Something is rotten in the state of eBAy.

R

Rancho7

Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
19
To paraphrase Shakespeare: I bid on a few Camillus knives on eBay - and have been bidding on several lately against a slew of same format screen names. ALL have 2 letters and three *** in between. All have private feedback. There are at least 15 I've noted bidding on items. Here's just 2 auctions with the *** bidders. I'm sure there are more. Check your own auctions and see if these characters show up? Maybe I'm just parnoid but this seems very odd to me.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=160213531701&ssPageName=STRK:MEBI:IT&ih=006

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220205750166&ssPageName=STRK:MEBI:IT&ih=012
 
It's a new "policy"
Mine has the stars too
There is a thread somewhere on BF that I read last night that discusses the change....
 
I had an e-mail from e-bay earlier in the week, as TR said above it is a new policy, they have been doing this for some while on high price items, to which they have decided to apply across the board. it is called buyer identity protection.

Rusty1
 
Only the seller can see the bidder's name & feedback score.
 
I read some more and found if you have private feedback, you can only BUY on eBay not SELL. So the sellers will still have to have open feedback. I guess you could say the private feedback bidders are simply collectors and aren't interested in re-selling. Tougher to bid against another collector who may have much different critirea than yourself. I prefer to be in auctions with collector/sellers as you may get a better idea of the true marketplace value of a knife.
I guess it all works out though.
 
maybe not - looks as if all bidders are now in the *** format. They can't all be just buyers & not sellers.
 
ok try this - log out of eBay. get back on and search under guest on an auction you are bidding on and you will see your bid with an abbreviated screen name. This is your new code name from eBay. - Different way of reporting your bids also.
 
Does the code name change every time you bid on something new?

Rusty1
 
I'm not sure but the 2 letters & *** seems way too few combinations. I guess the *** code word changes if someone in the same auction has the same one. Probably doesn't happen too often. Normally less than 10 bidders are in an auction in my experience. I checked several auctions and my code name was the same so far.
 
I do like the feedback page though. Just click on the code name & it shows an important fact about the bidder. Last line shows when the last bid was made before closing. A way to scope out the snipers.
 
Rusty1 said:
I had an e-mail from e-bay earlier in the week, as TR said above it is a new policy, they have been doing this for some while on high price items, to which they have decided to apply across the board. it is called buyer identity protection.Rusty1
Click to expand...

In the email, ebay said that using the <***> format on higher priced items cut down significantly on fraud.

Meantime, they found that the amount of fraud on lower priced items rose to "unacceptable" levels.

So they've decided to use the <***> format for all items.
 
For anyone interested, here is the ebay email on this:


Important new buyer identity protection


Keeping eBay your trusted source for great deals and truly unique finds is important to all of us. Toward this end, we're making an important change:

Soon we will no longer display the complete user IDs of people bidding on any auction-style listing. Instead, we'll use asterisks such as x***y to protect our members' identities. Sellers will continue to see complete user IDs on their listings and the winning bidder's ID will be visible to everyone after the auction ends.

We haven't provided this information on listings of $200 or higher for some time and it's been a very effective fraud deterrent for those items. For safety reasons, we're now expanding this protection to all auction-style listings.

We know many of you like to see who you're bidding against. But displaying this information makes it too easy for scammers to send out fake offers that include convincing details of your actual bidding activity on a specific listing, such as the item number, description and exact amount you bid.

In recent weeks fraudulent email offers targeting listings under $200 has surged unacceptably. To keep eBay a top shopping destination we must choose safety over visibility and nip this in the bud. We recognize for some of you this may be an unwelcome limitation but we hope you'll support our putting more muscle into fraud prevention.


Sincerely,

eBay Global Trust & Safety Team

P.S. Safety tip: using an email address that is similar to your user ID also makes it easier for scammers to contact you. If your user ID makes it easy to guess your email address, it's worth changing your user ID in My eBay -> My Account -> Personal Information.
 
I would like to mention that for the past few weeks every time I have bid on a BlackJack knife on ebay I would get an email from the seller of the item offering it to me as winner was not able to complete the transaction. I get these even when the selling price is significantly higher than the offer I made and these emails are showing up in my spam emails.
 
timsclips said:
I would like to mention that for the past few weeks every time I have bid on a BlackJack knife on ebay I would get an email from the seller of the item offering it to me as winner was not able to complete the transaction. I get these even when the selling price is significantly higher than the offer I made and these emails are showing up in my spam emails.
Click to expand...

Go back to the seller and ask if they are sending it. Otherwise, report it to Ebay.
 
I've been stalked on eBay by a now-banned forum member who has more than one eBay I.D. He bids and buys under one I.D., then sells under another. He used teh eBay member search feature to view my bids and enter "harassment bids", driving up my final auction prices. Will this stop his antics?

Codger
 
eBay has become a necessary but nasty place to do business.

I've been collecting knives for many years and since the 'Bay came around those items, once easy to find locally, have all but disappeared.

Once I used to drive to stores, and had a great little cutlery shop nearby, now long gone. Now almost everything I buy is online...

Maybe it's more convenient to sit in front of the computer and buy stuff, but in my area there's no longer any place to go. So being semi-retired, it means I stay home more and don't get out as much.

What I now buy isn't as cheap as when I walked into that cutlery shop and not nearly as friendly.

Thanks a lot eBay, way to go...or maybe it's WHERE do we go? :rolleyes:
 
In reply to what jkarp 53 just said I just got interested in collecting first of this year and have made every place w/in 100 mile radius of home and found very little most all as I ask goes to the bay, they can recoup outlay quicker that way I have yet to jump in the bay and sink!!! Plus I like to hold things ,guess I'm a little old fashioned that way.
 
Codger_64 said:
... member who has more than one eBay I.D. He bids and buys under one I.D., then sells under another.

Codger
Click to expand...

I noticed that some "doing business on ebay" guides actually recommend this practice!
(Not one I'd get involved in after 6 years with one username and 99.9% feedback.)

Also IIRC ebay does specifically permit you to open more than one account so long as you adhere to certain conditions spelled out on their website.
 
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