I remember when Gmail was available via invite only. Back then I wanted Gmail so very badly. I searched the Internet for places that offered free invites and I would always turn up just a few minutes short from getting my hands on an invite.
It wasn’t long after when I discovered that people were selling their Gmail Invites on eBay. I checked it out and saw Gmail Invites selling on eBay Buy It Now in excess of over $200 dollars. (I hope there will be a reader who’ll drop a comment who remembers this, I don’t want people thinking that I am nuts) Over $200 dollars for a Gmail Invite! Amazing! The sick thing about this is the fact that people were buying!
Gmail Invites became a huge commodity item and people were paying big bucks for invites. The average price on eBay for Gmail Invites was around $25 bucks. Some auctions were extremely high priced, others were much cheaper (e.g. $5 dollars) The lower priced auctions went quick. The BIN’s would close in a matter of minutes upon being available. It was a dog eat dog world on eBay.
Soon there after, competition started to kick in. Everyone wanted to make money off their invites and as more invites were made available bulk auctions started happening. It was long until you’d find and search for auctions using the “Batch of Gmail Invites” or “Gmail Invites Bulk”, etc… These auctions were really cool and the average price was 10 invites for $25 bucks.
Admittedly, that is how I got my first Gmail Account. I was very patient and refreshed the category page on eBay where the invites were being listed, and I found a BIN for one Gmail Invite for .99c and purchased it. Within about five minutes the seller sent me my Gmail Invite. I as so freaking excited!
Signing up for Gmail for the very first time was awesome. I remember just like it was yesterday how much I loved the interface and how I had the instant feeling of calling Gmail my primary email service. Still to this day I use the original email address created using the Gmail Invite purchased on eBay, GarryConn@Gmail.com.
Drop a comment and tell everyone how you started using Gmail and what made it sound so appealing to you.
I’ll leave you with a really cool Russian video I found on YouTube. Be sure to watch this, it’s really cool.
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Date/Time: 3-15-2008 10:53:49 Comment #12454
That video was totally insane!
I was invited to gmail pretty early, I think! I never knew invites were put up for sale. Maybe I could have earned a few pennies for my self.
That video was insane. I widh I could have read what they were talking about on GTalk. I also wish that little men came on and changed the page when you wanted. Maybe one day you will be able to add the crazy russian artisits skin to Gmail!
Date/Time: 3-15-2008 12:02:47 Comment #12459
here is same video with English subtitles:
Date/Time: 3-16-2008 07:08:49 Comment #12474
Very cool video! Wow, that’s the first I’ve heard about the selling of Gmail Invites on Ebay too! I received one from my sister very early on, but then ended up deleting the account because I wasn’t using it. I know, I’m stilling you Yahoo, it is an account my hubby and I have had together for about 10 years now. I do have a personal Gmail account now though.
Date/Time: 3-16-2008 09:55:40 Comment #12481
I’ve been using GMail for a good 2 or 3 years now, seems like it anyway, I managed to get an invite early on like you and ever since I’ve been using leaving behind Outlook – online webmail with Google is just so much better than Outlook and other webmail in my opinion!