Ebay new registeration system? Everyone read this and reply thanks

[blkdude]

Hello,

Does Ebay have a new registeration system? You enter in your information and they say "we are confirming your information"

I believe that someone here was talking about it and wanted to get some feedback on this process.

Thanks

[doughboykilla]

yeah they are matching the address to the postal system database. I dont really see the point cause it works with any name and address real or phake

[lakeman]

It may put a flag on the account if the address is completely ⊗⊗⊗⊗. It would be nice to know exactly what it's doing though.

[MadSam]

The truth is even the US Postal Service can't keep track of all the addresses in the US. They check from a variety of public records and information to try and determine if you've got a "Confirmed" address.

[jeffweico]

If Doughboykilla is correct, it just validates that the address input is an actual address and that mail can be delivered there.

It is called DPV (Delivery Point Validation)

And just because mail CAN be delivered, it does not mean that mail IS delivered. For example, a vacant home does NOT get removed from the list. But a building that has been TORN DOWN would be removed.

It is updated monthly.

Companies that mail lots of letters use this to save on postage and processing costs to help avoid returned mail. Normally, this is used in conjunction with other software that can correct addresses, such as misspellings, wrong ZIP codes, etc.

In eBay's case it would help with the above, PLUS it would help them to make sure all of their addresses are STANDARDIZED. This is useful when you want to use addresses to access commercial databases, such as credit header data.

This might be the first step in a process that eBay will eventually use to verify identities. However, the DPV alone will not do this. For example, let's say that I have the following address:

lake man
123 main Street
aspkinville NY 12345

The DPV will attempt to match the address with something in it's database. The information would then be standardized. So it returns:

Lake Man (it just capitalizes, it does not know if Lake Man is really there or not)
123 Main St
Aspkinville, NY 12345-6789

But now that the data is standardized, it is much easier for eBay to match their data with a commercial provider such as Trans-Union, Equifax, Experian, Accurint, Lexis-Nexis, etc.

So if eBay wanted to take this a step further, they COULD query a credit bureau or other data provider to see if they have a record of Lake Man at the provided address. The search I am thinking of would NOT provide credit data on Lake Man, it would just say that YES, Trans-Union DOES have a record of Lake Man at that address and they can also tell them if they believe if this is the CURRENT address for Lake Man or not.

In batches between 10,000 and 50,000 records, this service costs 3 cents per record. So I would have to believe that eBay with their millions of records would get it far cheaper than that. And this data CAN be accessed by ANY COMPANY for ANY REASON.

They would only need "permissible purpose" if they want to access credit data, social security numbers, dates of birth, etc.

My best guess: This is being done in preparatrion for the new reporting requirements taking effect on January 1st, 2011. And maybe for fraud prevention as well.

[MadSam]

Why would that have any affect on the new reporting requirements in 2011 for PayPal?

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by MadSam

Why would that have any affect on the new reporting requirements in 2011 for PayPal?

Well, and this is just my theory, PayPal will want to have somthing in place - however minimal - that can help to validate their records as correct.

If the IRS thinks they are getting a bunch of bad data from PayPal, they will investigate to find out the reason for the bad data. If PayPal cannot prove to the IRS they did what they reasonably could to make sure their reporting is accurate, they could face huge fines.

And this may have nothing at all to do with it. It could be as simple as someone at eBay making the decision to standardize their data.

In my previous job, I worked with our IT department to create business strategies. Part of my job was also to reduce costs. Returned mail and bad data in general costs even small companies (like the one I worked for) a ton of money. For example, using a mail printing house costs about 50 cents per letter. If the mail is returned, there are additional costs incurred. A human being then has to enter the information into the system and a decision has to be made whether or not to spend even more money to correct the bad data. So, it is not even the 50 cents wasted on the letter, it is the 50 cents PLUS an hourly wage PLUS the costs of retreiving and storing the returned mail PLUS the overhead, etc. It added up to tens of thousands of dollars per year. In eBay's case, their costs for bad data must be in the millions.

So that could be it as well.

Of course, this is all just speculation. Unless we knew someone on the inside who was involved with this, we will never know the REAL REASON for certain.

[lakeman]

Yeah I understand that. Like doughboy said, it works with real or ⊗⊗⊗⊗ info. So what I'm saying is, if you use ⊗⊗⊗⊗ info, I'm thinking it's flagging the account.

[pod]

Jeff, seriously, how big is your brain? Can you go out in public without people staring and pointing?



Never ceases to amaze me what you got stored in your noggin....

Great info

[pod]

Originally Posted by jeffweico

If PayPal cannot prove to the IRS they did what they reasonably could to make sure their reporting is accurate, they could face huge fines

Like Jeff suggests, if a huge portion of the records handed over are pretty much bogus the IRS is very likely to come down pretty hard on them. Think tax evasion, think money laundering, etc

I mean if a bar accepted hand written ID to let kids drink they can hardly tell the authorities they did their best to check ID at the door....

[jamblix]

Originally Posted by pod

Jeff, seriously, how big is your brain? Can you go out in public without people staring and pointing?



Never ceases to amaze me what you got stored in your noggin....

Great info

Seriously , how do you know all these things, it's ridiculous.

Ah, tax evasion and money laundering, some heavy penalties attached to those, but as long as you're staying under the $20k limit no need to worry about Paypal and the IRS imo.

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by pod

Jeff, seriously, how big is your brain? Can you go out in public without people staring and pointing?



Never ceases to amaze me what you got stored in your noggin....

Great info

Yes. As long as I don't take my cat....

It's not all that, really. It's just that my job (13 years) involved a lot of databases, credit data, fraud detection, etc. So it just kinda hits on my areas of expertise.

I'm not really that smart....

[pod]

Originally Posted by jamblix

as long as you're staying under the $20k limit no need to worry about Paypal and the IRS imo.

Cant help but wonder how long that will last. Its not rocket science for them to realize you could fan 100K out pretty thin.

[FandangoKango]

Originally Posted by jeffweico

If Doughboykilla is correct, it just validates that the address input is an actual address and that mail can be delivered there.

It is called DPV (Delivery Point Validation)

And just because mail CAN be delivered, it does not mean that mail IS delivered. For example, a vacant home does NOT get removed from the list. But a building that has been TORN DOWN would be removed.

It is updated monthly.

Companies that mail lots of letters use this to save on postage and processing costs to help avoid returned mail. Normally, this is used in conjunction with other software that can correct addresses, such as misspellings, wrong ZIP codes, etc.

In eBay's case it would help with the above, PLUS it would help them to make sure all of their addresses are STANDARDIZED. This is useful when you want to use addresses to access commercial databases, such as credit header data.

This might be the first step in a process that eBay will eventually use to verify identities. However, the DPV alone will not do this. For example, let's say that I have the following address:

lake man
123 main Street
aspkinville NY 12345

The DPV will attempt to match the address with something in it's database. The information would then be standardized. So it returns:

Lake Man (it just capitalizes, it does not know if Lake Man is really there or not)
123 Main St
Aspkinville, NY 12345-6789

But now that the data is standardized, it is much easier for eBay to match their data with a commercial provider such as Trans-Union, Equifax, Experian, Accurint, Lexis-Nexis, etc.

So if eBay wanted to take this a step further, they COULD query a credit bureau or other data provider to see if they have a record of Lake Man at the provided address. The search I am thinking of would NOT provide credit data on Lake Man, it would just say that YES, Trans-Union DOES have a record of Lake Man at that address and they can also tell them if they believe if this is the CURRENT address for Lake Man or not.

In batches between 10,000 and 50,000 records, this service costs 3 cents per record. So I would have to believe that eBay with their millions of records would get it far cheaper than that. And this data CAN be accessed by ANY COMPANY for ANY REASON.

They would only need "permissible purpose" if they want to access credit data, social security numbers, dates of birth, etc.

My best guess: This is being done in preparatrion for the new reporting requirements taking effect on January 1st, 2011. And maybe for fraud prevention as well.

if i was a cell in my own body ide move out to your body

[jamblix]

Originally Posted by pod

Cant help but wonder how long that will last. Its not rocket science for them to realize you could fan 100K out pretty thin.

I hope for my sake and others that it lasts as long as possible or we find another way to deal with it...What other options are there?

[pod]

For sure! It took the IRS a decade plus to start sniffing around. Pretty sure folks can stay a step ahead....

[jeffweico]

I'm working on it and I know others are as well. Between us, we should be able to come up with something.

To be clear, I am only talking about avoiding detection by eBay and PayPal, NOT tax evasion. That is something I will never do. If eBay catches you evading their rules, they close your account. If the IRS catches you evading your taxes I hope that you have a lifetime supply of Vicodin & Vaseline!

[pod]

When I said tax evasion I was referring to the IRS's point of view on overlooking small accounts. Not ours

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by pod

When I said tax evasion I was referring to the IRS's point of view on overlooking small accounts. Not ours

Pod, I never meant that YOU were one to do this. It is meant more for users who happen across this forum who don't know us. I just didn't want someone looking at the first line of my message and saying, "Oh yeah, that jeffweico guy is finding a way to commit fraud".

[MadSam]

Originally Posted by jeffweico

If the IRS catches you evading your taxes I hope that you have a lifetime supply of Vicodin & Vaseline!

And don't bend over for the soap!