eBay to hide all User IDs in ALL auctions

peter999

Ebay is going to start hiding all User IDs in ALL auctions from the end of March.

Protecting bidder User IDs 26/03/08
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/uk/200803.shtml#2008-03-20141029

I prefer to see real IDs linked to real people, rather than the endless & impersonal Bidder1, Bidder2, Bidder3, Bidder4, Bidder...............

Then I get an idea of regular bidders who bid on auctions I bid on like in a real auction.
If necessary I can check how they bid.

Is this a step too far in the way auctions should operate, just showing anonymous bidder names who as a bidder you cannot check out if necessary ??

Is this another nail in the coffin for ebay with their endless changes ??

What do other people think about this change ??

peter999

Jakg

Shill Bidding here I come!

(that's sarcasm btw - I'm far to scared of getting caught. But for people who aren't it would rock...)

custardy

crazy.................

Creosote

Shill bidding (bidding on your own items) is a serious breach of eBay policy. We will investigate any reports we receive and take appropriate action against offenders.
Although the bidder IDs are anonymous, you can still see detailed statistics for each bidder by clicking on their masked ID. Our systems also collect more detailed information on selling and bidding activity than members can access, to help us detect patterns and accurately identify members who may be breaching the policy.
More about protecting User IDs
We appreciate that some people prefer to see all the details of who they're bidding against and may find hidden bidder IDs to be unwelcome. However, this is a necessary measure to protect all our members from email scams and fraud.

yeah right. eBay revenue will raise with the increase in the amount of hidden shill bidding and i doubt they'll do anything with their "system" to stop it. So not only sellers being hit with the feedback issue, now buyers will pay more. Well done eBay, well done! *slow handclap*

PhilipCohen

In Australia, the UK, Ireland and the Philippines, eBay has obscured auction bidding to the point that genuine bidders have got absolutely no chance of detecting and thereby protecting themselves from “shill” bidding (a criminal offence in most civilised countries) by unethical vendors. Notwithstanding eBay’s statements to the contrary, this application of absolute anonymity (ie, Bidder 1, Bidder 2, etc) by eBay on these sites serves absolutely no purpose other than to deceive consumers by making even any otherwise obvious shill bidding undetectable; and the same criticism has always been applicable to eBay’s other shill bidders’ facility, “User ID kept private”. Again, notwithstanding eBay’s various pronouncements about shill bidding being banned on eBay, eBay is now effectively (and knowingly) “aiding and abetting” such shill bidders on these sites, at the expense of consumers. For those of you with a longer attention span, a lengthy critical analysis of this matter appears at:
http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=6498345#6498345

I apologise in advance for the length of the above-linked “rant”. If you are an unethical shill-bidding seller or a buyer who is not concerned that on the above-mentioned national sites eBay is effectively “aiding and abetting” such shill-bidding sellers to cheat you, read no further.

RFW

The details they give you on each bidder page shows the bid history as follows

30-Day Summary

Total bids: #

Items bid on: #

Bid activity (%) with this seller: ##%

Bids to unique sellers: #

Bids in unique categories: #

Bid retractions: #

Bid retractions (6 months): #

It is still a fairly transparent system and protects buyers from bogus second chance offers and bogus winning bid emails.

In Australia and the UK (at the least) eBay has now obscured auction bidding to the point that genuine bidders have got absolutely no chance of detecting and thereby protecting themselves from “shill” bidding (a criminal offence in most civilised countries) by unethical vendors. Notwithstanding eBay’s statements to the contrary, this application of absolute anonymity by eBay serves no purpose other than to deceive consumers

The reasons for the change are quite transparent as I have mentioned and was brought in to protect consumers from scammers, there's a thread on here that I started before the changes about 'Bogus Second Chance Offers'.

I don't approve of shill bidding and actually think it is pointless as a selling 'tactic', but afaik it isn't a criminal offence in the UK (most auction houses incorporate a form of shill bidding into their conditions of sale!), but can get you permanently suspended from Ebay.

iieee

PhilipCohen wrote: »

I apologise in advance for the length of the above-linked “rant”. If you are an unethical shill-bidding seller or a buyer who is not concerned that on the above-mentioned national sites eBay is effectively “aiding and abetting” such shill-bidding sellers to cheat you, read no further.

I'm not either of the above, but I do get a bit bored of you posting the same rant here every week, usually bumping an ancient cobwebby thread in the process. Maybe you should get some fish or something?

Brooker_Dave

RFW wrote: »

The reasons for the change are quite transparent

Indeed, shill bidding makes more money for ebay.

RonWooney

Typical ebay response to protect their shill bidders.

Shill bidding makes more money for the sellers and ebay.

Hidden IDs means we will not be able to report such activities which means ebay do not have to keep suspending users.

Ebay SUX.

RFW

RonWooney wrote: »

Typical ebay response to protect their shill bidders.

Shill bidding makes more money for the sellers and ebay.

Hidden IDs means we will not be able to report such activities which means ebay do not have to keep suspending users.

Ebay SUX.

So which do you prefer buyers getting duped into parting with cash because of bogus second chance offers and winning bid messages OR having to click on an extra page so you can see the bidding patterns of each bidder that makes it easy to see if shill bidding is happening.

Long term shill bidding loses Ebay money and customers, it isn't in their interests to allow it.

Brooker_Dave

RFW wrote: »

So which do you prefer buyers getting duped into parting with cash because of bogus second chance offers and winning bid messages OR having to click on an extra page so you can see the bidding patterns of each bidder that makes it easy to see if shill bidding is happening.

Long term shill bidding loses Ebay money and customers, it isn't in their interests to allow it.

Do you work for ebay?