How e-bay now shows bids
Slipkid
Posted 2007-01-11 12:21 PM (#320990)
Subject: How e-bay now shows bids



Joined:
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Posts: 9301

Location: south east Michigan

As the internet evolves, eBay continues to strike a balance between preserving transparency and protecting our Community of members. eBay has decided to change how bid history information is displayed so bad guys cannot target bidders with fake offers using this information. In certain cases, some bidders will no longer be able to view Bidder User IDs on the Bid History 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, applied consistently to the Bid History page.
Interesting.... auctions are now "blind". The good is that this may cut down on any price fixing but on the other hand we won't be able to easily see if other OFC members are bidding.
Is this a good thing? Bad thing?
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gh1
Posted 2007-01-11 12:30 PM (#320991 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


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Posts: 972

Location: PDX
Originally posted by Slipkid:

... so bad guys cannot target bidders with fake offers using this information.
Uhmm, ok, i don't get it. What are they trying to prevent?

_____
gh1
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MWoody
Posted 2007-01-11 12:31 PM (#320992 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids



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Location: Upper Left USA
The winner is the one that will pay the most!

But when I'm out casting the "little" net I'd hate to unnecessarily bump up the price on an OFC'er.
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lanaki
Posted 2007-01-11 12:40 PM (#320993 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


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Location: big island
i just watched the final moments of an auction for an ovation shallow 12 string. as the feeding frenzy was going on, the page kept changing to show "Bidder 1" then "Bidder 3" then "Bidder 9". as soon as the auction ended the winning bidders username appeared as usual.

another feature that is new is the "refresh" option that appears just as the auction is coming to a close. it beats the old refresh method hands down (pun intended)
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dvd
Posted 2007-01-11 12:40 PM (#320994 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids



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Posts: 1889

Location: Central Massachusetts
Originally posted by gh1:
Uhmm, ok, i don't get it. What are they trying to prevent?

_____
gh1
By viewing the bidding history of a closed auction, you could build a list of ebayers who had failed bids on it. You could then send them fake second-chance offers and maybe fool one of them since it would appear to be authentic and related to a bid they made.

I see the logic in that. Unfortunately this new approach makes it hard for us as educated bidders do our own investigating and arriving at our own conclusions based on other bidder or seller activity.
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cliff
Posted 2007-01-11 12:49 PM (#320995 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


Joined:
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Posts: 14842

Location: NJ
As much as I hate eBay, I think it's a good idea.
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Joyful Noise
Posted 2007-01-11 1:47 PM (#320996 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


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Posts: 629

Location: Houston, Texas
But it also makes it almost impossible to spot shill bidding.
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gh1
Posted 2007-01-11 1:52 PM (#320997 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


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Location: PDX
Originally posted by dvd:
By viewing the bidding history of a closed auction, you could build a list of ebayers who had failed bids on it. You could then send them fake second-chance offers and maybe fool one of them since it would appear to be authentic and related to a bid they made.

I see the logic in that. Unfortunately this new approach makes it hard for us as educated bidders do our own investigating and arriving at our own conclusions based on other bidder or seller activity.
Oh, now i get it! Thanks David. I guess that makes sense to me. Whatever, it's their show.

____
gh1
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Steve
Posted 2007-01-11 3:02 PM (#320998 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


Joined:
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Posts: 1900

I guess ebay could still spot the shill bidders but they probably can't/won't warn anyone about it.
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lanaki
Posted 2007-01-12 6:47 PM (#320999 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


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Location: big island
possibilty: members of the OFC could post here, if desired, to inform other members that they have bid on a particular item and what their bidder number is.
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MWoody
Posted 2007-01-12 7:00 PM (#321000 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids



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Location: Upper Left USA
I have seen where OFc bidders have stayed out of an auction to support another OFCer but even then a third party can take it away.

Bid what you are willing to pay. It's Capitolism!
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Capo Guy
Posted 2007-01-12 7:01 PM (#321001 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids



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Posts: 4394

Location: East Tennessee
What is interesting is to go to the Bid History of an item an click on "View" for a bidder and some information comes up about that bidder. I don't know if that information will help anyone or not.
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philmax
Posted 2007-01-12 8:47 PM (#321002 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


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Posts: 659

Location: Hiram, Georgia
so far I've noticed that the new system seems to work on auctions that I have previously visited. When I visit categories that I haven't been to before I get all bidder info as usual
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alpep
Posted 2007-01-12 10:04 PM (#321003 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


Joined:
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Posts: 10583

Location: NJ
Originally posted by Lanaki:
possibilty: members of the OFC could post here, if desired, to inform other members that they have bid on a particular item and what their bidder number is.
absolutely positively NOT.

e mail each other privately if you must but you will not use this site for collusion
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MWoody
Posted 2007-01-12 11:30 PM (#321004 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids



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Posts: 13997

Location: Upper Left USA
GGG,
I think ther just dazzling us with data that keeps us from looing at what we lost.

I want to know who is bidding. I want to know if they are trusworthy and I want to look up their address or bussiness and verify they exist. This, however makes them very, very vulnerable.
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lanaki
Posted 2007-01-12 11:35 PM (#321005 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


Joined:
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Posts: 5576

Location: big island
whoops! spank me al.

my intention was noble. i did not see it as collusion but as mutual respect. i humbly tender my candid apologies. :confused:
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Old Man Arthur
Posted 2007-01-12 11:52 PM (#321006 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids



Joined:
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Posts: 10777

Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR
I often look to see who is winning what, outta sheer boredom. Not listing names means that I cannot see who is bidding. I have seen certain names on dozens, if not hundreds of auctions. I prefer to be forewarned if some-one is gonna run up the bid a couple of hundred bucks on me.
That said, this may stop bogus 2nd offers. But it will add to unscupulous folks fixing bids. Hey, you list something, I'll bid it up.

Plus, it limits my online entertainment!
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Tupperware
Posted 2007-01-13 12:10 AM (#321007 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


Joined:
January 2005
Posts: 4903

Location: Phoenix AZ
I think the ebay change is a good one. There is no reason strangers need to know what I am bidding on or what value I place on certain items. If my best OFC buddy out bids me by a buck on some item it just means that he wanted it more than I did. Dave
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philmax
Posted 2007-01-13 1:26 AM (#321008 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


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Posts: 659

Location: Hiram, Georgia
I certain that none of this is really about 2nd chance offers...
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alpep
Posted 2007-01-13 6:49 AM (#321009 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


Joined:
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Posts: 10583

Location: NJ
Originally posted by Lanaki:
whoops! spank me al.

my intention was noble. i did not see it as collusion but as mutual respect. i humbly tender my candid apologies. :confused:
no problems It just bugs me sometimes how the big picture is often negelected.
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Erniewan
Posted 2007-01-13 12:32 PM (#321010 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


Joined:
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Posts: 375

Location: Rocky River, Ohio
Is it up to the seller to set up the anonymous bidder rules?

I still see bidder names on many items I've been watching.

Ernie
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Mark in Boise
Posted 2007-01-13 1:08 PM (#321011 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


Joined:
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Posts: 12761

Location: Boise, Idaho
I was looking for car parts and ski racks and they still show the bidders. Maybe it's just big ticket items. I still see garonemartin and superiorkayaker on the #47 sale, but they might have bid before the rules were changed.
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Waskel
Posted 2007-01-13 2:59 PM (#321012 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids



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Location: closely held secret
My wife has some stuff on and it's still showing bidder names from bids placed yesterday.
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Mark in Boise
Posted 2007-01-13 6:10 PM (#321013 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


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Posts: 12761

Location: Boise, Idaho
An Ovation I looked at today was just listed and showed the bidder identities. I don't get it. Maybe it's just the OFC members that aren't listed. Another great conspiracy theory.
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lanaki
Posted 2007-01-13 7:00 PM (#321014 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


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Posts: 5576

Location: big island
i've been scopin' out the powermac g5's and those pages do not show bidder identities.
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philmax
Posted 2007-01-13 7:10 PM (#321015 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


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Location: Hiram, Georgia
I'm with you Mark, it's a conspiracy I tell ya, The infamous Dr.Garonemartin, is out to get even...
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Waskel
Posted 2007-01-13 8:02 PM (#321016 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids



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Location: closely held secret
It's items above $200.
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xbj
Posted 2007-01-17 5:49 PM (#321017 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


Joined:
June 2003
Posts: 194

Location: Las Vegas
You can still avoid going against shill bidding sellers by clicking on the details on each bidder and avoiding any auctions with bidders with less than (3) feedbacks. ESPECIALLY those with bidding wars between two or more low-feedback "bidders." Shill-bidding sellers usually use throw-away accounts and then don't bother to give themselves feedback when they "win", so their feedback counts are almost always low. They also think low feedbacks keep them under eBay's shill bidding radar... AS IF eBay had any shill bidding radar to begin with.

And yes, eBay is well aware this new policy will make shill bidding easier, for most people won't discover or bother to use the "details" feature.

eBay's bottom line would be cut in half if they stopped shill bidding.
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stonebobbo
Posted 2007-01-18 12:17 PM (#321018 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids



Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 8307

Location: Tennessee
Hey, Les! How you been? How's the show going?
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bauerhillboy
Posted 2007-01-20 9:46 AM (#321019 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


Joined:
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Posts: 1634

Location: Warren,Pa.
I've had to tell the story of my Adamas II acquisition many times. For those who didn't see it, I opened the bidding at the seller's starting price of $1,199...and won. When I tell someone that folks on this board stayed out of the bidding because you saw I was bidding they're very touched by it. It's a kindness you don't often see in today's world.

I don't know if I'd use the word "collusion" to describe what happened to me. I guess it has to do with motives. Initially I was scared that I won, but as time goes by I see it as one of the sweetest things that has happened to me.

Thanks again everyone! John <>{
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Old Man Arthur
Posted 2007-01-20 2:37 PM (#321020 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids



Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777

Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR
Off Topic-- How come all these people mention that they put Martin strings on their $49 Ovation copies, like they are made outta Platinum?
I got a coupla sets cuz they were Cheap!
Personally, I use D'Addario. Adamas on my 12.
Just wanted to ask that...
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wilblee
Posted 2007-01-20 2:48 PM (#321021 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


Joined:
June 2005
Posts: 1320

Location: Round Rock, TX
They do that so that their listings will show up when someone does a search for "Martin".
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xbj
Posted 2007-01-22 11:11 PM (#321022 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


Joined:
June 2003
Posts: 194

Location: Las Vegas
Originally posted by stonebobbo:
Hey, Les! How you been? How's the show going?
Really good! We have a very talented and very interested producer/director coming down next month to meet everybody, and if all goes well we'll start shooting the entire first season in April, either in Las Vegas or Canada!

Thanks for asking, and sorry I didn't get back here sooner, I've been running ragged getting everything ready and everyone hooked up. I've been so busy I haven't even posted anything on our forum board or our myspace page yet either!

Les
:)
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stonebobbo
Posted 2007-01-23 12:06 AM (#321023 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids



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Posts: 8307

Location: Tennessee
For people who don't know what the heck we're talking about as it's been several years in the making ...

Les is a talented songwriter, singer, and musician. He's put together a show concept/pilot for a remake of The Partridge Family (now called the Forever Family), and even got Shirley Jones to come back as Mom. Les sytematically picked up period correct versions of all of the Ovation guitars and amps that were part of the original show, including Breadwinners, acoustics, Magnums, etc., and by now has quite an amazing collection of rare Ovation gear.

Les, keep us posted! Best wishes for the deal to come through.
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xbj
Posted 2007-01-29 10:58 AM (#321024 - in reply to #320990)
Subject: Re: How e-bay now shows bids


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June 2003
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Location: Las Vegas
Thanks so much!!! Will do!

Les
:)
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