SMI Put In Place to Combat Fraudulent Second Chance Offers
SMI replaces specific User IDs with aliases (bidder 1, bidder 2, bidder 3 and so on) in all auctions where the bidding exceeds $200. EBay says that they instituted this new policy to reduce fake Second Chance Offers (“SCO”). In an SCO, when an original buyer does not complete a deal, the seller can then contact the under-bidder and offer them an SCO to buy the item. Scammers who are not the original sellers have been sending SCOs to under bidders in an attempt to defraud them out of money.
SMI Hidden Bidder IDs Makes It Very Hard To See Bid Shilling
The result of this new SMI policy is that doll buyers will no longer know who is bidding against them. It will be very hard to see if shillers are involved in bidding (although eBay will provide some information with the bidder aliases, such as how many transactions the bidder has had with the seller in the past 30 days. You can see what one of these new bidder pages look like here.
Hidden Bidders Erases the Competitive Thrill of the eBay Auction Experience
Doll buyers will also no longer experience the competitive thrill of auction, which is generally one of the reasons that the auction format online has been so popular. Collectors of a particular type of doll generally know the other major collectors in their area, and it’s thrilling to win auctions against your main competition. The experience of an auction on eBay is now like being at a bricks and mortar auction with a bag over your head. Not lots of fun, and not a very informed way to place bids. Also, the ability to search by bidder has also been taken away, so that if you want to research a bidder’s history to get information for your bidding strategy, you cannot.
SMI Is A Massive Overreaction to A Small Problem
In my opinion, eBay’s attempt to end SCOs by hiding bidders on all over $200 auctions is a bit like cutting off your arm to get rid of the hang nail on your pinkie. It’s overkill, and it’d of an insidious type that threatens to seriously hamper buying and selling of expensive vintage, antique and artist dolls via auctions on eBay.
Private Auctions on eBay Were Generally Warned Against
I have spent several years teaching classes on eBay to doll buyers and sellers, and my advice has always been to never bid on a private auction because you cannot determine shill bidding. In effect, all auctions over $200 on eBay are now private. As both a seller and buyer of dolls on eBay, I am very, very concerned about what this will do to eBay doll auctions and the overall pricing market for dolls.
Doll Collectors Don’t Like the New System; “Bidding in the Dark”
On the eBay Dolls Discussion Board, it appears that many feel the same way. Misspoohpig said about the new hidden bidder system “I like to know who I'm bidding against. It helps with my own bidding strategy. I don't like it at all that I can't see who the others bidders are or look at their bidding history.” Metziemuldoon said “We are already expecting Buyers to take a leap-of-faith in buying something only seen in a picture, and in an environment that already reeks of caveat emptor.....this new system is just one more step towards "bidding in the dark." She agreed that the new hidden bidder system will create a “Shiller’s Paradise” and that “eBay is endeavoring to fix a crisis they created by initiating the second chance offer. It was a bright idea that backfired.”
Call to End SCOs instead of Hiding Bidders
In fact, many buyers and sellers don’t understand why eBay doesn’t end SCOs instead of institute the hidden bidding system which so fundamentally changes the site. About this, bygonedolls said “I abhor it....... in fact I have gone on my own personal strike. I regularly spend large amounts of money on eBay...not anymore. I never bid on private auctions. I will not bid on this hidden nonsense either. If eBay really wanted to eliminate second chance offer fraud .......they should eliminate second chance offers. I never use them and don't know anybody who does.”
Collectors Worry That eBay Will Become the Kmart of Internet Auction Sites
Other doll collectors worry that hidden bidders will degrade both the offerings of fine dolls on the site as well as the prices that sellers will be able to get for them. Says WildRose55: “If eBay continues with this policy, it's going to become the Kmart of the internet auction sites. I'll save my high end items for either an online store like Rubylane or consigning them to live auctions.” Silverlacecats also “deplores the new system” and said that she was recently “watching a couple of auctions where, by the end of the auction, the price was bumped up by hundreds of $ by zero bidders. It makes me feel very uneasy, indeed. I think that the sales on eBay will take a nosedive because of this "secrecy" policy.” She continued: It should make all the doll dealers very happy, though, as I personally think that they will reclaim many of the customers that they lost to eBay.”
A Few Doll Collectors Don’t Mind the New Policy
Although it was much harder to find eBay members that were for the new policy, some do exist. Said jerribelle on the same eBay Dolls Discussion Board “What I do like about it is now those in certain doll groups will not feel afraid to outbid a friend. In fact, I knew of a woman that collected a popular French doll that would "stake her claim" to it on various off-eBay chat boards! Several others were actually afraid to bid against her as she was known to send scathing e-mails to those who did!”
