eBay = eBlackout

So there I was last Wednesday, getting ready to jump online around midnight to take a last crack on an eBay auction (for the inquisitive, I was bidding on the Gatchaman/Battle of the Planets "God Phoenix" spaceship. Yes, I'm a geek.) To my shock however, eBay was nowhere to be found. The mighty auction site was about as active as an East Coast air conditioner during the blackout the week prior.

Fear gripped me. What did this mean? Was eBay working elsewhere? Was some guy in Reno now the giddy owner of my coveted God Phoenix?!??! I could hear the theme song of the anime show in my head, watching as the ship flew away from me...so far away.

Turns out eBay was on the fritz for everyone. From 8:55 to 11:45 pm Pacific time, the site was experiencing their first total blackout in nearly two years, and it messed up a number of auctions and their bids.

The culprit? A short power outage at one of several computing plants eBay uses to run its massive site. eBay had to reboot everything, and that took two hours.

The company planned to credit listing fees for affected sellers. In addition, bids that were scheduled to end at the time of the blackout were extended 24 hours.