eBay has banned the sale of second hand wristbands given out to people queuing to see the Queen lying in state – after bids for some of them reached into the thousands on the online marketplace.
Mourners had speedily posted their used wristbands on the auction site after paying their respects to the Queen.
The highest listed price reached £199.99 (although many had accepted “Best Offers” meaning the exact sale figure is not listed).
Around 10 of the colourful bands had sold on the site as of Saturday afternoon.
Many more auctions were expected to end over the next few days before eBay removed them from the site because they were “against our policies”.
Bids on bands on sale on the site had rocketed into the thousands – including a gold wristband, used on Friday 16 September – the same day David Beckham queued to pay his respects to the Queen.
The seller said the former England football captain was around an hour in front of them in the queue, and that they joined the queue just before 6am.
Offering a selection of photos of their day in the capital to verify their visit – including shots of Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye – the crumpled gold band had received bids taking it to £2,550 as of Saturday.
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Another post showed a bright orange band fresh from Saturday described as “genuine unused”, which had reached a price of £1,040, despite the auction not ending until Tuesday. The seller sweetened the deal with free postage.
Meanwhile, two dark green bands, which the seller said were used by her and her daughter on Thursday during an eight hour wait to file past the coffin had a top bid of £436, plus £3.35 postage from Derby.
Yellow bands from the accessible queue were also available to buy on the site, with one seller even offering to send “two newspapers collected on the day at Westminster” along with their two yellow accessible bands.
Some mourners managed to take off their bands without breaking the seal and were selling them “intact”.
One optimistic seller put their band – which they said was from the first day of queuing – up for £22,000, but later removed their post.
Despite being able to buy a wristband online, purchasers were not able to use them to skip the queue as they could not be reused.
eBay said in a statement after it removed the wristbands from its site: “These items are against our policies and we are removing them from our site.”
The coloured and numbered bands have been issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to help manage the huge numbers of people keen to catch a glimpse of the Queen lying in state. Bands have different number and colour shades each day.
The DCMS website explains the process for queuing, saying the band is “a record of when you joined the queue”.
However, it adds that “having a wristband does not guarantee your entry to the Lying-in-State”.
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The site goes on: “Wristbands are specific to each person joining the queue, and are strictly non-transferable. You must keep this wristband on at all times as it will be checked along the route.”
Bands make it possible for mourners to leave the queue in order to go to the toilet or grab food and drink. With some people queuing for around 24 hours, such refreshment breaks are essential.
When asked about the sale of used wristbands online, a DCMS spokesperson told Sky News: “Wristbands for accessing the Lying-in-State are single use, handed out by stewards and can only be used by the person they were issued to. Access will be denied to anyone found not to have followed proper process.”
The Queen has been lying in state since Wednesday, with her children holding a vigil on Friday, and her grandchildren also holding their own vigil on Saturday.