Forum

Creating Watchers
 

I have searched ebay rules, and the web, and can not find the answer to this question. Is it against ebay policy if a person has MANY accounts to watch their own auctions? Does anyone know?

I believe you can have up to 3 person accounts at a time; though if something happens to one account (suspension), it'll happen to the rest of your accounts. It's better to manage one account at a time, unless you feel confident enough to handle multiple accounts without linking them.

I could be wrong about this, but it is my understanding that there is no limit to how many ebay accounts a person can have. I have had more than three, for years. What I am wondering though, is if you can have more than three accounts, is it within ebay policy to be a watcher from all of those accounts?

What do you mean watcher? Like shill bidding?

No, not shill bidding, watching. In an ebay auction you can select the watch button, so that you can watch other sellers auctions. What I am wondering is if one person has say 100 user id's, is it within ebay's policy for them to log into 99 of their accounts and watch the auction in their one account?

If eBay finds you have 100 or so accounts.. I'm sure that's a red flag and they'll shut you down. It's not a good idea to say... have more then 5 accounts linked.

This is probably a no brainer. Sellers can not see who their watchers are, and there is no way to find out. We can only see how many watchers we have. But can ebay see who is watching who?

I'm 99.99999% sure eBay can see who's watching who.

I am wondering if a person had one account they sold from, and many other accounts they only used to watch their other auctions from if this would cause them to be suspended. In other words you actually select the "watch this item" feature when you view your auction in a separate sellers account that has a different user ID. Does anyone know if accounts get suspended that do not sell or buy, and never have? I have accounts on ebay that I registered long ago, but I have never sold from or bought from these accounts. They are just there in case I want to sell a different line later and need to use a different account.

Modee - No not guest accounts. Accounts you actually set up with a user ID, but you don't give credit card info. A guest account does not count as a watcher. An example would be, let's say that your ebay user ID is Modee, and you are selling a waffle maker. I go in as a guest look at your auction for the waffle maker and select "watch this item". It will show up in my watched items as an ebay guest, but when you look at your list of watchers my selected watch of your item, will not even register on your end because I am a guest on ebay. Now if I have a user ID on ebay and I look at your auction for the waffle maker, and I select "watch this item", then you will see that you have one watcher. ebay has done this to keep people from manipulating the system, attempting to boost up their own watcher list. Used to you could delete your cookies and go in and select watch again and again for someone else's auction and wrack their watcher list up. But ebay figured out this little trick, and it can't be done any longer. Perhaps if you are going through AOL like I saw in one of the forums here. So, this is why I am wondering if ebay becomes suspect of accounts that are not selling or buying. As I said before I have a number of accounts that are just sitting there that I have not yet sold from. I know you are less likely to get kicked off if you have had an account for more than 90 days. I have accounts that are years old. I go in and look at them sometimes to make sure they are still active and they are. I have never sold or bought from them. So, I am wondering, If ebay would start picking at accounts that are created and only used for watching.

I just use bookmarks in Firefox for my overall listing pages of all my accounts. Much easier ;)

lolz... what the hell will u get out for watching ur own items...

yeah, whats the point of building up a watchers list?? There is no advantage advertising wise in doing this

i got caught once (i think) by watching my own items. i was adding them to my watch list before they were even showing up in searches. i would use the item number. lost all four accounts they were related in that way. of course it may have been something else that triggered the suspension. i think it's just another negative strike they can use.

i think the thread starter needs to clarify himself what exactly is he asking...? i think he is asking if the accounts can get linked and suspended if u watch ur own items from other accounts which r not used for buying or selling purposes... if that was the question then yes it might be a possibility.. but in my experience if the info is totally different bw two accounts even if u shill bid u cant get caught...

Gee Whiz, sorry for all the confusion.

Modee - What I mean by look at them, is I will go in as if I am checking to see feedback, and see if the account is still active or if it has been suspended.


Powerbid - Yes I am asking if I have say 100 accounts that I have registered with ebay with or without a credit card, and I never buy or sell from those accounts, but I use 99 0f those accounts to watch one auction in ONE account can I be suspended for that? Does that make sense? As for why I want to watch my auction, I guess you guys don't realize that the more watchers you get the greater your chances are of being on the ebay pulse. So, I am trying to figure out if it is against ebay policy for me to watch one of my auctions from my other 99 accounts.

seems like too much hassle.. you should just spend the time listing new things you can probably get more watchers that way!

i have never heard that thing about watchers putting you on the "ebay pulse". do you have any info to back that up?

you can have all the watchers in the world and still get no bids on the item.

nah i dont agree at all.. its just a time waste.. if the thing u r selling is hot.. like ps3 it is automatically ebay pulse lolz.... rest if u sell crap and think if u watch by creating million watchers u r just wasting ur most valuable time.. on top of that u r worrying too that those 99 accounts which u created by taking so many precautions can get linked and suspended... wosh wat a nightmare.. i m already getting ulcer pains just reading the concept :eek:

Getting on the pulse increases attention to an auction, and increases sales, because if it's on the Pulse, it's guessed to be a hot item. I thought you guys might know the answer to my question, so I asked. I do appreciate all your input, and sorry to have waisted your time. Hope you have a great day!

if you have read this watcher concept anywhere can u give us the link so we can get more claer idea wat u are saying.. secondly ebay is not so stupid that it will totally rely on watchers to generate its ebay pulse and determine that its a hot item... there r so many things which are calculated..for example: how the user found that listing??... what keywords are used to find that particular listing or item...? is there any site reffering? how many people are searching for it? and bla bla bla

To view the criteria for getting on the eBay Pulse go to this link:
eBay Pulse

thanks for the link..


have you noticed any serious benefit from all the watchers?


you can have all the watchers in the world, but if none bid on the item who cares?

Honestly, it is something I am checking out, so I have not yet been able to test it myself. I recently found this information about getting on the ebay pulse. I have accounts that I have not used for anything, and started wondering if I could use these accounts for watcher accounts for my own auction. But, as I have searched through ebays rules and regulations and guidelines, I have not found anything pertaining to this. So, I thought someone here might know if I could be suspended for watching my own auction from my other accounts. Of course as I have discovered in the past, just because it is not written anywhere in ebay's rules doesn't mean they won't suspend your account if you do it.

i don't think they would suspend you just for that.

they might suspend you for having too many accounts

and if one of those accounts gets suspended then they will probably boot them all.

OOOPS!

come on give us all a chance to change our ways modee.

i got suspended for doing something wrong on ebay. i know what it was and i often regret doing it. i think they should have given me a warning before booting me, but it's their site and their policies. am i not as welcome here as those unjustly booted?


i think we should keep it like the military "don't ask, don't tell"

Sorry to have offended you. After all I have read about people using ⊗⊗⊗⊗ accounts and ⊗⊗⊗⊗ names, to get ebay accounts which is against ebay rules, I did not think my question was any greater sin than finding ways to sneak back onto ebay after their "rules" have been broken and a person has been kicked off ebay. Breaking an ebay rule is breaking an ebay rule.

I thought I could ask question here without recrimination. My mistake.

ok, my misunderstanding.


i agree. this is not the place to LEARN how to break the law. however, some of the lawbreakers here can teach the rest of us alot about getting back on ebay.

yee without sin cast the first stone



for some reason i like trying to keep you in check modee.


i hope it does not wind up getting me kicked off this site.

I could be wrong about this, but I do not see how getting more watchers is connected with shill bidding. The people who bid on the auction are bidders that I do not know in any way. Isn't shill bidding where someone you know bids your auction up to bring the price up?

it depends if the ebay pulse thing is real.

i can see how they are similar in that way. if ebay wants to showcase the most watched items, and you start making 100+ accounts to watch one item and then in some way benefit from that.... it's wrong

2) somehow connected to the seller


all that matters. BAMN!!!!

Sweeeeeeet!!!

You could be right, and this is why I asked the question here to see if anyone knew the answer, because I don;t want to do anything that will get me kicked off ebay, and I certainly don't want to do anything illegal. I read the article, and though getting the watcher list up is probably enough to get someone kicked off ebay, I am not sure it could be construed as shill bidding. Because the people who are actually bidding are not the watchers. I could go out and create blogs and pull people to my auction and they may bid, I could get myself on the pulse and pull people to my auction and they may bid. either way I am using a tool to draw people to my auction. But, just the thought that there is a possibility that it could be illegal would keep me from doing it.

Well, I haven't done this. As I said before, I came here to ask the question. I haven't done anything to get kicked off ebay, or that is illegal. I am just looking for answers.

it is not the same as shill bidding but it IS similar.

Well boys, it's been fun, and I appreciate all your opinions, and I have taken them to heart. I am a cream puff and have do desire to spend any time in jail. I have a feeling I would end up being someone's favorite play thing. It's not an appealing thought. I'm off to catch some sleep. I don't know what time it is where you are, but it is 1:23 AM here, and this girl needs her rest. If anyone has any new knowledge on this topic feel free to let me know. Or if anyone has any idea of a good way to draw people to an unusual item on ebay that might not get a lot of attention otherwise let me know that too.

Good night

good luck dark shadows!!! let us know how it goes!!!

I don't understand how you would have the time and energy to do all that. It would seem to me better to have a few good credible accounts. If you are selling good stuff and doing well with your customers you will get there on your own and lessen the chance of getting flagged by e-bay. Now if all your accounts were making money that would be different still 100 accounts!! Cum on!! "Pigs get slaughtered" You must seem believable in e-bays eyes.. I have only half finished the book and am on my way to looking 100% legit..