Confederate flags are “selling like crack” on eBay although the online auction giant announced it would “prohibit the sale” of the flags following the June 17 attack on Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Vocativ reports that one seller–Paul Riley–sold enough flags to “clear almost $20,000 in sales” on Confederate flags alone. He also sold the flags at a rapid pace for the first part of this year, until eBay shut him down on June 2. They shut him down after the flag sales were uncovered by Vocativ.
Yet Vocativ has already discovered that other Confederate flag merchants remain.
eBay spokesman Ryan Moore assured Vocativ that eBay does have mechanisms in place to help detect Confederate flag sales. Moore said, “We do have keyword filters in place to address prohibited items of this nature, as well as other proactive means to monitor the site.” But these mechanisms are clearly not catching all Confederate flag merchants.
On June 24, 2015–just one week after the attack on Emanuel A.M.E.–USA Today reported eBay was joining Amazon, Walmart, and others in ending Confederate flag sales. eBay spokesman Johnna Hoff said, “We believe it has become a contemporary symbol of divisiveness and racism.”
But to date, Vocativ says the flags are still being sold by various eBay merchants.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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