More Ebay improvements for shill bidders

[Stromm]

This week, we'll be making the following adjustments to SMI:

 

 

Enhancements to Search by Bidder. When members use the Search by Bidder feature (found under Advanced Search), they’ll now be able to see all the details of that bidder’s bidding activity on items below the $200 threshold.

 

Sellers can use Advanced Search to research potential buyers. Sellers will be able to use Advanced Search to conduct full research on their current bidders for a 48 hour period after the bid is placed. In addition, they will also be able to research the activity of any member who sends them an Ask Seller a Question email or uses Best Offer within a 48 hour period of the email/offer being sent.

 

Safeguarding Member IDs on listings with a Reserve or Buy It Now over $200. If a bidder bids on a listing where the Reserve price or Buy It Now is above $200, their ID will be anonymized just as if they had placed a bid over $200.

 

Anonymous bidder IDs for Best Offers. The IDs of buyers on the Best Offer history page will no longer be fully displayed to viewers – the last part of their ID will be hidden by asterisks. However, the seller of the item will be able to see the ID in full, as before

[BronzeBruce13]

eBay pizzed me off with their first "improvement"... really a move to shift more advantage to the seller by allowing them more freedom to engage in questionable activity more easily, and without the same level of scrutiny they were previously subjected to by the eBay buying community.

 

Ebay is making it much more difficult for buyers to police the community and protect themselves. Now its almost impossible to track and expose shill, thrill and BS bidders and report them once a obvious trend of suspect behavior is established.

 

I recently had (2) Zero feedback bidders, one a 5 year member (with no purchases/feedback?), and the other a "less than 1 monther" with 3 bid retractions place "very competitive" bids in an auction I was involved in. I reported the auction to eBay and received the same standard reply again. The seller ceased all communications when I requested the IDs of the suspect bidders so I could track them myself... even though I told him I did not believe he was shilling, and the bidders may be thrill (insincere) bidders. I politely informed him of my concerns and intentions throughout the process so he did not feel I was making any accusations. Now, I wonder.

 

This new news is just #$$#@#!@#%...

[Fazybones]

I couldn't agree with you more and e-bay and it's phoney changes makes me spend my cash eleswhere. They only care about sellers making more money and couldn't care less about the buyers who were the only ones policing and reporting suspicious bidding activities.

[Scheradon]

eBay pizzed me off with their first "improvement"... really a move to shift more advantage to the seller by allowing them more freedom to engage in questionable activity more easily, and without the same level of scrutiny they were previously subjected to by the eBay buying community.

 

Ebay is making it much more difficult for buyers to police the community and protect themselves. Now its almost impossible to track and expose shill, thrill and BS bidders and report them once a obvious trend of suspect behavior is established.

 

I recently had (2) Zero feedback bidders, one a 5 year member (with no purchases/feedback?), and the other a "less than 1 monther" with 3 bid retractions place "very competitive" bids in an auction I was involved in. I reported the auction to eBay and received the same standard reply again. The seller ceased all communications when I requested the IDs of the suspect bidders so I could track them myself... even though I told him I did not believe he was shilling, and the bidders may be thrill (insincere) bidders. I politely informed him of my concerns and intentions throughout the process so he did not feel I was making any accusations. Now, I wonder.

 

This new news is just #$$#@#!@#%...

 

I completely agree!

 

eBay makes me want to...

[Aces]

More like more of eBay's make it safe for crooks krap.

[arexcrooke]

I couldn't agree with you more and e-bay and it's phoney changes makes me spend my cash eleswhere. They only care about sellers making more money and couldn't care less about the buyers who were the only ones policing and reporting suspicious bidding activities.

And the decisions they are making are very short sighted. The decisions protect the sellers now which protects their bottom line.

However, as they continue to do bonehead things like this, it will erode the confidence that many have in ebay. So it will, in the long run, harm the company much more than help it.

 

Oh, and hey Fay

[goldust40]

And the decisions they are making are very short sighted. The decisions protect the sellers now which protects their bottom line.

 

You have to wonder what buyer - unfriendly measure or short-cut ebay'll have to introduce next to keep the profit levels going upwards. They're doing away with the one thing that set them apart from the major collectible auction houses....

[arexcrooke]

And the decisions they are making are very short sighted. The decisions protect the sellers now which protects their bottom line.

 

You have to wonder what buyer - unfriendly measure or short-cut ebay'll have to introduce next to keep the profit levels going upwards. They're doing away with the one thing that set them apart from the major collectible auction houses....

Which is what? Transparency in bidding?

[Fazybones]

Oh, and hey Fay

 

I would also like to add one more comment:

 

, HEY AREX,

[goldust40]

And the decisions they are making are very short sighted. The decisions protect the sellers now which protects their bottom line.

 

You have to wonder what buyer - unfriendly measure or short-cut ebay'll have to introduce next to keep the profit levels going upwards. They're doing away with the one thing that set them apart from the major collectible auction houses....

Which is what? Transparency in bidding?

 

Precisely!

 

When I first went on ebay lo those many years ago I was astounded at how deregulated and unnaccountable sellers were - the big plus for me was the transparency in bidding (and, I thought naively) the feedback.

[arexcrooke]

And the decisions they are making are very short sighted. The decisions protect the sellers now which protects their bottom line.

 

You have to wonder what buyer - unfriendly measure or short-cut ebay'll have to introduce next to keep the profit levels going upwards. They're doing away with the one thing that set them apart from the major collectible auction houses....

Which is what? Transparency in bidding?

 

Precisely!

 

When I first went on ebay lo those many years ago I was astounded at how deregulated and unnaccountable sellers were - the big plus for me was the transparency in bidding (and, I thought naively) the feedback.

So do you think this is just a collectibles issue with ebay or is it an overall issue?

Let me clarify-

What are your thoughts (anyone, not just Andy) on whether the changes in bidding transparency will have a greater affect on collectibles than say consumer electronics.

[namisgr]

I have to be blunt: I have given up buying comics over E-Bay, excepting from sellers with whom I am familiar and have accumulated trust. There are enough cool books available from other venues that, coupled with the new policies encouraging seller fraud, I just don't need it. There are plenty of internet alternatives for acquiring CGC graded comics, while the cons remain great for seeking out raw gems.

 

F- E-Bay.

[skypinkblu]

Actually, seeing what someone has bid on in the past is something I, among many others, had asked for... I think that at least is an improvement, unless I'm reading that wrong?

 

I kept having 0 feedback bidders bid on my auctions and I couldn't see if they were just kids bidding on a zillion things, because even as a seller, the bids they made were hidden. You should also be able to figure out shill bidding more easily this way...at least I hope so, it kind of sounds like they are giving us back that information I just can't believe they are still hiding the bidders names on items over $200.00, now I'm not going to make offers, and I'm still not bidding on items over $200 unless I know the person. (or it's the ONE book on my list I desperately need and I can't resist. I kept writing and saying I wouldn't go into an auction house and bid against people wearing paper bags on their heads.

 

Lots of pressure from the threaded boards on Ebay to change this stuff, lots and lots of phone calls...and most of us who sell, are bidders first.

[Mr. Zipper]

I have to be blunt: I have given up buying comics over E-Bay, excepting from sellers with whom I am familiar and have accumulated trust. There are enough cool books available from other venues that, coupled with the new policies encouraging seller fraud, I just don't need it. There are plenty of internet alternatives for acquiring CGC graded comics, while the cons remain great for seeking out raw gems.

 

F- E-Bay.

 

I agree. Over the past year a high percentage of my spending dollars has shifted over to the marketplace here as well as dealer websites. Ebay is an afterthought now where I only go if I can't find it elsewhere. I also look forward to newer selling venues such as QualityComix's auctions.

[skypinkblu]

After rereading, this is certainly NOT an improvement...

 

) Safeguarding Member IDs on listings with a Reserve or Buy It Now over $200. If a bidder bids on a listing where the Reserve price or Buy It Now is above $200, their ID will be anonymized just as if they had placed a bid over $200.

 

They give you one thing and take another away...

 

and as for the non collectibles market...most of the non collectibles (unless you count jewelry, which I consider a type of collectible) I have always just done buy it nows..or it's not things that go over $200.00...there are plenty of car dealers near me.

[Stromm]

Actually, seeing what someone has bid on in the past is something I, among many others, had asked for... I think that at least is an improvement, unless I'm reading that wrong?

 

WTF are you talking about?

 

When they introduced the advance search, you were able to track anothers buying/bidding habits. now, you won't, unless they bid on, or ask a question about your item, and then for only 48 hours. There were exceptions, Germany was one, it's the reason you can exclude them from your auctions

.

[skypinkblu]

Actually, seeing what someone has bid on in the past is something I, among many others, had asked for... I think that at least is an improvement, unless I'm reading that wrong?

 

WTF are you talking about?

 

When they introduced the advance search, you were able to track anothers buying/bidding habits. now, you won't, unless they bid on, or ask a question about your item, and then for only 48 hours. There were exceptions, Germany was one, it's the reason you can exclude them from your auctions

.

 

I was talking about " Enhancements to Search by Bidder. When members use the Search by Bidder feature (found under Advanced Search), they’ll now be able to see all the details of that bidder’s bidding activity on items below the $200 threshold" I thought it meant that now you COULD see what people were bidding on...which certainly helps you see if they are shilling

 

and please don't curse... I said I wasn't sure...thanks! (sorry, but that's part of I'm a Mom training)..sorry if you think it was a dumb statement, but I was reading it in a hopeful vein.

 

This specifically is what I was talking about, I found it on the FAQ's

 

" use Advanced Search "Items by Bidder" to find other sellers with listings I might want to bid on. Will I still be able todo this?

You will now be able to see all the details of that bidder's bidding activity on items below the $200 threshold. In addition, we have added the ability to see a list of sellers selling similar items by clicking on the "View sellers of similar items" link on the Bid History page. "

 

[Sal]

Actually, seeing what someone has bid on in the past is something I, among many others, had asked for... I think that at least is an improvement, unless I'm reading that wrong?

 

I kept having 0 feedback bidders bid on my auctions and I couldn't see if they were just kids bidding on a zillion things, because even as a seller, the bids they made were hidden. You should also be able to figure out shill bidding more easily this way...at least I hope so, it kind of sounds like they are giving us back that information I just can't believe they are still hiding the bidders names on items over $200.00, now I'm not going to make offers, and I'm still not bidding on items over $200 unless I know the person. (or it's the ONE book on my list I desperately need and I can't resist. I kept writing and saying I wouldn't go into an auction house and bid against people wearing paper bags on their heads.

 

Lots of pressure from the threaded boards on Ebay to change this stuff, lots and lots of phone calls...and most of us who sell, are bidders first.

 

the problem most here are worried about is a seller shilling his or her own auctions, which will now be impossible to detect if done intelligently by the seller. most of us could not care less about the seller's inability to detect thrill bids, sorry to say

[goldust40]

What are your thoughts (anyone, not just Andy) on whether the changes in bidding transparency will have a greater affect on collectibles than say consumer electronics.

 

It may be that the effect would be the same for both collectbles and electrical goods - although I'd imagine that people would be less likely to gamble and stick to reliable, high feedback vendors with consumer items. As I said before, the collectibles market is more deregulated, and there are more grey areas when it comes to condition, restoration etc. This leaves more room for sharp practice which inevitably extends to shill bidding.

 

Making it easy for such deadbeat sellers within the collectibles market to commit a practice that is already rife is obviously going to hurt said market more in the long term....

[skypinkblu]

[

Lots of pressure from the threaded boards on Ebay to change this stuff, lots and lots of phone calls...and most of us who sell, are bidders first.

 

the problem most here are worried about is a seller shilling his or her own auctions, which will now be impossible to detect if done intelligently by the seller. most of us could not care less about the seller's inability to detect thrill bids, sorry to say

 

I understand that, but before, you couldn't see what people were bidding on for auctions UNDER $200 either, you could see their names on the bidding list, but not their other bids, and not when the auction was over...at least this way, you can tell shills for bids UNDER $200...

 

I suppose most of my bidding is just going to stay under $200...on the bright side, I'll be able to aford more shoes...

But seriously, it seems that these changes are in response to all the pressure from bidders AND sellers...I see lots of posts on here about how horrid eBay sellers are...but we all know, it's the bad apples that stick out...and yes, there are unfortunately way too many....but the percentage of honest people is way higher...and lots of us, sell...to finance our bids;) I'm just going to keep making phone calls and writing letters...they must be noticing some changes, I know I sure have changed my bidding habits...otherwise they wouldn't be backing off even this much.