eBay Forcing User ID

Flyonthewall

ivavoucher wrote: »

Even if the full name is very rarely used then eBay is in the wrong. (sorry eBay lovers) and I can understand how this would upset anyone feeling vulnerable. The fact it is totally irreversible, as in it stays on record and is publicly viewable in your account forever, only goes to compound the problem and obviously means that the account cannot be used by the OP.

A lot on here seem to disagree or they don't bother to read and digest.

Why come on here and insult and snigger at a fellow poster who has come here for help?

bordering on abuse

How often do you check peoples ID history?

In fact, maybe everyone should answer that so we can at least have some idea of how many do ever look at that.

Sellers see your name. If you don't want people to know your name you shouldn't use ebay regardless of what your username is. Still, what does it matter really? As said in my last post, I could write any name as my username and it might be someones name. What then? Is that a problem? Someone might think it's the person they know when it's not. How many would assume (even if it is your real name) that you actually just made it up? For that matter, how many wouldn't pay any attention to it at all?

gunsandbanjos

Flyonthewall wrote: »

A while ago there was a news story about a woman stealing supplies from the hospital and selling them on ebay. Sure it's not the first case like this either. Now if their real names were part of their username perhaps they'd have been caught much sooner and maybe that would stop others doing the same.

My old hairdresser went to prison doing just this, he was stealing GHDs and selling them on eBay.

He worked for a very well known hairdressing chain, pretty sure he'd nicked tens of thousands of pounds worth of stock:eek:

gunsandbanjos

Just checked, newspapers say he sold over 900 sets of straighteners!

giantmutantbroccoli

-How often do I check ID history? Whenever I make a purchase, or am feeling particularly nosy, or if someone is asking peculiar questions about an item I'm selling. So fairly often. More importantly, eBay is indexed by search engines - if your real name and eBay username are the same, that means a search for your real name would bring up your eBay account, even if you've changed it.

A couple of people have brought up various ne'er-do-wells who have used eBay to sell stolen goods. I would like to point out that anybody who is selling stolen goods who has half a braincell would already be wary of using their real name and so are unlikely to have this problem. Anybody stupid enough to get caught using their real name to sell stolen goods on eBay would likely get caught fairly soon anyway.

Flyonthewall

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

My old hairdresser went to prison doing just this, he was stealing GHDs and selling them on eBay.

He worked for a very well known hairdressing chain, pretty sure he'd nicked tens of thousands of pounds worth of stock:eek:

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

Just checked, newspapers say he sold over 900 sets of straighteners!

Wow. Did he really think he could get away with that? I don't know how much time that was over but even if he did that over 10 years+ that would still a lot of straighteners each year, someone is bound to notice.

Flyonthewall

giantmutantbroccoli wrote: »

-How often do I check ID history? Whenever I make a purchase, or am feeling particularly nosy, or if someone is asking peculiar questions about an item I'm selling. So fairly often. More importantly, eBay is indexed by search engines - if your real name and eBay username are the same, that means a search for your real name would bring up your eBay account, even if you've changed it.

Seriously? Why?

Yeah, but as we've seen it's a very rare case that they are the same and searching most names will bring up multiple people. Probably with facebook/twitter links first.

A couple of people have brought up various ne'er-do-wells who have used eBay to sell stolen goods. I would like to point out that anybody who is selling stolen goods who has half a braincell would already be wary of using their real name and so are unlikely to have this problem. Anybody stupid enough to get caught using their real name to sell stolen goods on eBay would likely get caught fairly soon anyway.

That was the point though. They can hide behind usernames. If ebay gave them a username that is their real name they'd be caught far sooner. Sure some would sign up with a fake name, plenty wouldn't. Afterall, they're daft enough to think they can get away with stealing thousands of pounds worth of stuff without anyone noticing.

gunsandbanjos

Flyonthewall wrote: »

Wow. Did he really think he could get away with that? I don't know how much time that was over but even if he did that over 10 years+ that would still a lot of straighteners each year, someone is bound to notice.

He did it over 2 years!

Mental I know, rough estimate was £65,000 of stock, not just straighteners it was high end products too.

Idiot, he was expected to be made a partner in the company, threw it all away.

Flyonthewall

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

He did it over 2 years!

Mental I know, rough estimate was £65,000 of stock, not just straighteners it was high end products too.

Idiot, he was expected to be made a partner in the company, threw it all away.

:eek: That is mental. Can't understand why he'd do that anyway but to throw that opportunity away is even more stupid.

giantmutantbroccoli

Seriously. As to why, I said I'm nosy. Does it really matter? If the information is out there, someone will be reading it.
There are a whole range of reasons why people might not want their purchases on eBay publicly linked to their real name, and not all of them are "because they're selling illegal goods".

Examples (most already given):
-someone who is in hiding eg witness protection, domestic violence protection, avoiding a stalker, avoiding an ex, etc could be put in real danger by this policy.
-someone who uses their real name in their work and who doesn't want that work connected to their purchases - maybe they buy mills & boons, or collect teddy bears... or erotica You wouldn't hand over your amazon receipts to someone you're working for, would you?
-thinking on the above point, what if the person is a teacher? Would they want the kids they teach to know what they buy - or to mess up their auctions because they got a low mark in English?
-there are also professions where it can be dangerous to have the general public know who and where you are. If you worked in, say, scientific research involving animals, you probably wouldn't want to open your eBay account up to the sort of abuse you might get on the internet if you tell people that - and as a scientist, your name would be connected to any publications you'd made about said research.
-someone who buys expensive goods could be put at greater risk of theft
-it could also put you at greater risk of identity theft/fraud if someone can see both your real name, and the amount of money you spend on a regular basis
-someone who uses their eBay account to buy goods to resell at a profit on eBay. Buyers will see your name when they buy your goods. How bad would it look if they then see that name attached to a buyer who buys the same goods on eBay? There goes your business model!


Those who use eBay accounts for illegal or other nefarious purposes, like shill bidding, selling stolen goods etc, are still very unlikely to be caught because they are very unlikely to use their real names on eBay. People stupid enough to use their real names to sell stolen goods are also stupid enough to be caught on CCTV, or to not realise that the "buyer" is actually a sting. To put it bluntly, if a shop loses goods worth £1000s, and that shop can't be bothered to, say, look up their lost goods on eBay, take note of the location of the people selling them, make some enquiries as if they were a buyer and actually find the thief that way, then I don't know how much this new policy of eBay's will actually help them, because it's clear they weren't looking on eBay to start with. To put it bluntly, stupid criminals will eventually get caught - as long as the people who are looking for them are smart. If everybody is stupid, we're all doomed and I don't think eBay putting people's real names out in public on their site will save us from the eventual extinction of the human race a la Idiocracy.

I'm joking! I'm trying to imagine what would happen if another website did this, though. If OKCupid started giving you a variation on your real name when you signed up, there'd be complaints. If EA, or Xbox or whoevever gaming website did it, there'd be complaints. Ooh, or what if MSE did it? Imagine every post you make has to be connected to your real name sounds horrible! And eBay has its own forums for discussion still...
We'll probably have to agree to disagree on this one, I think.

gunsandbanjos

Flyonthewall wrote: »

:eek: That is mental. Can't understand why he'd do that anyway but to throw that opportunity away is even more stupid.

Totally, he'd worked for them for 13 years apparently.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7572248.stm
Link if anyone is interested.