March 17, 2005 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Ebay, the popular online auction site where people can buy or sell a John Deere tractor, a Prada handbag, and just about anything else, has announced that it will donate the fees it charges on auctions that benefit charity.
For example, if a camera listed on eBay’s Giving Works section sold for $100 — with the seller promising to donate the entire sale price to Unicef — eBay would contribute the fees it charges the seller, a total of $3.98 in this case, to Unicef.
The new policy applies to items listed on Giving Works since January 1 for which the seller donates the entire sale price to a nonprofit organization. It will apply both to people who sell items to benefit charity and to nonprofit organizations that sell items through the service.
The San Jose, Calif., company will donate up to $2-million per year in fees. The contributions will be distributed quarterly by MissionFish, the Washington charity that works with eBay to run the Giving Works program.
Since 2000, charity auctions on eBay have raised more than $40-million for nonprofit organizations, including $10-million to benefit groups that responded to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and more than $1.5-million for organizations providing relief to victims of the earthquake and tsunamis that struck December 26.
The company also announced that, starting next month, it will integrate the Giving Works system into eBay’s overall auction system, making it easier for sellers to donate part or all of the proceeds of an auction to charity. Once the changes have been made, sellers posting an item on eBay will only have to check a box saying they want to donate their proceeds and indicate the recipient charity, rather than having to list the item through the separate Giving Works system.
To get there: Go to http://givingworks.ebay.com.
