What is the Safeguarding Member IDs project?
The Safeguarding Member IDs project is a significant step forward in protecting eBay's bidders, who have increasingly become targets for unwanted commercial and malicious spam, such as phishing, spoof, and fake Second Chance Offers.
This project adds a new layer of privacy by replacing specific User IDs with aliases (bidder 1, bidder 2, bidder 3, etc.). To ensure buyers continue to feel trust in the bidding process, it also provides an updated Bid History page with aggregate information about the bidders involved in a given listing, as well as their other recent activity with the listing's seller.
We're implementing this new system on listings where the high bid is Rs. 9000 or greater, which is where we believe it can have the greatest positive impact. The bid information for listings where the bid is lower than Rs. 9000 will display as it does today.
Here's what will change:
On the Bid History page for each listing, we'll replace User IDs with aliases (such as Bidder 1, Bidder 2 and Bidder 3) in the order that bidders place their first bid. For each bidder involved in a listing, we'll display the category, a range that their Feedback Score falls within (i.e. 10-49, for instance), their percentage of positive Feedback, their length of time as an eBay member, and the number of bids they've placed on the item. At the end of a listing, the winning bidder's User ID will be displayed on the item page. Please note:
Sellers will still be able to access bidder information on their listings through the Bid History page and the My eBay selling section.
In My eBay, members will no longer have access to the high-bidder column from Bid and Watch sections.
On the item page, you'll only be able to see the high-bidder ID if you are the signed-in seller of the item or the signed-in high bidder.
Through the "Advanced Search by Bidder" link, we'll only show completed listings within the last 30 days.
Future enhancements are being designed that will provide even more transaction data about the bidders and seller involved in a transaction. We'll continue to update theCommunity on these changes as these plans become finalised.
How will the Bid History page appear after this change?
The screenshot below shows an example of the the changes to the Bid History page.
What is the timing of this launch for eBay India?
Safeguarding Member IDs will launch on eBay.in in January 2007. The feature has already launched on eBay sites in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.
Will eBay lose the trust of buyers by hiding bidder information?
We launched the first phase of Safeguarding Member IDs on eBay sites in the United Kingdom and Australia. The results on each of these sites indicate that these changes are having the right kind of positive impact we are striving for. As a result, we are launching Safeguarding Member IDs on eBay.in in January 2007.
After the changes to Bid History are launched, how will eBay detect shill bidding?
First, eBay is committed to prevent shill bidding from occurring on our site. It's important to remember that, while the public will not have access to User IDs under the Safeguarding Bidder ID site changes, eBay will continue to have the same access to information that we have today.
eBay takes the issue of shill bidding (the use of a secondary bidding account to increase the level of bidding and the apparent value of an item) very seriously. Shill bidding is a violation that, when detected, leads to an immediate suspension or sanction.
In the last several years, we've invested heavily in shill detection systems that enable us to proactively detect and investigate possible shill bidding scenarios with a higher rate of accuracy than ever before. Our backend systems collect more information on selling and/or bidding activity than our Community has access to, so we can detect patterns and ascertain identities much more accurately.
With the information provided as part of the Safeguarding Member ID project, we believe that members will still be able to detect and report suspicious activity. While we proactively search the site for shill bidding, we do appreciate the reports from the Community of suspicious activity and will continue to investigate them and take action where appropriate.
If I can't see the User ID of the member who outbid me, how do I know that the bid was legitimate?
While specific User IDs will not be visible, individual bidders will be identified by an alias (such as bidder1, bidder2, etc.). For each bidder involved in a listing, we'll display the category, a range that their Feedback Score falls within (i.e. 10- 49, for instance), their percentage of positive Feedback, their length of time as an eBay member, and the number of bids they've placed on the item. Please see the picture below for an idea about the information that will be displayed.
Naturally, if you ever suspect any suspicious activity, you can report it as you do today through the eBay Toolbar or through Help on the site.
If I'm a seller, can I see the bid history on my own listings?
Yes, if you are the seller you will continue to have access to the User IDs for the bidders on your active listings through the Bid History page and the My eBay selling section.
What will the impact on 3rd party tools be?
Some third party tool providers will need to make adjustments. Please work directly with these service providers for more details.
How will members spot malicious bidding or attempts by others to interfere with the site? Malicious bidding is an action perpetrated against a seller. In this case, a logged-in seller will still be able to see the member User IDs on the Bid History page. A seller can also click through to a bidder's eBay Feedback Profile page to view their feedback. Through the Feedback pages, a seller will be able to see a bidder's most recent items where there has been Feedback exchanged.
Can members search for one another using the "Items by Bidder" option under Advanced Search?
A member can search for another member using Advanced Search, "Items by Bidder"; however, only completed items won in the last 30 days will be displayed. In contrast, today's functionality displays all the items the member has bid or won in the last 30 days.
I use Items by Bidder to find other sellers with listings I might want to bid on. Will I lose this ability?
You will lose the ability to see open items a member has bid on in the release in January 2007. We hope to provide slightly more transparency in a release later this year.
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