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Technology Stocks : OnSale Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Pauly who wrote (923)	3/17/1998 9:54:00 PM
From: William Vu	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4903

>Since ONSL recently received its 4 millionth bid, this means they >have already >received 1 million bids in the first quarter, compared to 728,000 for >the whole 4th quarter. More bids means more orders means more >revenue. What does a bid means ? Just a click on a computer keyboard. And the number of sales, does it tell much? How can you see differences between a sale of a $5000 laptop and $5 extension cord in this number? There is no more illuminating example of deceiving statistics than this one (not yours, though). Remember, that ONSL earns just 1% on items valued $1000 or more. A person can make hundreds bids and did not buy anything, or just a little (like an extension cord). He does not have to pay for bids, neither has he a limited number of bids for one purchase. It is no surprise that the number of registered bidders also increased. Here, I can guarantee you that this number never decreases (o:. And ONSL has become so famous lately. AOL is of course a phenomenon. But with a help of best microscopes I could not find anything in ONSL business which has a remote resemblance to that of AOL. To compare ONSL with AOL is like, say, comparing apple with , hmm, with cabbage. It might be better to compare ONSL with, say, AMZN, or PTVL, or IBUY, all being online stores. But, there is a difference. First, there is much larger room for expansion and improvement in business models like that of AMZN, PTVL, IBUY, there is a possibility of franchising, for instance. The room for expansion in businesses like ONSL is obviously limited, by its own nature of merchandise brokers and reseller of discounted and refurbished products. Second, outsiders do not know what is happening inside companies like AMZN, PTVL, IBUY, except for relying on company press releases and their (and analysts') interpretation of these press releases, and they have to rely on these informations in evaluating stocks. With ONSL, you can check their daily revenues, and estimate their growth with a fairly accurate degree of exactness. Thus, sooner rather than later, people will get a truer picture of what in fact ONSL is as a business. But, you are right. In this battle between sanity and insanity, insanity still prevails, and the longs are still having joy. By the way, I am just a lurker. William

To: Pauly who wrote (923)	3/17/1998 10:03:00 PM
From: William Vu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4903

Pauly, are you working for ONSALE? I am just curious that your profile shows that you just registered to SI today. By the way, I am a customer of ONSALE and I am generally a satisfied customer. William

To: Pauly who wrote (923)	3/19/1998 9:34:00 AM
From: William Vu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4903

Pauly: Is it not true that the ONSALE management sent you to this thread in order to hype the ONSL stock? >I'm sure the ONSL shorts would also have had negative comments about >AOL a few > years back, and now look where AOL is: only one of the best >performing stocks over > the last 4 years. My patience has limit but I shall try to explain that ONSL is not in any way similar to AOL and cannot be compared. AOL product is internet service. Like coke that you drinks, marlboro that you smokes, you use AOL every day if you are its customer. Thus you pay everyday, every minute (in the form of monthly fee). ONSL is in completely different business, yet you always try to relate them with the purpose to mislead the naive and ignorant investors who read this forum. William