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by
Nancy L. Hix
Where were you when the lights
went out? More importantly, what happened to your active
listings when your favorite online auction site went kablooey
for a few hours? To follow is an overview of what online auction
users should know about dealing with those dreaded and
frustrating site outages.
Warning--It's
a Touchy Issue
Common sense dictates that we do not discuss malfunctioning
parachutes with skydivers. It's something from which nightmares
arise, and you just don't talk about it, lest you be
subject to stares and scorn. I've now learned that with some
online auction sellers, mentioning "site outages"
evokes a similar reaction. The question "how do you deal
with system outages?" brought me several sarcastic
responses in online auction message forums. Among the most civil
responses I received in email was "I get mad!
Hello--what did you expect, unbridled glee?"
In addition, I wanted
to know whether they lost money. I should have known what a
sensitive topic that is. I had to explain that I was
trying to get an idea about proactive measures taken by sellers.
If a site outage burned you once, what measures did you take to
prevent site outage losses again?
I concluded that there
are three types of sellers: those who act, those who react, and
those who are tired of worrying about site outages and have
adapted a comfortably passive attitude.
Reactive
Approach
Several sellers reported emailing the auction site to air their
frustration over potential lost sales due to the outage. The
consensus among sellers is that the site should issue refunds
without users having to request them. Unfortunately, at least
one auction site specifies that requesting a refund is the only
way you'll get your money back, so reacting is necessary if you
hope to get anywhere.
Message board users
share misery with company. Vendio member mrssantaclaus directed
me to a thread where they held an "outage party"
online. In this particular Message Center thread, members posted
their photos so their online cohorts could put a face to a name.
Other outage party threads call for jokes, recipes, or any topic
worthy of sharing with other auction sellers to help keep their
minds off their lost bids.
Proactive
Measures
Anticipating site outages is an unfortunate but necessary
approach when listing high-value items. Wary sellers start their
minimum bids at their absolute price floor, knowing through
experience that the site sometimes "goes down."
Another precaution against downtime is setting a reserve price.
Though unpopular with bidders, sellers can sugarcoat it with a
simple disclaimer in their auction descriptions:
"Modest reserve
set to protect my investment in the event of a site
outage."
A few sellers also
state in their descriptions that they reserve the right to
cancel bids and restart the auction if there's a system outage.
The
Passive Stand
Although it's a very sore subject, the most popular attitude
among users seems to be accepting outages as part of online
auction life. Dudlee, an eBay seller, has decided to take them
in stride. "I don't watch eBay downtime as close as I
probably should. I just think of it as the cost of doing
business," he said. "In over two years, I have applied
for credits three times and only once received $1.50 in refunded
fees. They denied my request the other two times. It just isn't
worth it to chase them down for that small amount of money. If I
had the time, however, I'd be on them like a diaper on a baby's
butt, just on principle. Unfortunately, I don't have the
time."
Users
Talk About Outages
Gail, an eBay user, thinks optimistically about site downtime.
"When eBay is down, I take that time to prepare new
auctions, crop pictures, and write descriptions," she said
in a message forum. "I make it a positive experience. My
life is not over when eBay is down. It happens whether I get
angry about it or not."
Rob Broder would rather
have no bids at all than have to sell something below its actual
value. "If there are no bids," he said, "at least
I can relist it. If there is a bid, I have to wonder how much
higher it would have gone if the site had stayed up. I've had
auctions end during an outage where I'm sure they'd have gone
higher. But, of course, you never really know, do you?"
"I share Dudlee's
point of view," said Serenity, an eBay seller and Web
designer. "I have neither the time nor the inclination to
watch the clock on eBay and spend my time applying for the
credit. If I lose an hour on one (and yes it might have been
sniped, but then again maybe not) and gain a day on another, I'm
fine."
Amazon.com Auctions
sellers don't seem to worry much about site outages because
Amazon.com doesn't experience many. Amazon.com plans and
announces its downtime, and it usually happens during the night
(at least for U.S. users). Sellers know to plan their auction
closings to avoid problems arising from site unavailability. I
never heard back from Yahoo Auctions about its site outage
policy, and another auction site sent me on a Catch-22 mission
through email roads that led me nowhere. It's apparently as
taboo a subject for them as it is for online auction sellers.
Do
the Sites Help?
eBay's
outage policy is clearly defined. The site has provisions
for both title search outages and "hard" outages. A
title search outage means that potential bidders can't access
listings with a search because of unscheduled system problems.
If a title search outage lasts more than one hour, eBay issues
credits as they apply under its posted policy. A hard outage is
when no one can bid because of unscheduled downtime. If the hard
outage lasts more than an hour, eBay "automatically credits
all associated fees for affected listings." If the hard
outage lasts more than two hours, eBay also automatically
extends all listings by 24 hours. Users can end the auctions
early if they don't want the extra time.
Many online auction
sites make no amends for disruptions in service, and expect
sellers to accept system downtime as another tough break in the
auction game. These sites clearly state so in their terms and
conditions pages. For example, "This site cannot guarantee
continuous, uninterrupted, or secure access to our services and
cannot compensate losses incurred as a result. Operation of our
site is subject to interference by factors outside of our
control." In other words, if the site snoozes, the seller
looses.
It's clear that eBay
has the best site outage policy, probably because they have the
most site disruptions, which is one downside of being the most
trafficked online auction site.
The
Upside of Outages
Yes, there is a positive side to all this--that is, if you
follow the advice of Vendio member outoftheblue: "Become a
buyer. I've had some of my best deals right after downtimes if
the auctions are not extended."
Well, at least that's
comforting.
Back to Auction tips &
tactics
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