posted on December 27, 2002 02:56:20 PM new
Dear Sellers:
Yesterday was a frustrating day for many of you trying to take full advantage of eBay's Free Listing Day. For this, we are truly sorry. It was a frustrating day as well for the AuctionWatch team. Our hardware and software handled the extra load flawlessly, but due to capacity limitations with eBay's API, not all listings were launched on time.
Much of what we all experienced yesterday is similar to what people experience when trying to purchase tickets online or over the phone for the World Series, or for a sellout concert: a form of "brown-out" where some sessions are dropped because the receiving end just cannot keep up.
In fact, all major auction management providers experienced similar issues yesterday getting listings placed onto eBay. Even sellers listing directly through eBay's listing services reported difficulties throughout the day.
eBay is aware of the API's capacity constraints and worked throughout the day to increase throughput. As the largest auction management provider, we are working closely with eBay to address these issues.
Your business is very important to us, and are truly sorry for any difficulties you had during yesterday's Free Listing Day. We wish you the best this Holiday season.
