Would you trust off the shelf auction scripts

[ade234uk]

I'm in a position where we purchased an off the shelf auction script for work. Its getting very busy on the site, 20,000 - 25,000 page views a day at the moment and getting bigger.

Under this sort of pressure you to start to notice problems with the site.

The package cost around £90.00 and I keep saying what do you expect.

In your overall opinion, what would you do next?

My first question is, would you trust an off the shelf product?

Do you not think its now time to look at a bespoke option?

[NogDog]

Bespoke does not guarantee better quality than off-the-shelf. It usually guarantees a higher cost, though. The problem with either choice is finding the solution that will provide the functionality, quality, reliability, and support that you need within the price that you can afford.

At one extreme you have a custom solution developed for you by an established, proven software company, figuring the cost will be based on a premium hourly rate for the labor involved, plus support and installation costs, plus profit margin resulting in something quite a bit more than $90.00. 😉

At the other extreme is finding an open-source script on-line that you download and install. If you are really, really lucky, it does everythng you need without serious bugs or security holes.

Then there is everything in between, such as a COTS package for maybe a couple thousand dollars that includes installation on your site and some period of support. Or maybe you hire a consultant to take some promising COTS package and take care of the installation, configuration, customization, and bug-fixing issues that arise, either as a full-time employee or on-call as needed.

Which solution will end up most profitable for you? I wish I knew how to answer that with any degree of accuracy. If I could, I'd be rich now from selling my services as a consultant. 🙂