Skip to content
Sports
Link copied to clipboard

Kobe Bryant mourners are trying to auction his memorial memorabilia online. eBay says, ‘Nope.’

Some sellers on eBay hawking keepsakes from Kobe Bryant’s public memorial hit a wall online after the auction service began removing listings for the items.

Beyonce performs at Kobe Bryant's memorial at Staples Center.
Beyonce performs at Kobe Bryant's memorial at Staples Center.Read moreArash Markazi / MCT

Some sellers on eBay hawking keepsakes from Kobe Bryant’s public memorial hit a wall online after the auction service began removing listings for the items.

The website recently began removing souvenirs such as T-shirts, tickets, and booklets given to the some 20,000 attendees of Bryant’s service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday. In a statement to TMZ, eBay noted that “we do not allow listings that attempt to profit from human tragedy or suffering.”

“Please note, due to sudden and tragic passing of Kobe Bryant — eBay has made the decision to prohibit the sale of merchandise, images, and mugs related to their passing,” an email to one seller reportedly read.

Items began appearing on the service Tuesday, the New York Post reports. Some listings, such as one that includes a T-shirt, pin, book, and ticket from the memorial service, featured starting bids as high as $3,000. Many other similar listings started at $1,000 or more, and one T-shirt even sold for more than $2,000, TMZ reports.

While souvenirs from Bryant’s public memorial were pulled from eBay, other memorabilia from his life and career can still be found on auction on the site. Various Lower Merion School District yearbooks featuring Bryant’s image, for example, are available for as much as $3,500.

» READ MORE: Kobe and Brandy's high school prom: An oral history of the Philly dance that became legend

» READ MORE: Kobe Bryant memorabilia has been cleared from Lower Merion High School. Here's what's happening to it.

Bryant, 41, and his daughter Gianna, 13, were killed late last month when a helicopter carrying them and seven others crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, Calif. and burst into flames, killing everyone on board. The group had been traveling to a basketball tournament at the Lakers star’s Mamba Sports Academy.

Following Bryant’s death, his wife, Vanessa Bryant, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company that operated the helicopter that crashed. The crash remains under investigation.

» READ MORE: Kobe Bryant’s death exposed vulnerability not usually shown by black men | Jenice Armstrong