diff --git a/wcs_olap/cmd.py b/wcs_olap/cmd.py
index 9e6ceb8..d5c070d 100644
--- a/wcs_olap/cmd.py
+++ b/wcs_olap/cmd.py
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ def main2():
             schema = defaults['schema']
             pg_dsn = defaults['pg_dsn']
             slugs = defaults.get('slugs', '').strip().split() or getattr(args, 'slug', [])
-            batch_size = int(defaults.get('batch_size', 1000))
+            batch_size = int(defaults.get('batch_size', 500))
         except KeyError, e:
             failure = True
             logger.error('configuration incomplete for %s: %s', url, e)
diff --git a/wcs_olap/wcs_api.py b/wcs_olap/wcs_api.py
index ec29285..047f1e9 100644
--- a/wcs_olap/wcs_api.py
+++ b/wcs_olap/wcs_api.py
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ class Category(BaseObject):
 
 
 class WcsApi(object):
-    def __init__(self, url, orig, key, verify=True, slugs=None, batch_size=1000):
+    def __init__(self, url, orig, key, verify=True, slugs=None, batch_size=500):
         self.url = url
         self.orig = orig
         self.key = key