Sports: For someone, price is right

For someone, price is right

The interest - and the cost - is high for Earnhardt-related items.

By GREG AUMAN

In what has become a morbid aftermath to the sudden deaths of prominent sports figures, demand for Dale Earnhardt memorabilia skyrocketed at online auction sites Monday, one day after the popular NASCAR driver was killed.

Anything Earnhardt-related drew a frenzy of interest -- ordinary items that didn't draw bids as low as $1 last week were selling at premiums. A search for "Earnhardt" yielded more than 30,000 items, including:

A "race-worn" driver's suit sold for $9,100. After not drawing a $5,000 minimum bid for nearly five days, the auction drew 14 bids after 8 p.m. Sunday.

An Earnhardt trading card from 1995 -- the same as one that sold for $3 last week -- sold for $127. An autographed version sold for $830.

Die-cast miniature versions of Earnhardt's No. 3 car, posted days ago with $1 minimum bids, were among the biggest sellers. One auction drew 110 bids, selling 18 cars for $28 each.

An Earnhardt Christmas ornament made by Hallmark, dozens of which sold in the $3-$6 range in recent weeks, sold for $177. More than 60 ornaments have been posted for auction since.

For obvious reasons, autographed items were the most coveted. Autographed 8x10 photos that might have drawn $30-$60 last week sold for as high as $760 and $900. Most startling, perhaps, is the number of people selling the items -- the number of autographed Earnhardt items up for auction increased tenfold in the 24 hours after the race.

Local interest was high as well. Jeff Priebe, owner of J&M Racing Collectibles on West Shore Boulevard in Tampa, said he opened an hour early at 7 a.m. Monday after fielding several Earnhardt-related calls Sunday night.

"It's been ultra-heavy, phones constantly ringing, a steady flow of customers," said Priebe, who had sold out of 2001 Earnhardt die-cast cars by 9 a.m.

In the past year, Earnhardt memorabilia had been his best seller by a 10-1 margin over rivals such as Jeff Gordon, he said. His store has sold NASCAR merchandise for 11 years, and he has noticed interest after racing deaths with drivers such as Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin, but never to this extent.

"Nobody has his popularity, and it's a love-hate thing with Earnhardt," said Priebe, who had several customers in tears Monday. "Even the fans who hate him come in and buy Earnhardt just because it's him."

Priebe said he kept his prices at their list value, even though customers told him of other stores doubling or tripling prices.

With such a large amount of items introduced for auction, the high values seen online Monday likely are a thing of the past. Auctions at eBay.com run for a minimum of three days, though a "Buy It Now" feature on eBay allows bidders in certain auctions to purchase items immediately at a higher price. That feature has more than 20 Earnhardt items posted with a minimum bid of $1,000 or higher, including a die-cast model car commemorating his 1998 victory at the Daytona 500, which was purchased for $2,000. "Don't bid if you're not gonna pay," the listing read. "Legal means will be took to make you pay."