Sellers bidding on their items!

[schschneewitchen]

This is really getting out of control.  Ebay should NOT let sellers bid on their own items.  Bring back where buyer can see who's bidding, not private bidders. At least show the first few letters so people can see these scammers. Thanks!

[jame234]

The first few letters of what?  All users are camouflaged to preserve buyer's privacy.  What you describe seller or friends bidding on a seller's item is against the law, and eBay has software set up to catch illegal bidding.  eBay does not let sellers bid on their own items!  

The seller sets up an auction so that bidders are 'private' .  If you log off, your user ID is private also.  This is for sellers who plan to resell and don't want the price known.

[house*of*paws]

Hi @schschneewitchen 

Sellers bidding on their own auctions … known as ‘shill bidding’ … is both a violation of eBay policy and a felony.  eBay reportedly has checks to prevent it … but it sometimes occurs.

’Private auctions’ are helpful for sensitive/embarrassing type items … but seem to be overused by some sellers.

It actually was buyers who prevailed on eBay to mask Usernames for privacy reasons … so I doubt that full IDs will be shown again.

You can avoid bidding on private auctions if you’re concerned about shill bidding … or bid near the very end of the auction so that nobody can raise your proxy bid.

[inceptions]

As already explained, shill bidding is illegal and not allowed on eBay. However revealing the bidder IDs won't help you identify it as it's not possible for a seller to bid on his own item using his seller ID. eBay has ways of catching shill bidding though, so it's not as prevalent as you think. Usually when shill bidding is suspected, it's a misinterpretation of the bid history.

What is making you think the seller is bidding on his own items?