eBay online auction changes the system of bidders’ IDs

eBay Australia has announced that from next Tuesday 3 February eBay.com.au will change the way it displays the bidders’ IDs to align with other eBay sites (e.g. a***b). The online auction has explained its decision by the willingness of the auction users to stay informed: “We’ve received plenty of feedback from our community about the way bidders IDs are displayed and we know many of you prefer the transparency that the aliases used on other eBay sites offers.” 

This change means aliases on eBay.com.au will consist of two random characters from the member's User ID – for example, a***b. This method of identifying a bidder (whose feedback score is also visible) gives members a sense of who is bidding, while still protecting the bidders' identities.

The company assures that the change will not affect the bidding activity: the users will simply notice the IDs change from Bidder 1, Bidder 2 to the randomised formula as explained above. 

Sellers will also be unaffected - if you are logged in you will still be able to see all the actual User IDs for the bidders on your listings.