Features

eBay hopes to facilitate $100 million in donations

Associated Press
Tuesday September 18, 2001

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — EBay Inc. is using its auction Web site to facilitate donations to terrorist-attack relief efforts and has set a bold goal for the program — to raise $100 million in 100 days. 

The Internet company set up an “Auction for America” category Monday for people who want to sell items and donate the proceeds to victims of the terrorist attacks and their families. Items earmarked for attack relief will be free of the fees eBay normally collects from sellers. 

People also can use the category to make a cash donation without buying anything. In hopes of kick-starting the drive toward generating $100 million in donations in the next 100 days, eBay contributed $1 million of its own money. 

New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani urged all Americans to buy and sell at least one item through the program. 

“This is something we have to do,” said eBay chief executive Meg Whitman. “The creative and entrepreneurial spirit of eBay’s community is unstoppable and can do tremendous good in this time of great need.” 

EBay, the world’s biggest Internet auction site, counts 34 million registered users. Within hours of the Auction for America launch, users were offering several thousand products in the category. 

Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, eBay began taking down listings for debris, videos and other items purportedly from the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. EBay eventually banned the sale of all memorabilia relating to the buildings at least until Oct. 1.