I received a letter from an irate eBay user after sending out the AuctionBytes-Update newsletter today. "How can you send a newsletter out on Sunday without even mentioning the ebaylive meltdown on Saturday. Ebay tried to ignore it, downplay it and then pretend they had fixed it - which they had NOT."

eBay Live Auctions is a separate place on eBay that has a high-end feel to it. It uses technology that allows auction houses to accept online bid as an auction is going on in real life, but eBay Live Auctions can also be strictly online through eBay, like the GoAntiques auctions. Like real-life auctions, bidders on auctions held through eBay Live Auctions pay a buyer's premium, and the auction house may impose restrictions on bidders.

If you read eBay's account of Saturday's technical problems, it does not sound like a "meltdown." However, I went to eBay's discussion board dedicated to Live Auctions and found a thread that discussed the problem and demonstrates how a technical problem on eBay can cost sellers real dollars.

A bidder of an auction that was taking place in Pennsylvania said he or she had lost out on items they had bid on using the eBay Live Auctions system. "Not only does this affect the bidder, but they (the auction house) lost countless number of bids because so many people, like myself, rely on ebay to participate in live auctions. I was puzzled why pristine Civil War gowns estimated at thousands of dollars closed at $325. I thought it was a misprint!"