ePrey - I HATE anonymous bidders!

[Paul T.]

Paul -- Not sure I follow your argument. Why exactly do you feel you are at a disadvantage if you just see "Bidder 1," "Bidder 2," etc. instead of those bidders' eBay IDs? And how can knowing their eBay IDs help you to spot shills (unless you've seen a pattern of bidding by the same people in previous auctions conducted by the same seller)? As for your wanting to warn potential bidders about fakes -- couldn't that same capability be used by an unscrupulous bidder to "warn" competing bidders that something was fake, when in fact it was genuine? Great way to weed out the competition!

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What better way for detecting shill bidders is there, than checking out their previous activity? THis is exactly what anonymous bidding prevents. Preventing this from happening gives a seller much more freedom to shill. It means that we are bidding in the dark. There is SOME information available, namely the feedback total, but not as much as we had previously.

And, again, who would benefit from NOT being able to warn bidders that items are faked? How often has this happened on this board? How many fake Nazi Leicas have we seen? THere are surely more of these around than there are sellers trying to sabotage rival auctions.

I have had great enjoyment from eBay; when, in the past, people have suggested it's a nest of vipers, I've disagreed. But this one change is counterproductive: it's damaging to bidders, and if it impairs confidence, it ultimately won't benefit sellers either.

 

[Steve Bellayr]

On bidding at auctions knowing who one is bidding against is very important. That is why in major auctions the bidding is often by proxy. In smaller auctions if one knows that one is bidding against a dealer then out bidding a dealer means paying the next increment about wholesale price which is a good buy but, on the other hand, if one is bidding against a serious collector you will pay retail or higher for the item. Ebay eliminates that knowledge which hurts the buyer but aids the seller. Ebay is a sellers market. The only way to buy on ebay is to have knowledge of the seller. (Ebay ratings are not an accurate measurement as all the sellers seem to have exceptionally high ratings.) Then compare prices with the legitimate retailers on the net.

 

[VinceC]

>>OK, let's see. I bought a camera 30 years ago for $250.00. I now sell it on evilbay for $125.00. Where is my profit on which to pay taxes? Now if that camera is valued at $90.00 (by whose standards?) and I sell if for $2000.00. I guess that might be different.<<

You don't have a profit. So just keep enjoying your hobby and ignore tax consequences. This is a law intended to separate hobbyists from those who run a business.

 

[summilux]

the so-called new measure does not scammers sending out second chance offers, most of them look crude anyway.


ebay/paypal looks increasingly like Microsoft. the amount of lies and deceits they represent is awesome.

 

[Pherdinand]

OK let's see... I do have a contax IIa lying around, almost gathering dust... but i fancy only the 35mm not the m4...i will email you.

 

[mw_uio]

About two weeks ago, I received a very small item, a Nikon 'E' screen off of Ebay. The seller in the USA sends it via USPS, that costs $1.80, and I end up paying $29 USD for shipping to Quito, Ecuador. The seller, 99.8% feedback.

Ebay swings both ways, it either works or it does not. No one will want to report to the IRS when they sold a $35 item. I like the classic description by sellers 'as pictured' 😀

Cheers

MArk
Quito, EC

 

[SDK]

So far I've never made profit selling an item on ebay (or to a store for that matter), so the IRS wouldn't get a penny. If you are buying low and selling high, like a smart capitalist, you will need to start keeping track of how much profit you make (sale price minus costs, including what you paid for the item). If it's not a lot you can report it as "hobby income," but if profit's over $400 (I think) you'll have to report it as self employment business income, file Schedules C and SE and pay self employment tax as well as income tax on the earnings.

 

[VinceC]

If it's a hobby, you can also deduct your film and processing costs, repairs, Ebay fees, postage, transportation. If you're still making a profit after that, it's a one-time hobby gain and you pay capital gains taxes, which are usually less than income taxes. If you're making a small profit year after year, you're running a small successful business (congratulations!) and you owe taxes.

 

[Finder]

As a bidder, why do I have to give information to other bidders about myself? I see nothing wrong with keeping the identity of bidders anonymous.

 

[rbiemer]

I think that my biggest complaint about the "anonymous bidder" thing on ebay is that it seems to be fairly random on which items it shows up on. I have seen similarly priced (and same brand) cameras or lenses and some have it and some don't. (For example, I have been casually🙂rolleyes: ) looking at Leica M3s. Some auctions have anonymous bidders and some don't.) And I can't see any consistency in which are which. That annoys the heck out of me. Is the seller who decides about anonymous bidders or is it ebay?
Rob

 

[sherm]

The sad fact is that complain as we all may we still are drawn to Ebay because the hope of getting a "deal" appeals to everyone. As stated earlier, there are no real alternatives for this kind of auction site. I think that the classifieds here as well as other photo sites offer a safer way to buy. I have been fortunate to have only had positive experiences with buying and selling on Ebay . Some of the horror stories that I've read about here would definately have left a bad taste in my mouth.

I agree with many that Ebay isn't the same market place that it was in it's earlier days, but I believe the same can be said for many companies. So my thought, just don't use Ebay, there must be greater injustices in the world that we can spend our time on instead of who's anonymous and who isn't.......... 🙄

Scott

 

[sherm]

George,

What did you pay for the T3 that you have on Photo.net? I thought it was about $395.00?

Just curious?

 

[sircarl]

Shills are a risk in any auction process, even where the bidders' identities are known. I'm still not convinced that going to anonymous bidding has made it much more difficult to spot shills on eBay. Those sellers who use shills frequently are, I'm sure, quite adept at changing their eBay IDs/accounts constantly so they are very hard to spot -- and would have been even when their eBay IDs were revealed in an auction, under the old system. Those sellers who use shills only occasionally can rarely be discovered at all, because past bidding records aren't suspicious enough. And all bidding records for past auctions disappear after 2-3 months anyway. As always, the foolproof way of defeating shill bidding is to figure out what you want to pay for an item and submitting a bid for that amount. True, you won't get any bargains that way if a shill is used, because the price will be bid up to your maximum. But you'll still get a price that you consider fair. I also agree with Finder -- I don't want competing bidders on eBay to know anything about ME, because it may help them compete with me in an auction. So I think anonymous bidding is an advantage, not a disadvantage, for me.

 

[VinceC]

>>I set a price I am willing to pay for the item, and then walk away.<<

That's how I handle EBay.

I understand this concern about shills. On the other hand, I've seen several forum postings over the past couple years where people talk about using EBay for sport, bidding on things just to do it, and sometimes accidently winning things they know nothing about or didn't intend to buy because their low-ball bid ended up being the highest one. Or those who like to snipe, jumping in at the last minute in hopes of outbidding someone by $5. That's why I prefer to set my price and walk away. I've already determined the most I'll pay for something, and I don't need to worry about getting caught up in a bidding frenzy.

 

[Michiel]

Why don't you use a local site?

I have never used ebay, but instead a Netherlands only site (now owned by ebay by the way).

I have never ever payed for shipping, because I just drive over there. You can pay in cash if you like, or just pop over to have a look first.

Of course sometimes you have to wait untill someone puts something you want online, but hearing all your complains that seems worth it.

So my advice is to go local. It's fun too, you get to meet a lot of people in person when you go pick up an item.