Online giants Amazon, eBay and Etsy are joining retailers Walmart and Sears in banning the sale of items featuring images of the Confederate flag, as a wave of opposition to the divisive historical symbol builds in the wake of a racially motivated massacre in Charleston, South Carolina, last week.

On Tuesday afternoon, Amazon became the latest in a string of high-profile companies to step away from the sales. Ebay had earlier issued a statement saying the flag had become a “contemporary symbol of divisiveness and racism” and the decision matched company policy “that prohibits items that promote or glorify hatred, violence and racial intolerance”.

Confederate flags and related memorabilia featuring the symbol were still available for sale on the sites on Tuesday afternoon as the companies set about implementing their new policies.

Etsy, too, cited a company policy that prohibits items “that promote, support or glorify hatred and these items fall squarely into that category”.

On Amazon, nearly 30,000 confederate items returned in a search shortly after they announced the updated policy. Early in the day on Tuesday, Etsy sellers offered an array of homemade confederate merchandise that included a personalized flask, stickers, nail art and jewelry.

On Tuesday afternoon, Amazon became the latest in a string of high-profile companies like Walmart, Sears and eBay, to step away from the sales

Despite its new policy on Confederate symbols, however, eBay sells plenty of Ku Klux Klan-themed objects, Nazi memorabilia depicting swastikas and items such as a tee shirt listed as “funny cute” that says “White Pride”.

Walmart had earlier said it would remove Confederate-themed merchandise from its stores and website. Its chief executive told CNN that he was surprised his company even sold such items.

Meanwhile reports emerged of a rush to buy Confederate flags, which are still widely available, amid fears that impending scarcity as criticism of the symbol grows.

Mall retailer Sears, which also runs value chain Kmart, said it did not offer such items in stores and would cease selling them via third party vendors on its website.

Charleston murder suspect Dylann Roof, accused of killing nine people at the Emanuel AME church last week, has been shown in pictures holding the Confederate flag.