Story Published:
Oct 25, 2004 at 1:53 PM PST
Story Updated:
Aug 31, 2006 at 12:36 AM PST
SEATTLE - "Live strong".
That's Lance Armstrong's motto. America is going ga-ga over his bracelets that spell out those two hopeful words.
Price tag? One dollar. The cause? Priceless. All the money goes to cancer research.
People wear the bracelets to honor someone they know who has cancer. They're very hard to get. In fact Lance Armstrong's Web site says it'll take three or four weeks for delivery.
Which brings us to the yucky part of this story. It's about the heartless people out there who are peddling the yellow bracelets on-line.
They buy low. Sell high. And they keep the money.
Last we checked, someone was selling an Armstrong bracelet for $9.99 on eBay. That's a 1000 percent mark up.
"What I don't like if there's any deception involved," said breast cancer survivor Trish May. "People are exploiting and taking advantage of it, especially for a charity."
May is the perfect person to talk about this. That's because Trish's bottled water company, Athena Partners, sells pink bracelets at Tullys for $1 a bracelet. Every penny goes to breast cancer research. She says don't think Lance Armstrong's charity is the only one exploited.
"They sold my bracelet on eBay for $4.25," says May who wouldn't mind it if the person profiting would turn around and donate the cast to cancer research.
After all that's what the bracelets are meant for. Not so that someone can make a fast buck.
If you're interested in buying the pink bracelets for breast cancer research go to www.athenapartners.org
Lance Armstrong's Web site is www.laf.org