Many seasoned auction users also have learned how susceptible their lone ID can be to the misdeeds of others. Burned by repeated bid stalking, some users have used one ID to place initial bids on items; however, they might later come back for final bids (even snipes) using a different ID. The same approach can be used to thwart bid shills, using one ID to essentially "stake your claim" on an item but at a low maximum (just in case a shill is lurking). Using a secondary ID to make a final bid will prevent the artificial and illegal inflation of an item's final price.

And longtime sellers know it takes hard work and determination to build a high feedback rating and a solid customer base. However, an encounter or two with an irrational buyer might land a neg in your feedback before you've even had a chance to build your feedback to a respectable level. Although a neg or two are not always deemed to be a fatal blow, some sellers need to essentially restart from scratch with a new user ID. And before you wonder whether such a practice licenses the seller to conduct bad business and assume a new ID once found out (which, yes, some do), the goal of a high feedback rating can never be achieved by continually leaping to new IDs.

How Many IDs Do You Need?
Though the decision of how many IDs to have is up to you and depends on how you want to run your business and personal affairs, practice the method of "less is best." Some users are well served by just two IDs--one for business and one for pleasure, or one for buying and one for selling. Others like to use the fraud protection ID available as well to misdirect would-be shills and bid stalkers. And, as mentioned earlier, if you are involved in a business with multiple owners and/or employees, it might make sense to obtain a unique ID for each.

Regardless how many IDs you believe you need to best manage your online auction activity, be 100 percent certain that they never become entangled in bidding or selling in a way that could lead someone to believe that you've joined the ranks of auction scammers and registration abusers. Again, less is more, but these days one ID just doesn't always seem to be enough.

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