capotasto
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posted on July 11, 2001 10:43:00 AM new
I received an "important announcement" from ebay re shill bidding... it sounded like a subtle warning that they think I was doing this (I never have).
Is it just me, or was this sent generally to all sellers?
Vinnie
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ahc3
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posted on July 11, 2001 10:59:16 AM new
I just got it too, and I think it is good. My parents are new to ebay selling, and my dad accidentily started an auction at $1 instead of $10. His solution was to bid the item up to $10 using a different account! I "scolded" him and told him how bad and unethical this was, I don't think he will do it again. To him, it was a way to make up for the fact that he started the auction at the wrong price. There are some people involved in shill bidding for this reason, but I think most people do it for price manipulation. Doesn't seem to me a very good way to stop this, although I would hope that more shill bidders get caught. Maybe the e-mail will convince people who are doing it to stop, who knows?
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rgrem
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posted on July 11, 2001 11:06:42 AM new
You might get on record with ebay that they are wrong. I wonder if a person got 3 or 4 of these notices, what Ebay would do. I also wonder if they are the result of someone reporting "possible shilling" to ebay. Folks, I think this deserves some attention. jmho
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blackjack21
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posted on July 11, 2001 11:30:35 AM new
I just received the notice from ebay too. It can't be a coincidence that many of us are suddenly getting this veiled threat e-mail from ebay. And to think that all our accounts
are in the hands of inexperienced, trigger happy greenhorns who couldn't spot an actual shill painted in neon colors on a billboard. It's gets me very angry to think how fragile our accounts at ebay are, especially with the stakes being very high for many of us.
Common sense would tell us that we already know the rules regarding shilling, and for those that truly are doing it, no warning would deter them anyway. Ebay is just offending the majority to ferret out the minority, and as usual, it will backfire.
Just about every seller here has competitors who can easily make unfounded accusations, so it can get quite scary when a seller is guilty until proven innocent. Regardless, why would any intelligent seller risk losing his place in the only game in town? No intelligent seller would.
Thanks for reading,
Jack
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imabrit
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posted on July 11, 2001 11:41:56 AM new
I just got the same letter as well thats why I checke here.It really bothered me though as at first I thought someone was turning me in for shilling.
I have a lot of repeat business and lots of the same folks bid every week so I could see someone jumping to the wrong conclusions about it.
Adrian
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Excalibur131
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posted on July 11, 2001 11:42:14 AM new
I received the message a short while ago and immediately sent this response back to them:
Since "This administrative email was sent to [email protected] based on your account at eBay." am I, in fact, thought to be a shill bidder by eBay Safe Harbor or any other entity within the eBay organization?
I find the wording of this entire message to be inflamatory and borderline libelous.
Excalibur131
The way the opening statement reads to me is that I AM being accused, otherwise what reason would they say it is based on MY account at eBay. If I am NOT being accused, if in fact NONE of us are being accused, then they need to get letters of apology out to each person the email was sent to post haste!
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peiklk
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posted on July 11, 2001 11:43:22 AM new
I don't think it's libel if they only say it about you TO you.
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Excalibur131
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posted on July 11, 2001 11:49:07 AM new
This was 'in writing' and to me. I took the time to look libel up to make sure of what it meant and honestly believe, with that opening sentence, that they are borderline libelous.
JMHO
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Excalibur131
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posted on July 11, 2001 11:51:53 AM new
Ohhhhhhhhh, I see the light now ... duh ... you are saying to me only and to no one else. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm you might have a valid point there. I will have to ponder that for about the next 3 seconds  But I am anxious to see if they even respond -- but I'm not going to turn into a smurf waiting
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reston_ray
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posted on July 11, 2001 11:52:04 AM new
I have not received one.
It could be because A) I'm completely above suspecion and reproch B) They are sending them to everybody and have not reached the r.... email addresses yet C) Some other reason known only to eBay.
We will just have to wait and see how this plays out.
At least, it's never boring.
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FairHillFloydFreak
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posted on July 11, 2001 11:53:17 AM new
I got one too, and the majority of my transactions on eBay are for buying, only selling here and there...this may be a dumb question, but is this email really from eBay (I don't know a dam thing about computers or email headers or anything, but this email doesn't look like the other emails I've received from eBay)...Return path reads something about "smartbounce"? all my other eBay emails come directly from an @ebay address, this one just looks strange. I know I must be babbling, here's a paste:
Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Received: from rly-xb01.mx.aol.com (rly-xb01.mail.aol.com
Is there anyone computer literate that could explain it to me? I'm sorry for such a long (and totally ignorant) post!
Thanks!
[ edited by FairHillFloydFreak on Jul 11, 2001 12:02 PM ]
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ahc3
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posted on July 11, 2001 11:54:31 AM new
These days I always am fearful of special messages from Ebay, Paypal, etc. I think it usually means either a more restrictive policy, or more expenses for me. I didn't think though I was being singled out by Ebay.
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tootsiepop
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posted on July 11, 2001 11:56:18 AM new
Just got mine
I'm not too worried though, sounds like it's a mass e-mailing if so many here have received them also. Wasn't there a thread a week or two ago about this same e-mail being sent out?
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ebaypowersellergold
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posted on July 11, 2001 12:16:52 PM new
it's a mass mailing - the only way you won't get it is if you opted out.
The reason to me is simple. Most of you know that Meg was summoned to Washington D.C. to answer questions re: on-line fraud. Several representatives have specifically asked how they address shill bidding problems.
Case closed. It's no more than a stupid announcement sent to everyone just so they can say they have some sort of on-going program or whatever...
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Excalibur131
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posted on July 11, 2001 12:43:42 PM new
I agree that it is probably a mass mailing to cover themselves, BUT they need to reword these things so that they are not so inflamatory to their customer base.
JMHO
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eSeller004
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posted on July 11, 2001 01:13:43 PM new
Phew, I didn't get one either!
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capotasto
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posted on July 11, 2001 01:46:26 PM new
Whew! I get it now....
"Several representatives have specifically asked how they address shill bidding problems. "
.... "It's very simple, Senator. We send out a mass mailing to all of our major sellers. The innocent ones quickly decide it's a mass mailing and only informative, but we scare the bejesus out of the real shillers because we cleverly make the email accusatory and it reads like we're on to them for shilling."
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ebaypowersellergold
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posted on July 11, 2001 02:09:28 PM new
capotasto, LOL
Given their horrendous efforts on stores, international acquisitions, etc, I have little faith in their management. Wouldn't surprise me if the mentality there just might be "Hey, that might work to get them off our backs". LOL. I hope they show that e-mail to the Senators... would be a grand LOL to see their reaction
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argh
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posted on July 11, 2001 03:43:06 PM new
I got that e-mail a couple of days ago. Having read about it here before, I didn't feel like I was being singled out either, but I do think it's odd that if it is a mass mailing, why it didn't go out to everyone at once. That doesn't make much sense to me.
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Capriole
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posted on July 11, 2001 03:52:36 PM new
I haven't gotten one...
I just had a load of auctions close and am sending them out now. I love usps priority!
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dottie
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posted on July 11, 2001 07:02:16 PM new
It's a courtesy educational eMailing about Shilling in an effort to make sure folks know what shilling is and that it is against the rules at eBay. (it's a suspendable offense).
This seious and informative post about shilling is NOT necessarily triggered by specific behavior... they're being sent out in batches. (eBay has a large user base).
I'm not sure what determines who is in which batch of mailings.
- Dottie
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pointy
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posted on July 11, 2001 07:43:09 PM new
I am a gold powerseller, and I received this e-mail also today. I immediately called in, as I was of course concerned. I found that it is indeed a mass mailing. I brought to their attention the wording in the first line "based on your account" suggests that it is not a mass mailing and they agreed it was wrong and would be corrected. Based on prior experience I expect that it will never be corrected.
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rustybore
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posted on July 11, 2001 08:08:48 PM new
From time to time I have sold old local advertising items and other stuff of more or less local interest. Sure enough - someone from a nearby town, (even MY own town!) will bid on and win these items.
It has happened several times now and I always worry that ebay will suspect shill bidding.
Then there is also the topic of repeat bidders. Sheesh... to protect my account I should refuse to sell to repeat or local bidders?
Great way to foster that feeling of community ebay...
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ecom
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posted on July 11, 2001 08:19:54 PM new
I did not receive such an email, but know what this might be about.
My understanding is Ebay is experimenting with shill detector software and is alerting members of potential violations. They will take a smaller sample from the members identified and let a SafeHarbor team investigate specific transactions.
The notice of warning will allow them to terminate sellers immediately, should shill bidding be determined.
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