Ebay has quietly modified its shill bidding policies to remove problematic bans against bidding on items sold by people you know or if you have knowledge about an item that others do not have (with threats to notify law enforcement!) This created problems for people who are bidding on items from trusted local sellers, or those who perhaps cared enough to inspect an item in person before bidding. (Do they now "know" the seller? Do they now have more knowledge than other bidders and must disqualify themselves?) Ebay drop-off stores were forced to watch their consignor's items sell for less than their true value if an employee wanted to bid on them -- hurting the consignor, who gets less for his item, and both ebay and the drop-off store, who make less commissions. The new policy, practical and simple ( is this a first for eBay?) is basically: Don't use a fake account to run up the price of YOUR items. You can buy from people you know as long as you intend to buy the item and not artificially increase its price or desirability. Old rules: http://www.fidosysop.org/sitefiles/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ebay-old-shill-policy.png New rules: http://www.fidosysop.org/sitefiles/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/eb-shill-bidding-policy_20120603.png
I'm glad to see this finally change. I had a friend who didn't get along with one of her siblings. To spite my friend the sibling decided that when she wanted to sell grandma's fine china she would put it on Ebay instead of dealing with her. When my friend bid on the ebay auction she recieved a very nasty email from Ebay along with a temporary ban on her account. By the time she sorted it all out and got Ebay to see her side, the China had sold, and for much less than she was willing to pay.
