Scott:
you have used the right phrase -- the Zen of ebay is changing over time, and the direction is not good. There has always been something of a "Wild West" to ebay -- with shills, private auctions, fraudulent auctions, fake watches, and so the list goes on and on.
what bothers me about this new change is that the "Bad Guys" seem to have won out -- ebay will be protecting bidders from some bad guys, and so they blame the Bad Guys from causing the loss of transparency. It will be the good guys, who like to participate in open, transparent auctions, who are losing out. Yes, we lose the opportunity for cullusion (and such collusion can adversely affect ebay's market); we are left wholly unprotected from shills (which is the greatest threat, in my view).
In terms of the watches and similar items, I suspect that this will move some small number sellers and buyers away from ebay . . . to more civilized places, where buyers and sellers will continue to see each other, and have more transparency. Sellers may forego the very top dollar they can hope to recieve in the highly populated / highly efficient ebay market; they may find it worthwhile in terms of the benefits of being part of a better "community".
so when is Chuck's next Flea Market?? Let me propose March 31 and April 1!! We'll see you there . . . no ski masks, please!!
Jeff
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
: I agree completely. A large part of what eBay
: bidding is about is knowing who you're
: bidding against, how they bid, etc. This
: makes it far more difficult to decide
: whether, and how much, to bid, or whether
: it's worth the time. And as you say, Jeff,
: you can find yourself bidding against
: friends and needlessly running their costs
: (or them running your costs) beyond what it
: would otherwise be.
: While I can fully appreciate the security
: concerns, this new blind bidding method
: raises a whole slew of other unanticipated
: problems and changes the zen of eBay. I
: don't like it at all.
: Scott
