Last week, Charles Stanley’s grandson announced that following the passing of the famous preacher, he rooted through his office and desk had acquired some personal memorabilia that he was auctioning off to pay the bills. These included an engraved pocket watch, which ultimately sold for $2,375.00 and a signed picture which sold for $3,650.0.
At the time, Matt Brodersen acknowledged that some people were giving him grief for his actions, including his family, but offered up a non-apology apology.
It turns out, the anonymous buyer of the items purchased them so that he could guarantee they’d be returned to the Stanley family. Brodersen explained:
“The guy that won the pocket watch….bought the items, won the auction, and is sending them back to my family. Because apparently when he was younger and his grandfather died … his brother and his cousin … went and grabbed his grandpa’s things and they went and auctioned it off right away and he did not like it.
And so, I talked to him on the phone for like 30 minutes today, and we had a great conversation and it was a little jaw-dropping. he was very nice to me, he was basically saying , ‘I wish my family had not auctioned off my grandpa’s stuff. I would have liked to keep some of those things. I’m so glad I got to buy them and send them back to your family for you.
So that is when it really all sank in about how creepy or weird that was of me to do that.”
The $3,650 bid for the photograph fell through and he initially relisted the item, but then pulled it down after speaking to the anonymous buyer.
“When he told me his story, I just died inside, and I realized how selfish I was being, so I canceled the other eBay auction for the picture frame and the coin collection and I have mailed those back to my uncle. So technically, nothing has gotten sold on eBay. Everything is going back to its right property owners.”
