Thursday, June 10, 2004

Supply Meets Demand... but for how long?

When Gmail accounts first found their way onto eBay they sold for over $200 a pop. Well supply finally caught up with demand when earlier this week it appears that every gmail user was given an invite to distribute as they saw fit. When I jumped over to eBay the last night there were over 3000 accounts up for sale and most accounts are now selling for between $15 and $25.

Yet I wonder how long this equilibrium will last. The rush to sell accounts on eBay was almost instantaneous... it was like anyone that really wanted to sell their next invite knew that they should run to eBay as soon as they could to sell it. When this initial rash of accounts gets sold off we could very well be headed back to a shortage until Google decides to open the flood gates again. Heck, the number of listings is already down to 2600 and falling fast.

So if you are looking to sell your Gmail account, I would recommend holding off until this surge of listings gets through.

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