YAET: Why does eBay NOT keep the auctions past 30 days?

fs5

Lifer
Jun 10, 2000
11,774
1
0
It would make a great research tool. The more information you have the better right? What is their reasoning behind not keeping the auctions besides storage issues. If google can cache the web then why can't eBay store old auctions?
 
Feb 24, 2001
14,513
4
81
Figure there's a few million items for sale at any one time. Probably hard enough on servers just doing a search going back 30 days...not to mention the storage space. Especially once you factor in pictures and stuff they host.
 

dman

Diamond Member
Nov 2, 1999
9,110
0
76
Just donate them an old PC with a 160GB HDD that should do it.

Or, They could just charge double fees and go 60days, I mean, cmon.

Seriously though, prices >30days ago aren't really that helpful, even 1-2weeks things trend differently.
 

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,751
595
126
I assumed it was a storage space issue as well. As popular as ebay is...30 days is probably a hell of a lot of data.
 

Ness

Diamond Member
Jul 10, 2002
5,407
2
0
For anyone that bids on the auction... if they have an email sent to them I think the item description is in there, too. So anyone that placed a bid should still have the info they need.
 

Childs

Lifer
Jul 9, 2000
11,313
7
81
Too much strain on the DB. What they could do is clone it with another set of systems and send archive searches to the other DB, but the added cost probably doesn't justify the service. The whole auction thing is supposed to be fluid, so perhaps they don't want people doing price comparisons for any given item.
 

KevinF

Senior member
Aug 25, 2000
952
0
0
Childs, I think you're right about eBay wanting to make it more difficult. If there were indefiniate archives, maybe it would be possible to chart price movements for items and aggregates and low when to buy/sell. Damn. Sounds like that could be a fun project. Another example of eBay making information less accessible is the fact that you now need a registered account to search completed auctions.
 

vegetation

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2001
4,270
2
0
They're just waiting for people to get pissed enough then introduce a new pricing scheme, say 25 cents extra to have your auction listed in the history for each additional week. Only a matter of time.
 

gsaldivar

Diamond Member
Apr 30, 2001
8,691
1
81
By keeping the size of the database down, customers' queries are processed quickly without the need for an extraordinary hardware investment.
 

fs5

Lifer
Jun 10, 2000
11,774
1
0
you guys fail to realize that google/yahoo/any search engine has caches of webpages and their search engines search probably 1000x more data than eBay's servers do. I'm sure they're just trying to make information less accessible, but I don't know what the reason is.
 

gsaldivar

Diamond Member
Apr 30, 2001
8,691
1
81
Originally posted by: fivespeed5
you guys fail to realize that google/yahoo/any search engine has caches of webpages and their search engines search probably 1000x more data than eBay's servers do. I'm sure they're just trying to make information less accessible, but I don't know what the reason is.

OK... they're doing it to spite you.
 

acemcmac

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
13,712
1
0
they archive EVERYTHING and ENCOURAGE law enforcement to request access to their databases... there is NO reason why it shouldnt all be public...
 

fs5

Lifer
Jun 10, 2000
11,774
1
0
Originally posted by: acemcmac
they archive EVERYTHING and ENCOURAGE law enforcement to request access to their databases... there is NO reason why it shouldnt all be public...

I agree... the information there is invaluble to sellers.. they can watch auction trends or price drops and peaks.

Not to mention it would be invalube to pop culture... I mean we could look at what was auctioned off during 9/11, or how much people paid for lebron james jerseys, or all those other stupid eBay auctions would be stored forever.
 

isasir

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2000
8,609
0
0
Originally posted by: fivespeed5
Originally posted by: acemcmac
they archive EVERYTHING and ENCOURAGE law enforcement to request access to their databases... there is NO reason why it shouldnt all be public...

I agree... the information there is invaluble to sellers.. they can watch auction trends or price drops and peaks.

Not to mention it would be invalube to pop culture... I mean we could look at what was auctioned off during 9/11, or how much people paid for lebron james jerseys, or all those other stupid eBay auctions would be stored forever.

Yes, but does either of these reasons get extra income for E-Bay, the for-profit company?

BTW, it's spelled 'valuable'. I should know... I still remember misspelling it in fifth grade during a spelling contest... :eek:
 

fs5

Lifer
Jun 10, 2000
11,774
1
0
Originally posted by: isasir
Yes, but does either of these reasons get extra income for E-Bay, the for-profit company?

Actually yes, it would give sellers more information on what to sell, what hot trends were, give them ideas etc etc.... Which would in turn bring more auctions->more fees->more closing fees