By Keith Regan E-Commerce Times
09/18/01 10:24 AM PT
New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani expressed gratitude for the "Auction for America," designed to
aid victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11th.
Rackspace now offers green hosting solutions at the same cost without sacrificing performance. We make it easy for our customers to choose a green configuration or customize one that works for your business needs. Make the eco-friendly choice.
eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) said Monday it has set up a
charity auction to benefit the
families of victims of last week's terrorist attacks on the United
States and challenged its massive community to raise US$100 million in 100 days.
eBay said it will waive all fees for listings and sales made through the Auction for
America.
That move will allow all money raised to be donated to the September 11th Fund, which was
established by the United Way and the New York Community Trust to accept donations.
Several credit card companies, including Visa USA, MasterCard International and Discover,
have agreed to waive fees as well, eBay said. Sellers will receive a charitable donation
receipt.
Seed Money
"This is something we have to do," said eBay president and chief
executive officer Meg Whitman. "The people affected by the horrible
attacks in New York and Washington need our help."
eBay itself gave $1 million to the fund. AOL Time Warner (NYSE: AOL) has also
agreed to provide free marketing support and unspecified products
for the auction effort. Cash donations can also be made to the fund.
The auction project was announced Monday in New York City. New York Governor George Pataki
said eBay's plan will "help send our message to the world that New Yorkers will not be
intimidated and we will come back stronger and better than ever."
Pataki added: "eBay has stepped up in an unprecedented way."
Strong Start
By early Tuesday, several thousand items were already listed on the special auction pages,
including nearly 300 listings in the computer category and more than 400
in the antiques section.
Many items, such as a rookie baseball card for Seattle Mariners' star Ichiro Suzuki,
had drawn dozens of bids already.
Reaching Out
In the hours and days after the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history, a host of
technology firms moved quickly to
raise money for victims.
Last week, Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) quickly set up a Red Cross
donations link
on its site and has raised an average of nearly $1 million a day since. Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO)
also said it would provide Web support and donation links for major disaster relief
organizations.
Initially, however, eBay found itself fending off attempts by sellers to personally
capitalize on the tragedy. Hours after the attacks, eBay
banned all items related
to the World Trade Center and the Pentagon until October 1st.
That move drew the ire of some sellers, some of whom
continued to list those items in violation of the policy.
Talkback: 
