This must have been an unannounced change because I didn't hear anything about it..

Has anybody else noticed that instead of bidder names in the "bidder list" it now shows "Bidder 1, Bidder 2, etc?"

i.e. eBay.com Item Bid History

It also shows the users bidding style if you click on each bidder id. It shows what they bid on in the last month, and how close to the end of the auction they placed their last bid...



This is a very good idea.. For one, it automatically gets rid of people who win auctions for free publicity and don't pay... Most importantly, it gets rid of people who try to contact your bidders and offer them better deals..

Anybody else like this change?

I just noticed it yesterday and I thought something was wrong. I actually thought it was some different style of auction that I had not heard about LOL

I too like the idea.


except for the fact that everyone will learn that I win my auctions in the last couple of seconds ) LOL might give me sniping competition

I lost the date we received it, but it must have been a while ago. I think the bidder1 bidder2 ..shows up after bidding reaches $200...at least that's how it is in the doll category.
I like the idea because it helps to eliminate the fake 2nd chance offers, but it seems like shill bidding will be on the rise.


here is the announcement;

A couple of months ago, I told you about an important new initiative called Safeguarding Member IDs (read my announcement from November 2, 2006). Safeguarding Member IDs (SMI) 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.
SMI 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, SMI 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.

Coming this week: eBay.com and eBay Canada to Launch SMI
Following SMI's introduction last fall on eBay Motors, our eBay sites in the United Kingdom and Australia also made the decision to launch SMI. The results we're seeing for all three launches indicate that these changes are having the impact we are striving for – in short, a reduction in unwanted commercial and malicious spam (including Fake Second Chance Offers) to bidders on higher-priced auction-style listings.

As a result eBay.com and eBay.ca will be launching SMI later this week. SMI will impact listings on eBay.com that start at or reach a bid level of $200 or greater. On eBay Canada, it will impact listings above the C$220 level. Please read our Safeguarding Member IDs Frequently Asked Questions for more information.

Community Concerns
I'd like to acknowledge the concerns we've heard from some members who believe these changes may encourage shill bidding (the act of using friends or alias User IDs to bid on a seller's own listing to artificially increase the bidding level.) First, let me make it very clear that shill bidding is not tolerated on eBay. Not only is this activity prohibited by our policies (read our shill bidding policy), it is also a crime in many states.

In addition to the Bid History changes I've described above which are designed to give buyers the information they need to feel confident, it's important to know that over the years, eBay has invested heavily in shill detection systems. We can proactively detect and investigate possible shill bidding scenarios with a higher rate of accuracy than ever before. These backend systems collect more information on selling and bidding activity than our Community has access to, so we can detect patterns and ascertain identities much more accurately.

Be assured that we will continue to monitor the sites where SMI has launched to ensure that increased shill bidding does not become an unintended consequence of SMI.

I want to thank the Community for the support you've shown for these changes thus far. While reducing transparency on the site is understandably controversial, I believe these changes strike the right balance between the need for openness and the need to protect our members from online threats.

Sincerely,