I bid on something that is only at 28 bucks so far and I see ebay is hiding id's on it. I thought they started doing it at 200 bucks. When did this crap start?
Wes
-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller
Not sure. I've got a 1" ball bearing chuck up now that's at around $32 and as the seller, I can't see the bidders' real IDs unless I log in so it's not just you.
That was my first thought, I'm not logged in so I did. Didn't change a thing for me.
Wes
I wonder if they went too far in trying to combat the "second highest bidder" scams. It's surprising how useful it was to see the history of the bidders when one was dubious about an item.
Mark Rand RTFM
I used to watch who was bidding on an item if I had an identical item, and used to contact the losing bidders if they bid enough so it would interest me. The next thing they did was to make it harder to contact other ebay members. Now they have gone completely off the hook, entirely restricting any information about who is bidding. Shall we say shill, all together now?
Grant
Maybe I shouldn't talk out loud. I will anyway. My son was recently laid off. While he was out of work he put stuff up on eBay that he was seeing for sale locally (Craig's list, pawn shops, on line auctions, etc.) He shilled it up with another account. if that account won he entered non bay bidder. otherwise, he bought and flipped the item.eBay did finally bounce one of his accounts but it only takes a second to come up under a new ID
Not real proud of his activity, but he made a cash living till he got a real job. You KNOW he's not the only one. .
I do think eBay is quickly sliding down hill and will be replaced. I used to buy tons o' stuff. very little anymore. But there still are deals to be had on unusual items.
Outside of a few sellers I get notifications on when they have something for sell, I'm done with Ebay. While Ebay is not a perfect analog of a traditial auction, at a real auction, I get to see who is bidding against me and what they are buying. It is also posible to spot a shill (some times confused with a opportunist or bottom buyer).
If I understand the second highest bidder scam, those people are not working though the ebay system where ebay gets a cut of the deal. If they get screwed, serves them well. No sympathy there. It isn't a perfect analog where you can take possession and walk off with it immediately after the money transfer.
Wes
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