The donation reflecting her purchases should arrive by the end of October. At least 20 similar charity shopping Web sites have sprouted since 1997, claiming to help nonprofits profit from the E-commerce craze. The sites promise to donate a portion of the money you spend on merchandise to a designated charity. It sounds like easy altruism, but sometimes you're not giving as much as you think, and you may not know whether you're giving to a legitimate charity. Like other E-commerce sites, the charity sites gather links to virtual retailers.
Shoppers pick from a charity menu.
A Special Olympics supporter seeking Pok mon paraphernalia might click on the link to eToys and be taken to the online store's home page. Merchant rebates usually range from 3 percent to 25 percent of a product's price. Most charity sites keep a fraction of the rebates as profit and give the rest to the causes. This is marketing. An August poll shows 2 out of 3 Americans prefer buying from firms associated with worthy causes.