Idiot eBay

Flyfishguy

Eaby just called and is suspending my accounts for 7 days. I sell under several different accounts for different catagories, I don't mix coins with scount pants, etc. My wife also has an account that she uses a few times a year. It seems my wife was Christmas shopping and bid on one of my items a couple of weeks ago. She didn't even realize it was one of my sellers accounts, she was out bid and moved on. 14 bids, hers was something like bid #9, well below the closing price. So they call me and won't even discuss it or allow me to talk to his supervisor. Not only shut down for a week, but about $200 in listing fees gone..

I report dozens of obvious fraud cases every month where people are getting ripped off for big money, I pay thousands every month in fees, and this is how they handle a one time inadvertant "Shill" bid.

19Lyds

Dang! This really sucks! Does she have her own computer? If not, then this is how they tracked it.

Anybody out there know if multiple PC off the same Internet connection would cause problems?

Flyfishguy

She signed up from my computer, but mostly uses her computer.

sliderider

<< <i>Dang! This really sucks! Does she have her own computer? If not, then this is how they tracked it.

Anybody out there know if multiple PC off the same Internet connection would cause problems? >>



It likely would if you or someone in your house were bidding from one of your own accounts on an item being sold by another of your own accounts.

Flyfishguy

Too bad they don't take counterfeit coins from Chineese sellers as seriously as my "shill" bidding!

coinguy1

<< <i>Too bad they don't take counterfeit coins from Chineese sellers as seriously as my "shill" bidding! >>

Unfortunately, they have far less knowledge of the former and are therefore not nearly as likely to address it.

<<Not only shut down for a week, but about $200 in listing fees gone..>>

Is there not a way to get a credit for those fees?

StrikeOutXXX

<< <i>Anybody out there know if multiple PC off the same Internet connection would cause problems? >>



Most typical DSL/Cable connections only have one assigned IP address to the outside world. Although each computer in the house would have their own unique internal IP address, what eBay sees from all of them is the same IP. They track everything by various means, IP included.

Just google for "ebay suspended account same ip address" and you'll see a few thousand instances. Some of the article suggets eBay has programs that compares IP addresses of bidders with IP addresses of sellers, and there is a chance here that the programs just made the connection.

notwilight

I have two ebay accounts and I've considered buying things from myself. Some auction houses don't use a reserve, instead, you place a buyback bid. I list things at no reserve and I've thought about what I'd do if it sold real low and one option i've toyed with is to buy it back with my other account. I concluded independently that it wouldn't be a good idea but I guess it's even better that I didn't try it.

--Jerry

kimon1230

<< <i>

<< <i>Anybody out there know if multiple PC off the same Internet connection would cause problems? >>



Most typical DSL/Cable connections only have one assigned IP address to the outside world. Although each computer in the house would have their own unique internal IP address, what eBay sees from all of them is the same IP. They track everything by various means, IP included.

Just google for "ebay suspended account same ip address" and you'll see a few thousand instances. Some of the article suggets eBay has programs that compares IP addresses of bidders with IP addresses of sellers, and there is a chance here that the programs just made the connection. >>

That would have a devastating effect on everyone that interacts with eBay from behind a corporate firewall. I know of many instances where several hundred employees at a single location use the same public IP address.

Conder101

I believe there has been a case described on here before where someone got suspended by ebay because someone else in his office bid on one of his auctions and eBay shut him down for bidding on his own auction because both computers had the same ISP address.

19Lyds

You're right with regard to the external ip address. I expect that multiple DSL/CABLE account would have to be plummed into the house to override this.

For the $200 bucks in fees that are lost, he can only pray that the EBAY Gods will take this situation under advisement but all in all its just a part of the penalty for being a bad boy!

StrikeOutXXX

<< <i>]That would have a devastating effect on everyone that interacts with eBay from behind a corporate firewall. I know of many instances where several hundred employees at a single location use the same public IP address. >>



I suppose it could, if you're using a proxy, or only have one outside IP for address translation similar to a home dsl/cable setup. All the schools I work in have both external class-C addresses (Usually administration) with the student computers on internal IPs (172.x.x.x), but we're converting them with dynamic NAT at the firewall with sort of a timed lease DHCP on them without a proxy. Even though we have 20,000 or so internal IP's, if we didn't block the little darlings from eBay to begin with, they would still all have different IPs according to eBay as we have a big enough pool of outside IPs.

We do have one off-site building not on our WAN that has business class DSL, but due to some of our apps and the need for static IPs reachable from other areas, we paid for a block of real IPs. Not many home accounts have that tier of service though.

I've never personally worked in a corporate environment like you described, but if they really were hitting eBay with the same IP, then the same thing could happen to them.

I suppose you could get around all of it by using a dial-up account (different IP each time) to bid on your items you listed with your broadband connection.

Hugegut

IP matching is very much in effect. Be careful..... Big Brother is watching