Originally Posted by
emporiumdays
........ a massive influx of buyers and sellers will knock most of our socks off
Well that's the thing Al, it would.
But I could also understand if Gazza & Mark were equally concerned about having their socks affected in the same way. Embarking on an all out promotion of eBid could be exciting and all that, but if things failed to go to plan (I'm talking about servers and other support hardware), then it could be embarassing.
The difference with eBay (having always been in 'leading' territory) is that it was able to grow with it's infrastructure hand in hand with membership growth.
With eBid however, (having been playing 'catch up'), the growth required to take on eBay would have to be rapid and as you've said 'opportunistic' given the way things currently are.
Even assuming that that's what Gazza & Mark want, I could easily understand apprehension at such instant growth. Getting sellers and buyers to arrive en mass virtually overnight would provide the 'critical mass' needed for creating a self sustaining auction site. But the question is "Could an overight success be managed adequately given the sudden strain on everything."
It would be a bit like having spent years tuning a car's engine to idle well and turning over smoothly at low revs.
But if it were to become a 'winner' - (by travelling at high speed), well, puting the pedal to the floor may suddenly reveal design problems when it's asked to perform at high speed.
Does this make sense - or am I just raving on?
(I've got to hit the hay - it's late over here in Oz)