News, announcements and information about Disney

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in New York on Monday, Sept. 17, 2001, announces eBay, has created a way to help victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Giuliani, and Gov. George F. Pataki, second from right. At right is eBay President and CEO Meg Whitman. (Feature Photo Service)

In an effort to help the survivors of last week's terrorist attacks, the on-line auction site eBay announced on September 17th the start of their "Auction for America" campaign. eBay users are encouraged to buy and sell goods through select eBay auctions, with all proceeds going to the September 11th Fund which has been established by United Way and The New York Community Trust. Contributions will assist the victims, their families, and communities affected by the events of September 11th. The company has set a goal of raising $100 million in 100 days through these auctions, and donated the first million dollars directly to the Fund.

eBay sellers will donate items, and shipping and handling charges for Auction for America listings. Standard eBay insertion (listing) and all final value (commission) fees will be waived. If sellers choose extra eBay listing services, the fees charged for those services will also be donated to charity. eBay and its partners are donating their services for free, and eBay makes no profit from Auction for America listings. All payments must be paid through the Billpoint service, and Visa, Mastercard and Discover are waiving their normal processing fees.

Nearly 27,000 auctions are currently running under this program, and bidding is reaching staggering levels. Auctions offered under this program are identified by a flag logo, and you can choose to limit your search criteria to find only the AFA listings. Pins are popular, especially the patriotic ones. A Mickey flag pin, available at Walt Disney World for $6.50, is currently at $105 and climbing. The 4th of July flag-striped antenna topper is going for $50. Some unusual items are being offered as well. Three different vacations are listed, including 7-night stay in a Disney timeshare that is going for about $600.

Many of the items listed among the Auctions for America are handmade just for this. Ribbons and lapel pins are everywhere. A small enamel flag pin with a yellow ribbon has received 12 bids, and will sell for over $20. Even flag-print ribbon is in demand - a 5 foot length is selling for $25. Some items are really nothing more than a way to get buyers to donate money to the effort. One auction simply offers an 8.5" x 11" print out, reading "I Gave to the Fund" Asking price: $100.

Michael Eisner at the New York premiere of "102 Dalmatians" Photo by Eric Charbonneau / Berliner Studio / BEI. (PRNewsFoto) (PR Newswire Photo Service)

This past Tuesday, Disney announced a donation of 5 million dollars to the newly created DisneyHAND: Survivor Relief Fund. This amount is in addition to other funds already raised by Disney Cast Members. The company also announced that all proceeds from this week's Disney Auctions will be donated to the September 11th Fund, as part of eBay's campaign.

Among this week's 159 Disney Auctions are a "Monday Mouseketeer Bear," created by the Annette Funicello Collectible Bear Company, tickets for 4 to the LA World Premier of Disney's new movie Max Keeble's Big Move, and even a giant letter "D", taken from atop the Disneyland Hotel during the last remodel.

The Theme Park Treasures section has signs and artwork from all over the Disneyland resort. You can find a variety of props and fixtures, like the Tinkerbell figure below, in the Store Themeing section. There's even a whole collection of items at $50 or less.

Unlike the Auctions for America listed on the eBay main site, winning bidders of Disney Charity for America auctions will have to pay applicable shipping charges. This, and other issues surrounding the Auction for America program, have many eBay sellers crying foul.

Sellers posting to the AuctionWatch.com discussion boards have questioned eBay's actions immediately following the disasters, as well as their motives in promoting the new charity campaign. On September 11th, eBay announced that they were temporarily suspending trading of all items directly related to the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, regardless of whether the events of September 11th were mentioned on the item or in the listing.

This temporary suspension, scheduled to last until October 1st, was intended to stem the flood of disaster related memorabilia, which the company found to be in poor taste. Unfortunately, this also resulted in hundreds of innocent auctions, listed before the tragedy, being canceled. Even charity auctions were affected. If an auction read "all proceeds go to the World Trade Center victims", the eBay search engine would find it, and cancel the auction.

After eBay announced the Auction for America campaign Monday, sellers posting on message boards at eBay and AuctionWatch.com attacked the effort and vowed not to participate. They argue that eBay has hurt their sales by forcing them to compete with the charity auction for the next 100 days - right through the heart of the holiday buying season. Buyers can choose to search only through the AHA listings, which will prevent normal auctions from appearing in the search results. Sellers also fear that buyers will choose Auction for America items over other listings, because eBay is requiring sellers to pay for shipping.

Another issue is the requirement that all payments be made through Billpoint, an on-line payment system that is a direct competitor of the more popular PayPal system. While eBay claims this was necessary to insure that all payments were processed correctly, PayPal advocates see it as a way for eBay to send new customers to its partner company.

When the Disney Charity for America auctions were announced, sellers quickly noticed that the Disney Auctions still charged the buyer for shipping, and allowed them to pick from several payment options. It became clear that Disney Auctions were exempt from the payment and shipping rules imposed on other listings. Sellers see this as a double standard, and wonder why Disney is allowed to collect and profit from shipping fees, while smaller sellers are required to donate both the product and the shipping fees.

Some eBay sellers decided to create their own charity auctions, promising to donate a certain amount from each auction to charity. eBay again stepped in, and canceled many of those listings. The company policy requires that charity auctions be listed only by approved and registered groups, but eBay has since said that they will allow such auctions to stand so long as all other listing policies are upheld. Sellers have asked to have their independent auctions appear in the AFA search results, as well as to be allowed to use the flag logo which identifies charity auctions, but eBay has not responded to their requests.

As the program has progressed this week, confusion has reigned supreme. Some sellers, eager to jump on the patriotic bandwagon, did not read the program details and did not realize that they committed to donating their item. As auctions have closed, they have been surprised to learn that they will receive nothing for their merchandise. Some sellers are still requiring buyers to pay them a separate shipping fee, and buyers are complaining about it. Veteran eBayers are bracing for a flood of negative feedback from this confusion, which can damage their rating and disqualify them from certain eBay programs.

Many eBay sellers say that this whole mess could have been avoided, had eBay just read the suggestions posted to the company message boards. Several participants suggested that an optional $1 donation added to each completed auction for the remainder of the year would yield far more than the 100 million dollars the company wants to raise, without adversely affecting the sellers. When eBay ran an opinion poll asking it's sellers if they would participate, almost 70% said no.

The strongest backlash against eBay comes from those who criticize the company for gaining press and publicity for their sponsorship of the program. They point out that, unlike other corporations who have made cash donations, eBay is not really donating their own money. Of the $100 million, only $1 million will come from eBay directly. The other $99 million will in effect be raised by the sellers who contribute the merchandise. eBay counters that claim by pointing out that they are donating the programmers, server space and computer system that makes the auctions possible.

The Auctions for America program may turn out to be eBay's biggest mistake yet. Sellers face the next hundred days trying to balance the needs of their businesses with their wish to help the survivors of this disaster. eBay will have lost the trust of many thousands of sellers, who feel the company betrayed them for a moment in the spotlight. Many have already started to look for alternate places to offer their products. In the end, the only winners may be the people who benefit from the September 11 fund.

But isn't that the point?

You can write Adrienne Vincent - Phoenix at avp@mouseplanet.com