Following the implementation of Safeguarding Member IDs in Australia and the UK last November it is now to be rolled out in the US and Canada. Bidders ID’s will be hidden when bidding rises above $200 in the US and C$220 in Canada.
Rob Chesnut posted on the US announcement board adding that he acknowledges concerns over shill bidding (which unlike in the UK is actually a crime in several US states). eBay users will no doubt hype shilling as being a much bigger issue than eBay would like, and they would do well to learn the lessons from the UK workshop on Safeguarding Member IDs which Tamebay reviewed. Sadly the workshop in the UK failed to communicate the rationale behind the Safeguarding Member ID’s initiative instead concentrating on shill bidding.
A Tamebay guest blogger, sean_coolness, has published “Safeguarding Members IDs is not a licence to shill” which explores the information divulged regarding bidder activity. The article demonstrates that it’s actually easier to identify shill bidding once Safeguarding Member IDs is implemented than was the case previously.
One Response
“The article demonstrates that it’s actually easier to identify shill bidding once Safeguarding Member IDs is implemented than was the case previously”.
Unfortunately it doesn’t demonstrate this at all.
The information provided in the pop up box is based only on the last 30 days trading, so if the seller has numerous accounts that they use to shill – and often they do, they just need to rotate them. Make sure they have not used the shilling ID against that buying ID in the last 30 days and the box will tell you that there has been 0 bids with that seller.
30 days data is far too short where no ID is shown and you cannot spot the same name popping up. It needs to be 12 months minimum.
When reporting shilling in the past I have been able to provide user ID’s item title, item number and bid timing going back up to 12 months as I have kept screen dumps of the shillers bid pages showing the user ID’s.
Now I cannot even keep the screen dumps, so even less proof as they simply say Bidder 1 etc.
The new system is particularly beneficial to sellers of high value items that sell just a few a month, they can easily shill with just a few shilling accounts rotated and bump up the prices by hundreds of pounds.
It is now impossible to report them as it is impossible to see them, and we know eBay rely on its members to police the site. The number of reports sellers make through the eBay forums that show clear shilling on low value items indicates that eBay’s claim of sophisticated behind the scenes detection is ridiculous.
Shilling penalises honest buyers that follow the rules.
Fake 2nd chance offers that will involve fake off eBay sales only penalise those buyers that break eBay rules and agree to conduct the purchase off eBay.