eBay Giving Works is the dedicated program for charity listings; enabling you to list items and donate part or all of the final sale price to your favorite nonprofit organizations.  It offers unique search and listing features that allow you to build your business while supporting the causes that are important to you. Since 2000, more than $86 million has been raised for charity from listings sold on eBay worldwide.

Why Give?

It is now more important than ever to support your favorite charities. This program makes it easy to connect with the nonprofit organization of your choice, completes all the paperwork, and makes the donations in your name.

eBay Giving Works is designed for use with any item sold on eBay, and is a popular option for many vehicle listings.  Just this past year the Rolling Stones donated a 2007 Mercedes-Benz S600 that sold to help the nonprofit MusiCares Foundation support the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The vehicle sold for more than $120,000.

Best of all, there is a great business case for making your next vehicle a charity listing.  You can enhance buyer trust and loyalty by aligning with a cause, building your reputation, and enhancing your position as a seller.  Of course, you will receive a receipt for your tax-deductible donations.

How It Works

Creating a charity listing is simple.  In the “Pictures and Details” section of the “Sell Your Item” form, you will be asked whether you would like to donate a percentage of your listing's final sale price to a nonprofit.  Simply click the "Add" link to select your favorite nonprofit and choose to donate anywhere from 10 percent to 100 percent of your final sale price.  Once you’ve made your selections, complete the “Sell Your Item” form and submit your listing.

Each charity listing features a distinctive blue ribbon charity icon in the title bar of the listing both in search results and on the view item page, and donation information is displayed in the item description.  eBay also offers a specialized search function, which allows buyers to choose to search only charity listings.  These features help drive new traffic to your listings, and encourage buyers to bid actively in support of your chosen cause. Best of all, if your listing sells, eBay will match your generosity with the eBay Giving Works Fee Credit Policy by issuing a credit against your basic selling fees by the same percentage you elected to donate.

Is It Easy?

Since charitable fundraising is a highly regulated area subject to numerous state and federal laws, eBay partnered with certified nonprofit organization, MissionFish, to make managing your charitable listing easy.  MissionFish manages the nonprofit directory verifies nonprofit organizations, collects and makes the donations, and provides tax receipts to sellers. 

When you create your first eBay Giving Works listing, you will be prompted to complete a one-time-only registration with MissionFish.  After registering, dealers can create a summary of their annual contributions by using the “My Donations” report from their My MissionFish account.

With so many important charities to choose from, your donation is sure to make a difference in the communities that mean the most to you.  Your tax-deductible charity listing is an easy and efficient way to support the causes you care about most, while winning over buyers and building your reputation as a dealer. 

For more information about giving back with your next sale, visit http://givingworks.ebay.com/.   If you know any local nonprofit organizations that aren’t yet registered with MissionFish, give them a call and let them know you’d like to make a donation with the next vehicle on your lot.

Vol 4, Issue 2