News: Katrina Memorabelia on eBay

Source: South Bend (Indiana) Tribune

Here’s a bright idea: a Hurricane Katrina memorial light switch cover. It’ll cost you 10 bucks. No? How about a Katrina relief bracelet, or several hundred, in as many colors as a box of Lucky Charms? Not so much?

Maybe a can of Anheuser-Busch drinking water. The can says “Not for sale,” but evidently everything has its price. In this case, on eBay, it’s $3.75 (plus $4.50 shipping and handling). Since Aug. 29, hundreds of items related to the monster storm have popped up on eBay, the online powerhouse of redistribution.

Type in “Hurricane Katrina” and you’ll find T-shirts, bumper stickers, copies of The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune and National Geographic, dice from the very grounded Copa Casino. Perhaps you’d fancy an elongated commemorative penny, yours for only $1.35, plus 50 cents for shipping. Or a pinky finger splint, from the guy who went outside to light a cigarette during the storm – yes, he really did – and got a door slammed on his hand.

But by far the most common auction items are pictures and photo CDs of the damage. Most appear to have been offered by survivors to raise a little cash, usually $10 or so. Can’t blame them. Baseball cards, artwork and lapel pins are among many items whose sale proceeds will benefit storm relief efforts. eBay vets donation requests through its charity platform, Giving Works, and identifies such items with a blue-and-yellow ribbon symbol. If Sellers want to raise money otherwise, they must post an authorization letter from a charity.

Here are some of the auctions for the items listed above:

Anheuser-Busch Drinking Water
Copa Casino Dice
Smashed Copper Penny
My Heart’s in New Orleans T-Shirt

Here are some more Hurricane Katrina memorabelia auctions (tasteful ones, out of respect for those who suffered from this disaster):

Mississippi Hurricane Katrina Memorial Pin