I'm addicted the other way - it's a good source of quick cash, but you have to have something that they are buying.
We actually do a little of BOTH ~ I have 600 transactions split between 2 IDs. And I must say that as of late I have LOST some of my interest in eBay in some ways. I have grown leary of folks using alternate identities to pump up their auctions. Granted - I may still get an item at a price I'll tolerate... but it still rubs me the wrong way.
Ergo... I am cautious of certain situations on account of these recent experiences: 1) I bought a camera zom lens - got a fair price - it arrived slightly slow (which is typical) and it was damaged/defective in several ways. The seller had good feedback, oferred a unconditional refund within 7 days and the description/photos looked decent. HOWEVER... when I PM'd him about invoking the refund option he declared no refund was available on account of 1) I didn't buy insurance and 7 days had passed. I pointed out 1) insurance was not required or stated as a condition in the listing, and 2md) he shipped 6 days after the auction and I WAS requesting within 7 days of his shipment date. And to please confirm my request for a refund with term before I returned the lense.
He went on to be mildly abusive in language - and I cautioned him to honor his terms or I would immediately revert to SOP with Paypal and eBay. Needless to say - I filed a complaint with paypal - they froze the funds in his account - I verified the damage with a repair estimate from a professional repair shop - and on returning the lense to the seller they promptly refunded my money. So what is my "problem"?
While the seller complained and spouted written filth I taunted them on their contradictions and illogical statements. In the process - right after I got my money back I started looking closer at the listing to uncover more contradictions and that's when I discovered that one of the competitive bidders used a screen identity which spelled out the sellers' last name and first initial. How dumb could the seller have been to counterbid with his own NAME in the screen ID? I cross checked and he even registered it in his own home town. I turned him in to ebay for investigation and waited a couple days before taunting him with my suspicians on the alternate ID. Immediately his tone changed... and he became ... calm and asked ME to leave HIM alone. He also changed the screen ID immedietely ... but then if you click on the ID history - you can see the old ID as permanently listed... and when it changed. GUILTY! At that point I noticed that eBay suspended all of his for sale listings and his alter ID with the new name was permanently closed. <loud cacklig>.
THEN ... on looking at all of his old listings I uncovered a pattern of 3 alter IDs used to criss cross and bid on all of his auctions. Ocassionally they would be listed as having CANCELED their last bids.... when they accidently pushed too far I guess. And I turned them all in to ebay security. Ebay did nothing with the other two I uncovered. HOWever... I continued to stalk this dishonest seller. I noticed he began to sell air soft tot guns that were realistic replicas of assault weapons. He had toys without the usual bright orange tip to signify they were toys and not real. A "toy" like that could easily be used for a crime - or get a youngster shot by a police officer. How stupid and irresponsible can you get?
I turned these auctions into ebay as TOS violations... and they pulled them down. Only to see them relisted with no changes other then a electronicly doctored image adding the orange tip! Again,,,,, how irresponsible can one get! SO I again turned him in - and they were pulled down. I also noticed he was using the same fake IDs to bid against himself and cheat honest ebayers. I sent messages to the bidders warning them they were being cheated and I expained how they could uncover the truth with their own eyes. Some replied thanking me - one was angry (it might have been a friend of the seller faking bids to push the price north)... as who in their right mind would refuse a tactful and diplomatic warning against being cheated?
Eventually this ID along with all his other IDs were suspended.
SO - what is my problem? Ebay recently enacted a policy that when any auction exceeds $100 the IDs of all bidders becomes SECRET. Only the seller can see them accurately. Plus - the winning bidder never can see who competed against him/her. This is the perfect environment to invite cheats to simply have a 2nd ID and puch the bidding north til the high bidder has exhausted their limit.
Also, i have noticed a significant number of stolen accounts being used to fabricate fake listings. I even created a fake 3rd ID called NET4FRAUD which I use to tag these bad lisitings and I turn them in to ebay security for investigation. COmmon to these stolen accounts.... they use the most expensive listing features ... like the $25 blue boxing which also pops them to the top of all searches in the catagory. AND... they all state to email them on this private email account for a better "buy it now" deal off ebay. AND when you email them on the side they say... "OH, we're in the Neatherlands, Nigeria or Romania and will sell you this (eg) $7,000 digital camera for $2000 if you will WIRE them the funds ASAP. They have a variety of explanations but the common thread is they want money wired to them.
COnsider.... how did they GET the access info from the real owners of these accounts? Well.... typically they PISH them! They send an faked email that looks like official EBAY or PAYPAL stuff asking you to verify your identity or your account will close or something crazy like that. If you click the link then you MIGHT load a trojan or data miner on your system... but more commonly they take you to a page with a great looking official appearing page. It asks for all your personal ID including CC #s, IDs, passwords, email addresses, etc.. Yeah.... they got-cha! I had one friend a lonjg time ago who had their identity stolen by just such a pish.
ANd to top this off... ONCE when I was examining a stolen listing I examined their whole routine out of curiousity - then I informed them I was turning them into eBay security and to head for the hills. Oddly enough I received an email on the "security" email address looking like it came from ebay security THANKING me for turning in the stolen account. THAT WAS A PISH! The email asked me to confirm my identity for ebay security... how creative and bold, eh? Vicdictive Bast*@%ds! Recently Inoticed that ALLstolen account activity ended in the catagories I used to frequent. I was a habitual troller for expensive camera lenses ... I don't wanna spend top dollar for the best camera lenses and typically have poached most of my lenses for less then half or 1/3rd of their regular cost. And if I am unhappy with the lens - and not because its' damageed - I have resold the lense for slightly MORE then what I have paid - every time.
Thus... I have lost all interest in buying anything with a value greater then $100. I still sell things... and as of late I've sold things for friends... like Laker tickets for $550. However, I have lost a lot of interest in buying really anything. I trust places like Sharper Image on ebay - as I recently bought a pair of binoculars from them. But I am cautious.
Then the UPS Guy/Lady brings it to your house...........and ohh ya...........they expect you to pay for it 
Now I have room to buy new things!
