Is this Ebay change a good thing?

Keith · 25th November 2006, 08:23

I watch the prices of our cars on Ebay, recently Ebay have decided to hide bidders identities

"As online shopping evolves, eBay continues to focus on preserving our marketplace's open and level playingfield whilst protecting our Community of members. We have decided to change how bid history information is displayed so unscrupulous people cannot target bidders with fake offers using this information. In certain cases, some bidders will no longer be able to see other bidder's User IDs on the listing page. Your User ID will be shown only to you and the seller of the item you're bidding on. Other members will see an anonymous name, such as Bidder 1, Bidder 2 etc."

Question is this good or bad? I actually think it will increase the opportunity for traders to Shill bid to push prices up

right I am going to put my Serpents on Ebay who want to help push them up to £2500 a corner

Zeb · 25th November 2006, 08:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith

I watch the prices of our cars on Ebay, recently Ebay have decided to hide bidders identities

"As online shopping evolves, eBay continues to focus on preserving our marketplace's open and level playingfield whilst protecting our Community of members. We have decided to change how bid history information is displayed so unscrupulous people cannot target bidders with fake offers using this information. In certain cases, some bidders will no longer be able to see other bidder's User IDs on the listing page. Your User ID will be shown only to you and the seller of the item you're bidding on. Other members will see an anonymous name, such as Bidder 1, Bidder 2 etc."

Question is this good or bad? I actually think it will increase the opportunity for traders to Shill bid to push prices up

right I am going to put my Serpents on Ebay who want to help push them up to £2500 a corner

I agree, it is a green light to shilling up your prices....as usual ebay have failed to think of the obvious...

Kandyman · 25th November 2006, 08:29

Hi Keith,

Overall I think it is a good thing as it is meant to stop people getting hit by scammers offering 2nd chance bids and stuff like that, I understand what your saying about fake bidders pushing prices up, but at the end of the day you should only bid to what you want to pay and not get sucked in to a bidding war.

So overall I think its good 

DeeCee · 25th November 2006, 08:52

Green light for shilling.

Check out the BM24 radio I got on Ebay.

Bidding started at £100, my max was £111.

About 30 minutes to go Bidder2 bid £140 then two minutes later withdrew it, resulting in my bid being increased to my max £111.
Lucky I had not used a higher max.
Being the one and only bidder I should have won the item for £100

Check bids on,
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...DME:B:AAQ:UK:1
Look at bid history, Bidder2, view his profile, look at number of bid retractions in past month ...

Now check previous item sold by same seller,
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=150039156030
Check bid history, look at Bidder3, view his profile, same as bidder2 above

Keith · 25th November 2006, 08:53

I sort of agree Andy but for me they have spoiled the fun of watching events

Part of monitoring who is buying what helps to pick up on shill rings and scammers, something that many of us here occasionally enjoy investigating.

Where it could backfire is when zero rated bidders start messing about as often happens on Ebay and their bids then get cancelled, as then potential other bidders won't be able to see what is going on by whom and will be suspicious if their max bids are constantly being revealed, that could be bad for the seller

On balance I think this could be good for traders as it gives them the opportunity to exploit it and work together (of course they are all totally honest and we never do such a thing) but I think it will be bad for private sellers.

I hope this only applies to high value items like cars

Just imagine the "fun" we would have here the next time a Walnut steering wheel comes up for grabs the winning bidder proudly arrives here after paying £513.96 for it only to find he was bidding against 34 other members here who all then say if I had known it was you I wouldn't have bid

It could happen.

tourerfogey · 25th November 2006, 13:33

Shill bidders hike prices which hike the fee eBay can take - eBay have succeeded in making it more difficult to spot shillers so thay can't be reported - if they're not reported eBay don't have to stop the shilling. As usual, the only winner is eBay.

Kandyman · 25th November 2006, 13:45

At the end of the day ebay have done this so you dont get scammed,

after all getting scammed cost more money over the year than a few shill sellers getting a few pound here and there from buyers

Shill bidders is another problem,
If you have paid over the odds for something you cant blame Ebay for that you could of just put in your max and left it at that.

Zeb · 25th November 2006, 14:23

Bid once, bid late, bid your max...

Womble · 25th November 2006, 15:07

Makes no sense to me. If someone is going to artificially hike a price by bidding it up, whether they then retract it or not, surely they are going to be in league with the seller anyway, who can still see who is bidding, and hence tell his bidders when to bid and when not to.

The only people this helps is the theoretical yet doubtless minute group of bidders who have someone else unrelated to the seller "out to get them"!

Zeb · 25th November 2006, 15:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Womble

Makes no sense to me. If someone is going to artificially hike a price by bidding it up, whether they then retract it or not, surely they are going to be in league with the seller anyway, who can still see who is bidding, and hence tell his bidders when to bid and when not to.

The only people this helps is the theoretical yet doubtless minute group of bidders who have someone else unrelated to the seller "out to get them"!

Two problems: 1) sellers with multiple accounts so as to bid on their own items, hence artificially creating 'competition' and ensuring they get the highest price someone else is willing to pay - often naieve newbies who have not fully understood how the system works.

2) Sellers' relatives / mates put bids in to inflate the price - if they over bid ie. above a genuine bidder's maximum, then they retract that bid and put in another just below the genuine bidders max.

Yes I got caught out myself years back - on wing mirrors from a breaker. Ok I did not pay more than I was willing to pay but I paid double what the item would have cost without his mate bidding the item up. (And yes it still p*** me off!)

25th November 2006, 08:23	#1
Keith This is my second home ZT400 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ellesmere Posts: 5,948 Thanks: 0 Thanked 43 Times in 29 Posts	Is this Ebay change a good thing? I watch the prices of our cars on Ebay, recently Ebay have decided to hide bidders identities "As online shopping evolves, eBay continues to focus on preserving our marketplace's open and level playingfield whilst protecting our Community of members. We have decided to change how bid history information is displayed so unscrupulous people cannot target bidders with fake offers using this information. In certain cases, some bidders will no longer be able to see other bidder's User IDs on the listing page. Your User ID will be shown only to you and the seller of the item you're bidding on. Other members will see an anonymous name, such as Bidder 1, Bidder 2 etc." Question is this good or bad? I actually think it will increase the opportunity for traders to Shill bid to push prices up right I am going to put my Serpents on Ebay who want to help push them up to £2500 a corner

25th November 2006, 15:07	#9
Womble Avid contributor ZT-T 260 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Epsom Posts: 140 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Makes no sense to me. If someone is going to artificially hike a price by bidding it up, whether they then retract it or not, surely they are going to be in league with the seller anyway, who can still see who is bidding, and hence tell his bidders when to bid and when not to. The only people this helps is the theoretical yet doubtless minute group of bidders who have someone else unrelated to the seller "out to get them"! __________________ You polish yours if you want to... I'll be DRIVING mine! 'Kermit' - MG ZT-T 260 Mk1 - VIN 019

25th November 2006, 08:29	#3
Kandyman Banned ROVER 75 2.5 V6 Connoisseur SE Limousine 2004 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Welling Posts: 10,995 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Hi Keith, Overall I think it is a good thing as it is meant to stop people getting hit by scammers offering 2nd chance bids and stuff like that, I understand what your saying about fake bidders pushing prices up, but at the end of the day you should only bid to what you want to pay and not get sucked in to a bidding war. So overall I think its good 

25th November 2006, 08:52	#4
DeeCee Regular poster none Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: none Posts: 93 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Green light for shilling. Check out the BM24 radio I got on Ebay. Bidding started at £100, my max was £111. About 30 minutes to go Bidder2 bid £140 then two minutes later withdrew it, resulting in my bid being increased to my max £111. Lucky I had not used a higher max. Being the one and only bidder I should have won the item for £100 Check bids on, http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...DME:B:AAQ:UK:1 Look at bid history, Bidder2, view his profile, look at number of bid retractions in past month ... Now check previous item sold by same seller, http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=150039156030 Check bid history, look at Bidder3, view his profile, same as bidder2 above

25th November 2006, 08:53	#5
Keith This is my second home ZT400 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ellesmere Posts: 5,948 Thanks: 0 Thanked 43 Times in 29 Posts	I sort of agree Andy but for me they have spoiled the fun of watching events Part of monitoring who is buying what helps to pick up on shill rings and scammers, something that many of us here occasionally enjoy investigating. Where it could backfire is when zero rated bidders start messing about as often happens on Ebay and their bids then get cancelled, as then potential other bidders won't be able to see what is going on by whom and will be suspicious if their max bids are constantly being revealed, that could be bad for the seller On balance I think this could be good for traders as it gives them the opportunity to exploit it and work together (of course they are all totally honest and we never do such a thing) but I think it will be bad for private sellers. I hope this only applies to high value items like cars Just imagine the "fun" we would have here the next time a Walnut steering wheel comes up for grabs the winning bidder proudly arrives here after paying £513.96 for it only to find he was bidding against 34 other members here who all then say if I had known it was you I wouldn't have bid It could happen.

25th November 2006, 13:33	#6
tourerfogey Banned Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Shill bidders hike prices which hike the fee eBay can take - eBay have succeeded in making it more difficult to spot shillers so thay can't be reported - if they're not reported eBay don't have to stop the shilling. As usual, the only winner is eBay.

25th November 2006, 13:45	#7
Kandyman Banned ROVER 75 2.5 V6 Connoisseur SE Limousine 2004 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Welling Posts: 10,995 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	At the end of the day ebay have done this so you dont get scammed, after all getting scammed cost more money over the year than a few shill sellers getting a few pound here and there from buyers Shill bidders is another problem, If you have paid over the odds for something you cant blame Ebay for that you could of just put in your max and left it at that.

25th November 2006, 14:23	#8
Zeb Banned MGZT V8 & ZTT 190+LPG Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 8,089 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Bid once, bid late, bid your max...