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Technology Stocks : eBay - Superb Internet Business Model -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Doug Fowler who wrote (3999)	7/5/1999 3:02:00 AM
From: Bill Harmond	Respond to of 7772

>>the average auction is for one week That makes it clear. There was overlap before and after the outage.

To: Doug Fowler who wrote (3999)	7/5/1999 3:54:00 AM
From: FR1	Respond to of 7772

internetstocks.com EBAY'S OUTAGE WOES - AOL DÉJÀ VU? - This week eBay experienced some minor downtime problems following the major site outage that occurred earlier in June. While we continue to believe that the worst of eBay's outage problems are behind it, we acknowledge that the potential for near-term price volatility remains high, should minor downtime episodes occur as the company works to complete its planned backup system. eBay's current predicament is reminiscent of AOL's experience in late 1996 and early 1997, when the company's modem capacity could not handle the increased traffic following the institution of flat-rate pricing. While many investors abandoned it, the majority of AOL's customers did not. We believe eBay's customers, while justifiably upset by recent outages, face switching costs similar to changing email addresses. Sellers remain reluctant to abandon their eBay feedback ratings. The current level of listed auctions suggests that most of eBay's customers are sticking with them. In fact, we expect the company should report new customer growth during Q2 at least in line with our estimated 494,000 new users.

To: Doug Fowler who wrote (3999)	7/5/1999 6:49:00 AM
From: Doug Fowler	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 7772

eBay should hold seminars across the country that shows people how to sell and buy on eBay. I have long believed that listing items for sale on eBay is too complicated for a lot of users. Particularly, posting pictures is a real pain. Scanning the photo and finding out how and where to post it is cumbersome at best. eBay should offer these seminars for free (or possibly charge $49, against which posting fees are credited). eBay depends highly on serious sellers, and what better way to attract sellers than to show them EXACTLY how to do it? eBay could start out with ten major markets: New York, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco, Atlanta, DC, Boston and Seattle. Once that proves to be a success, they could move into the top 50 markets. Thoughts?