Thursday, October 25, 2007

Ah, but what an ash ...

Posted @ 2:06 PM

File this under the category "Why are we not surprised?"

Ash purported to be from the San Diego wildfires is up for auction on eBay.

It claims to be not just ash "scooped from a pile of rubble" but ashes that fell from the sky in the midst of the firestorms.

The starting price is $9.30. The seller says that 50 percent of the final bid will be donated to the American Red Cross.

So far, there have been no takers. -- Debbi Baker

Postscript: As of 4 p.m. eBay had taken down the offer.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

great idea! i'll put up my toenail clippings later tonight. no reserve! bidding starts at $1!

*end sarcasm*

Unknown said...

whoever is doing this should be tied up and horse whipped.

Anonymous said...

Whoever buys this should be tied up and horse whipped.

Anonymous said...

what a *insert metaphor* idiot!!!

Anonymous said...

ebay!! why are they allowing such things to put be up for sale? is there no kind of screening when somebody does something stupid like this....???

Anonymous said...

Dont you have to have a real estate license to sell a home

Anonymous said...

Is this guy SICK or what???

Anonymous said...

We, the users, are the screeners. If you are offended by this, please report this listing to eBay to have it pulled down. This is a prohibited item and offensive item having been produced by or linked to disastrous or tragic events. 50While 50% of the proceeds go to the Red Cross, someone else is making 50% of the profits. Besides being offensive, it is hazardous as well. The listing is here
http://cgi.ebay.com/San-Diego-Southern-California-FireStorm-2007-ASH-Ashes_W0QQitemZ280166479869QQihZ018QQcategoryZ1468QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

At the bottom of the page is a link "Report this item" you may proceed from there.

-Jeff in Santee

Anonymous said...

Well, some folks do tout Capitalism as the American way...and that is exactly what this is. On one hand they will excuse corporations for giving limited benefits & lower pay while their CEOs get rich, and on the other, cry about someone selling ashes on Ebay. You either are for Capitalism or you aren't. I for one think the greedy corporations are worse than this opportunist...but this is pretty poor as well.

Anonymous said...

The ashes I've seen falling are pure white or a very light grey, NOT black like in that picture.

Anonymous said...

Whoever is trying to sell the ash is not that smart as they spell almost everything incorrectly. It is disgusting what people will do just to make a profit. If you go on EBAY you can get his email address and bombard him with messages.

Anonymous said...

Idiot!!!!!

Unknown said...

Why is everyone so up in arms about this?

Big deal... the guy is selling ash. If anything, point and laugh at the person who buys it. If noone buys it, then point and laugh at the person who thought someone *would* buy it.

Either way, umm... it's just ash. It's not like he's selling someone's charred corpse.

Anonymous said...

Only in America!

Anonymous said...

only in san diego. must be a pb resident.

Dave said...

It has been removed.

Anonymous said...

I do not see any problem with someone selling ash on ebay. If someone wants to buy it then so what. Nothing offensive about selling the ashes. No different than this paper buying photos of burned down houses from private photographers.

Anonymous said...

The auction was removed by eBay officials.

Anonymous said...

eBay, myspace, youtube.....next week the lions v. cristians are on Spike. This is not my planet.

Anonymous said...

For those of you who think this is not wrong are all idiots!!! Have some empathy for what these victims are going through and hopefully it's not their house that's being sold!!

Anonymous said...

Does this count as looting? seriously... sure, 50% goes to the Red Cross, but the other 50% goes in the auctioners pocket! if you're going to pretend to do something for a good cause, at least give ALL of it to a good cause! this is sickening--profiting off other people's losses!

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable. This disgusts me! Surely, this person has never come home to a pile of rubble, and have the feeling of total loss.

Anonymous said...

You are not allowed to post anything for auction on eBay for charity. It is against the user rules. This auction has been removed, most likely because of that.

As far as the morality issue, I think it is insensitive. Nobody tried to sell Katrina flood waters.

Anonymous said...

Someone needs to get a life!

Anonymous said...

When I was a little kid, my friend had a jar of ash that her grandparents had sent to her from Mt. St. Helens' explosion. I thought it was really cool. Yet people died and lost property in that incident too. So, I don't think that selling ash from the fires is in bad taste. I wouldn't say that I would pay for it, however, but if someone else wants it, more power too them!

Anonymous said...

I had a typo in the last sentence. "to", not "too"

Anonymous said...

BUT WAIT!!! If you call in the next 15 minutes we will include with your order some genuine San Diego air! Impress your friends (with your stupidity)!

Anonymous said...

wtf how can you guys be so pissy about this. its just ash. its probably ash that he found on the top of his car. who cares. theres nothing disrespectful about selling it. calm down.

Anonymous said...

Did anyone else stop to think.. maybe he's selling his own house!!

Anonymous said...

I have a large baggie of ashes from the Mt. Helens eruption from 1980. So, are those not worth something?

Everything has a value, and I don't find selling ashes of this kind offensive.

Anonymous said...

SUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!! I paid 8.50 on Craigslist.........LOL


What some people will do to make a buck

Anonymous said...

"BUT WAIT!!! If you call in the next 15 minutes we will include with your order some genuine San Diego air!"

I'll send you a gram of that fine San Diego beach sand.

If you're going to sell ANYTHING for "donations", why don't these morons just give it all to the fire department? Many San Diegans are fine, the majority of their needs are short term anyways.

Anonymous said...

To all of you, "LIGHTEN UP." (No pun intended).

Anonymous said...

So, San Diegans not only are too cheap to buy fire engines, they are too full of themselves to laugh at it.