Va. Dale Earnhardt was popular as heck in life. Just ask eBay. The auction Web site reports the number of Earnhardt items for sale on its site jumped from about 3,000 before he was killed in a tragic crash on Sunday, to roughly 91,000 on Wednesday.
Experts say the value of items can double, triple or quadruple after a big star's death.
But while some consumers collect for profit, others collect for love. When we have no real connection, we try to find something tangible to hold on to. Executives at Action Performance find themselves in a moral quandary. They want to do the right thing, but the exclusive maker of Earnhardt die-cast cars is not certain what that is. Orders and requests from fans and retailers keep coming in, says R. David Martin, chief financial officer.