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bearlyart Canna Bear Paint
NY
Posts: 749

Yup, it's completely fine to have multiple accounts.  I'm in charge of quite a few, for myself or some family members as the official 'eBay geek'.  I think I have two in my mother's name and several in my own.  I use them for different things.  I buy general items on one, sell general items on one, buy bear supplies on one, sell bears on one, use a 'secret' one to buy gifts for friends and family.  Nothing sneaky, I promise.  I figure I prove that I do NOT shill bid whenever I have an auction that goes unsold.  What self-respecting dishonest person would let that happen?     :P

Cheers,
Kelly

Dilu Posts: 8,574

Thank you Rox for the question.  You really sparked some great replies.  Thank you everyone else for posting.  There is so much experience here. 

I didn't know about private bidding until I was watching Miss Kimm's little blue guy this past week-It's hard to watch everyones stuff, cuz I can't get any work done with all my fingers and toes crossed!  :rolleyes:

I was going to ask Kim but forgot....( speaking of grannie)

Is it possible for a bidder to be private, or does it have to be the seller that makes that decision. 

Re:  gifts....good point.....Rickytiki does buy stuff off the internet for me....He says- you can't log on to e-bay or read any ebay mail.....not an easy thing to do if your a nosey like me.

Thank you for an interesting addition to our Bearybussiness education.
:love:

bear_tongue

Shelli SHELLI MAKES
Chico, California
Posts: 9,939
Website

Shelli Retired Help Advisor, Banner Sponsor

Dilu, I think as a bidder you can make your FEEDBACK private -- which is an ENORMOUS red flag to sellers! -- but you can't make your ID private.  Only by participating in a private auction, set up to be that way by the seller, could you have your ID kept entirely private as well.

But I could be wrong.

I've just never seen it any other way than the way described, above.

Kelly; thanks for the clarification on multiple ID's.  I have just the one, because I wanted all my feedback (which is 100% positive) to transfer to my professional ID a few years back, when I started out in "business."  I had a few feedback already and figured, it all helps establish credibility and reputation!

I take it that additional ID's must gather their own feedback to themselves?

Eileen Baird'sBears
Toronto
Posts: 3,873

Very, very interesting thread!

You can certainly check a buyer's or seller's ID history on eBay. Unless a shill-bidder manages to establish a second ID with a different name and address, it's all there in the open.

I'm sure I've seen notices on some auctions explaining that the auction is private to protect the identities of the bidders. Wouldn't this go a long way toward removing suspicions? Some people might not want their entire buying and selling histories exposed to the world, even if they've bought nothing naughty or otherwise embarassing. If their buying history is public, any ambulance-chasing seller could solicit and harrass them.

People are such creeps, sometimes.  :(

Eileen

Deb Upstate New York
Posts: 1,650
Eileen wrote:

I'm sure I've seen notices on some auctions explaining that the auction is private to protect the identities of the bidders.

Exactly; I never buy used underwear unless it's a private auction!  :lol:

If for whatever reason, I don't want my ID on an auction, I just have my sister buy it.  Simple, and works for me.  Example of when I might do this:  I've been looking at childrens vintage clothing because the antiquing (except for glass) blows around here.  So if I find something I like and want, I ring up Sis!
   bear_original

bearlyart Canna Bear Paint
NY
Posts: 749

Yes, if you open an additional account it does unfortunately start as a brand new zero-feedback account.  It sounds odd to have multiple accounts, but I do prefer to keep everything separated.  When it comes to the bears in particular, having them apart from EVERY non-bear purchase and non-bear sale makes recording eBay and PayPal info for tax season remarkably simple.   I know that every eBay charge on my bear sales account is from listing bears for sale.  And I know that everything I paid through PayPal with my bear-supply buying account was purchases of bear supplies. 

As an interesting note, I believe that it is possible to merge two or more of your accounts into one, I believe that all feedback is merged as well.  For the record though, you can't go the other way and split one account into multiple accounts.  It's nice to know that if I ever get tired of separating everything out and want everything on one account, I should just be able to merge them all into one.

Cheers,
Kelly

kbonsall Kim-Bee Bears
Pennsylvania
Posts: 5,645

WOW!  it never occurred to me half the stuff you gals brought to my attention in this subject!  WOW - I, like Gina do it so the people can buy stuff and no one goes searching for "the bear that got away" so there are no hard feelings and so no one trys to sabotage their future bidding on my items or other items that they see that person bidding on... I would never dream of shill bidding.. i guess there are honest and dishonest people in this world... I would feel so crummy and guilty to do that... plus, as you can tell, my bears dont always sell which is a good indication... I do believe that some bidders travel in packs and bid on the same persons  bears... like a bear clique or something (did i spell that right??)  Hey, whatever... I have a clean conscience... and karma is a biotch! LOL

rosebearcottage Rose Bear Cottage
Lake Gregory, California
Posts: 284

I was asked in the past to do private auctions on my creations because one of my collectors didn't want to bid against her friend who also was a collector of my creations. She felt better if the other didn't know.  bear_whistle

melissa Honeythorpe Bears
Wellington, New Zealand
Posts: 1,789
Website

I have been following this discussion all day...from work where I can't log on to teddy talk but I can sneak in and watch sometimes!!

Anyway....thanks for all the thoughts.  I totally understand the point of private auctions and the fad buying created by a group of bidders really tees me off!!!!  It is very obvious that some of these bidders follow each other to auctions (heck, I check in on them every few months too   bear_grin ) but it is so crazy. 

When I first started making mini bears and looking at ebay it was around 2001.  There were some very strong mini groups around then and the bear market was a lot stronger too.  I fell in love with the bears of one particular artist who I thought created very charming, well executed minis.  Her work regularly fetched between 200 and 300 dollars (and sometimes more).  Any hoo while I know that tastes change etc, one particular artist drew the focus of a substantial bidder and focus was suddenly shifted  and a whole lotta people jumped on the bandwagon both people imitating the style of bears and more importantly people only buying what this bidder was bidding on. 

It seemed like within a couple of months the whole focus of bear style shifted (and again, I know things go in trends but this was so much more than that).  The artist that I followed had her prices plummet and on several ocassions didn't sell her bears at all. I am so fussy about bears and originality and I still believe that this artist creates some of the most original and yet commercial minis out there.  It was just a prime example of the "so and so's not buying it so it's not worth buying" malarky that seems to be happening at the moment.  I probably haven't illustrated my point that well but I truly believe that there are bidders who can literally make and break artists careers.

So, from that perspective, I totally support the use of private auctions, and it's disappointing that people are using them for subversive purposes


But on the other hand, I feel a bit like that's giving in, and for me, a new artist trying to get established (HA!) I think it's important that people can go back and look at my previous auctions.  While they can read feedback, if it's a private auction, they can't see the photo once the auction's finished, so how do they judge the quality of my work?  While I now have a website, a lot of new artists don't and it makes it so hard for them if they're trying to get started.  So from that perspective, private auctions are not effective.  I triede one, but as I don't have a following anyway, I decided there wasn't much point.  Hmmmm I wonder if my perspective would change if someone started a bidding war for MY bears   bear_grin  I don't think it would though!

Hmm that's my rant for today!!  Sorry if this is all a bit much but I am feeling especially teed off with the whole ebay thing at the moment.

kbonsall Kim-Bee Bears
Pennsylvania
Posts: 5,645

That is the one downfall... I wish the seller could click a button so ti would show the picture and just private the name/selling price of the buyer and on the buyers, private the item, pic and price....

Laura Lynn Teddy Bear Academy
Nicholasville, KY
Posts: 3,653
Website

Laura Lynn Banner Sponsor

bearlyart wrote:

It sounds odd to have multiple accounts, but I do prefer to keep everything separated.  When it comes to the bears in particular, having them apart from EVERY non-bear purchase and non-bear sale makes recording eBay and PayPal info for tax season remarkably simple.   I know that every eBay charge on my bear sales account is from listing bears for sale.  And I know that everything I paid through PayPal with my bear-supply buying account was purchases of bear supplies. 
Cheers,
Kelly

Oh Kelly that's a GREAT way to do it!  Never occured to me... new thing for next year bear_original

WildThyme Wild Thyme Originals
Hudson, Ohio
Posts: 3,115

I've tried using both the private auction format as well as public, and really don't notice much of a difference from my end.  My bidders do sometimes tell me that sometimes they do get SPAMMED by other people who are offering their bears on eBay when they don't win one of my auctions.  Or they get fake "second chance" offers on the bear when the auction is over... that's a terrible scam!!!!  When you run a private auction, that doesn't happen.  So generally, when I catch  wind of a lot of spamming going, or I hear about the fake second chance offers going on, I switch to private for an auction or two.  Though the private auctions don't stop those awful folks who copy your pictures and then run a fake auction under their own ID saying that they have one of your bears.  Someone just tried to do that through eBay China with my last little bear.   bear_sad  I received the nicest note from one of our Teddy Talkers letting me know that someone was trying to do that, but by the time I had received the eMail eBay had already discovered it and thankfully pulled the fake auction.   :)

I once had someone report me to eBay for suspected shill bidding because the same people were bidding on my auctions over and over again.  If you are a seller who offers tons of different kids of items, and the same person bids on each and every one of them (socks, shower curtain, rings, etc....) you'd have to be suspicious that a shill was taking place.... who could possibly happen to need each and every item that a particular seller happens to offer!)  If you are a seller of one particular type of collectible, artist bears, lets say, then obviously it is quite likely that the same person is bidding over and over again on each auction, simply because they want a chance at each and every OOAK bear that you make.  I'd say that many of us have a collector or two who bid on just about everything we put up for auction.  Once eBay understood that was the case with me, as well as the vast majority of sellers in this category, they were more than happy allow me to list my bear again.... it did take a couple of weeks to straighten out with them due to their achingly slow customer service response time!!!! 
I think that you have to be pretty savy to buy or sell successfully on eBay these days.  Even with all it's problems, I do still love the fact that it allows me to NOT have to set a price on what my bears are 'worth' to the collector ... that is SO hard for me!  With eBay, that agony is not a part of the equation.  I never have a problem with the transactions themselves, just all the peripheral crap that sometimes goes on in the back ground! 

Beary truly yours,
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals

Laura Lynn Teddy Bear Academy
Nicholasville, KY
Posts: 3,653
Website

Laura Lynn Banner Sponsor

Thanks for all of your input Kim!  You've really brought up some good points about private auctions.

WildThyme Wild Thyme Originals
Hudson, Ohio
Posts: 3,115

You know I used to think that eBay was a pain in the patootie for the sellers.... but with all this spamming, shilling, fake second chance offers, stolen auction pictures, etc..... It's a scarey place for the poor bidders as well! 

eBay didn't used to provide the second chance thing, if your item didn't sell you could choose to completely reslist the item a second time.  If your high bidder backed out for some reason, or your resrve wasn't met, you could also choose to relist, but you couldn't contact the underbidder and offer the item to them and still be able to leave feedabck for eachother... it was considered an "outside of eBay" transaction with none of the supposed safe guards that eBay has.  I'm sure that there are legit second chance offers, but with the scam, you get a notice from someone that looks exactly like a legit one (same axact layout, with the ebay logo, etc...), but if you look, the seller ID is different from the seller ID of the person who actually had the real item available in the first place!  It's just terrible!  I just bought a cheap electromagnetic thingamabob called a solenoid from eBay for a science project my oldest is working on.... within a day or so, I had a bunch of spam offering me "great prices on solenoids."  And a fake second chance offer from another seller selling the same solenoid... even though I was the only bidder on the stupid solenoid and obviously won it!  This is is for a little part that cost me $1.99.  It's not even a high ticket item!  Crazy!!!!   

Beary truly yours,
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals

psichick78 Flying Fur Studios
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 3,073

Wow, somany crazy things happening on ebay.

I know that a very popluar fairy artist, who would make TONNES of money. She was supsended for shill bidding. Amazing. Most people would be happy to fetch just half of what she gets, but I guess people get greedy.

Like I've said before, ebay can be one  big popularity contest.

Question though, If I change my seller ID name, do I have to start out with 0 feedback?? For example I always name everything psichick78. Just like here. But what if I want to have my ebay ID as teddybears or something. Would I have to start fresh with the feedback then?

Also, great ideas on multiple accts. WHen I do start selling my original bears, people will be able to go in and see that I've bought other artists patterns and some teddy making books. Now I wish they werent able to see that. But at the same time, it can be good if you are the buyer.

Heather

kbonsall Kim-Bee Bears
Pennsylvania
Posts: 5,645

There is a way to change your id name because I have seen peole that have a funny icon that when you click it says "user changed id within the last 30 days" or something like that... not sure how you do it though...

NancyAndFriends Posts: 1,153

Roxanne...

This may be a little late, but on my last two auctions, I have been trying the private bit.  No particular reason, just thought I would give it a go.
What I have learned so far, is that I have had people bid, who have never bid on my work before.  I don't know why...it could be just a coincidence, who knows.
I have also been using BIN's lately and they seem to be working very well for me...altho I am putting a lower price on the auctions than I normally would...but I really feel times are slow, everyone is feeling the 'gasoline crunch'...or some kind of a crunch.
Kim was right when she said you can go to My Ebay and click on the 'bids' number and as a seller it will show you who is bidding.  I didn't know that Kim...(thank you).  I have a mink bear on right now and the lady who was the original bidder is again, someone I have never heard of before, and has never bid on my work before.
So, your guess is as good as mine.  Are these bidders bidding because their ID is kept private?  I don't know.
:doh:

Nancy

kbonsall Kim-Bee Bears
Pennsylvania
Posts: 5,645

Nanc that is what I have found too!  i hardly had any bears sell before but now that they are private, I am getting bidders and return customers! i dont know if it is just a coincidence or what but I will have mine private from now on bear_original

gotobedbears Posts: 3,177

Hi Nance,

Do you mean that on a private auction you can see who is bidding on your item by clicking on the bid number or can the seller see who is bidding anyway? Just being nosy

Penny  bear_wacko

kbonsall Kim-Bee Bears
Pennsylvania
Posts: 5,645

Penny - u just confused me.... a seller can see who the bidders are by clicking on the number of bidders number.... is this what you were asking?

gotobedbears Posts: 3,177

er - yes i think so?

I thought that when you held a private auction you could'nt see who was bidding either, am i wrong?

Penny  bear_wacko

kbonsall Kim-Bee Bears
Pennsylvania
Posts: 5,645

Yes - you can see who is bidding if you are signed in you just click on the number of bids and when you do it will bring up that screen that says buyer id, time of bid and amount of bid.... bear_original but only you can see this info!!!

gotobedbears Posts: 3,177

Thanks Kim - i understand now.

I can be a bit  dense sometimes  :doh:  :redface:

Penny  bear_wub

kbonsall Kim-Bee Bears
Pennsylvania
Posts: 5,645

Here, I cut and pasted one of my auctions (deleting all private info)

Item title:   _____________ - Kim-Bee Bears

Time left:  ______________________


Only actual bids (not automatic bids generated up to a bidder's maximum) are shown. Automatic bids may be placed days or hours before a listing ends. Learn more about bidding.   
User ID (show email addresses)  Bid Amount   Date of bid 

bidder 3  US $amount       time of bid


bidder 2  US $amount       time of bid


bidder 1  US $amount       time of bid

kbonsall Kim-Bee Bears
Pennsylvania
Posts: 5,645

That is what comes up when you click on the bidder number if you are the seller.... does it make more sense seeing it?

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