the Red Cross to aid their efforts in Japan.”
Designer Dan was bombarded with questions and offers and companies such as XCEL and Carve magazine began to add ‘prizes’ to increase bidders’ interest.
The auction finally ended with a deluge of extras thrown in by organisations such as skateboard, a magazine subscription, surf lessons, two surfboards, sunglasses and a surf tides clock.
The auction was won at 8pm on Monday for £8,999 by an anonymous bidder who has since admitted he can’t honour his bid. The prizes have been offered to the second highest bidder for £8,900.
Dan’s full eBay listing read: ”I rinsed it in fresh water after EVERY session so it’s in VERY good condition as I look after my gear, I always do.
”Similarly, I take care of my body and shower at least once a day and always moisturise. Yes, you’re probably getting a feel for the kind of man I am.
”You’re probably thinking ‘people p*ss in wetsuits, I’m not sure about a second hand wetsuit’, but believe it or not I have NEVER urinated in this suit, seriously, these suits are too good to be doing such a vulgar act in.
”The wee just ends up staying in the suit and then when you’re sat having a post-surf pint in the pub you smell awful and girls don’t like boys that smell of p*ss, so you just sit there, alone all night, sobbing into your pint of Betty Stoggs like a lonely desperate p*ss smelling man.”
He admitted the only reason he’s selling the suit is because he’s “a flash t**t who buys a new one each season” who likes “the feel of fresh neoprene on my soft skin”.
The original makers of the wetsuit, Hawaiian company XCEL, got in touch with the seller and offered a new suit worth £300 to the auction winner while DryRap has donated a special towel to the auction. Carve magazine is also throwing in a free subscription.
