eBay buyers and sellers were affected by the bad weather brought by recent Hurricanes in Florida, and some sellers tried to capitalize on the storms. A search on Tuesday for "Hurricane Frances" turned up 213 items for sale, including "I survived Hurricane Frances" T-shirts, pins and photos. eBay auctions for hurricane "wind" made national news (http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=2269740) and even public radio (http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3893575).

Some sellers reported in auction descriptions that they were selling personal items to pay for repairs of damage caused by the hurricane. Others promised a percentage of proceeds would go to the American Red Cross charitable organization.

eBay updated its August 16th announcement board posting on Hurricane Charley, which had warned users to expect delays if trading with members from affected areas. Tuesday's post warned users to expect more delays caused by Hurricane Frances, which has been downgraded and continues to move northward along the eastern part of the United States, leaving many without electricity.