Online vendors provide aid to disaster victims

auctionPAL.com, an online retail "middleman" , has set up a program where users auction off their goods with the proceeds going to relief efforts in Myanmar and China.

The site joins the efforts of Web giants like Google, which offers its eponymous checkouts linked to UNICEF and Direct Relief International aid programs for the Myanmar cyclone.

With each visit to auctionpal.com/donate, users first appraise the items they'd like to donate (only donations valued at over $50 are accepted), then photos can be uploaded. AuctionPAL then sends all necessary packing and shipping materials to the user, and DHL comes to pick items up.

Eighty-five percent of the proceeds from the sale will be sent to relief efforts in Asia, with the remainder used to cover shipping and eBay listing costs.

Between the months of February and March, auctionPAL reported a 66% increase in sales listings, a 50% spike versus previous growth trends. Billing itself as a service to help "novices" sell their goods online, the site's recent coverage on ABC's Good Morning America no doubt caught the eye of many of online retail amateurs, and will likely continue the site's growth, perhaps providing much needed charitable donations in the process.