Yuvraj Singh's exploits on the cricket field may have attracted scores of fans but the star batsman has failed to find the desired price for his six-year old car in an auction aimed at generating funds for charity. The bidding for his 2001-make Honda City car ended Thursday night on the India website of world's biggest online auction player eBay. As many as 88 bids were received with the highest bid coming at Rs 4.46 lakh.Even though the highest bid was more than double the current market price for a six-year old used car of the same make, it was below the 'reserve price' set by the NGO that had been authorised to sell the car and collect the proceeds.According to information available with eBay, a reserve price is the minimum price a seller is willing to accept for the item and the seller is not obligated to sell the item if the reserve price is not met. Once the reserve price is met, the item is sold to the highest bidder.It was immediately not known whether the seller would initiate another auction to sell the car.The bidding continued for ten days, starting October 16. It was a charity auction and proceeds was supposed to go to Bharmour Development Agency, an NGO working toward development of agriculture and local tribals in Bharmour region of Himachal Pradesh.The car, which Singh had purchased in 2001 presumably with his first cricket income, attracted a bid of as high as Rs 49 lakh on October 22, but the bid was retracted later with the bidder saying the amount was entered wrongly, according to information available on the car's auction page at eBay website.In 2001, the petrol car carried an ex-showroom price tag of over Rs eight lakh, while currently a used car of the same year is available for as low as Rs two lakh, according to information with various auction websites.The website had fixed the starting price at Rs 10,000, but the first bid itself was for Rs 25,000. The Indian unit of the world's biggest online auction firm has fixed a minimum difference of Rs 2,000 in two bids. On the second day itself, the bid had crossed Rs one lakh level.eBay India had said that Singh would personally autograph the emerald gold coloured car and handover keys to the winner in the cricketer's home town, tentatively next month. The car is in excellent working condition, driven personally by Singh, the website added.In a testimonial on the auction page, Singh urged his fans to help him raise money to support the upliftment of the tribals of Bharmour by bidding for the car that has been maintained in good condition and is very close to his heart.The auction was part of eBay India's charity fund raising programme, a special section dedicated to NGOs and Socially Responsible Corporates. In India, eBay has raised over Rs 1.64 crore for NGOs through celebrity and high profile listings as well as direct donations.Earlier last year, it organized "A day on the sets with Priyanka Chopra" auction, which received bids from around the world and collected over Rs two lakhs for an NGO Nanhi Kali that works for the education of the girl child.Besides, the website has recently sold numerous cricket bats autographed by another star cricketer Irfan Pathan for thousands of rupees each.
