Forum

AOL and EBAY exchanging information???
 

I often use AOL when I use EBAY. AOL shows a generic IP address, so it works.

But I just saw something the other day that disturbed me and nothing I do appears to be able to prevent it.

When I click register on EBAY, it shows my AOL email address. I have multiple EBAY accounts and am concerned that they could link them all up if they can ask for my AOL identity that easily.

I have not had a problem yet, but I am concerned. I have blocked cookies from AOL, I have blocked all cookies except EBAY in fact, and it still shows my AOL email address in the registration window. How is EBAY getting this? They do mention in the user agreement that AOL is a partner site and that they exchange information with them.

Is there a way to prevent EBAY from accessing my AOL information?\

You sure you don't have some sort of auto fill in form registration. I don't see anything dangerous about what happened to you.

No...
 

I have no autofill or anything set anywhere I know of. What are you talking about? Where would such a setting be?

The dangerous part from my perspective is account association. If they can request AOL information while I am using EBAY and I use it under multiple accounts, it stands to reason they could use that information to connect the accounts to each other.

I have a friend that recently got nailed for shill bidding. All her accounts were connected and she uses AOL and religiously deletes all her cookies. So, I am thinking there is a strong possibility that they link accounts using AOL information.

Well the account I am currently using has been almost open 60 days and quite a few high priced auctions have closed. No problems. I don't know where such a setting would be, but it sure does sound like auto fill in to me.

same thing happened to me today- I am afraid now

I would be too...
 

It hasn't caused me any problems yet, but just the fact they can grab my AOL email address is scary. Makes you wonder what other information they can grab and how they use it.

If anyone knows a way around this, PLEASE POST IT!!

Warning Aol Users!! Read This...
 

This is in EBAY's help regarding registration:

Important: If you use AOL for your email, you will need to first create a second AOL account, and use this AOL email for your second eBay member account. When you create a second eBay account, verify that you are logged into your second AOL account, not the previous AOL account. The email address on the eBay Registration form is automatically completed from the AOL account and cannot be changed. Your first AOL account will be associated with your first eBay account.

Regardless when you setup many aol accounts and ebay accounts its always good to have separate aol installations that are marked for each eBay account. Then you don't have to worry about cookies etc.

Sounds good...
 

How do you do that? If you have some step by step instructions somewhere, that would be great. Thank you.

Is the 2nd ebay account linked to the aol email address only during the registration process as it would seem from the info ebay give? If so if you register the 2nd account on another computer and then use it on your existing computer and aol account. Or can you change your main aol email address to something different that wont be recognised?

ebayaintstupid, I just load up the aol install file and I just install a new installation, so in my applications I have multiple aol icons that are all separate from each other. Im not sure how it would work on windows, but I figure it would be the same as long as you select the right option you can do it. Not too many choices so I think you can figure it out pretty quickly.

Not sure what OS you are using...
 

but under Windows, they do not allow me to create new screen names and they do not allow me to make more than one installation that works, at least not from what I am seeing.

The screen name stuff throws errors all over the place when I try to add a new screen name.:confused:

And when I try to install a new version, it overrides the existing version (although it places it in a new directory).

The fact that AOL will no longer let me create new screen names is in and of itself peculiar.

Are you a paying EBAY customer or just using the service free over broadband?

I meant are you a paying AOL customer?
 

Whoops. Sorry.

Hi,

To avoid the cookies stuff, I wrote a small program that delete the cookies, then launch either IE or AOL depends on your setting. No installation needed, simply run the exe. download link below

Aspkin, you can download and post a download link here in this forum too, when you get there, it makes you wait like 10 seconds before the download link appears ;) oh well, it's a free upload site ;)

browser launcher.zip: browser launcher : browser launcher

exebayer

actually, it makes you wait 30 seconds for the download link ;

exebayer

Why is it an exe?

To you microsoft users, I would think before downloading that file

How else do you run a program? ;) all programs are exe or whatever you call them. I think you probably run quite a few setup.exe already!

oh well, it's up to you, I understand your concerns though.

exebayer

Well im on mac lol so no exe's here.

What makes me hesitant about your exe is because Firefox can already delete everything automatically, so I don't really see the reason why there needs to be a utility for IE. I don't think any of us would use IE when Firefox can do more and is better.

I hear you, though mac don't call them exe, they are executable files too!
Unfortunately, AOL uses IE! I'm making this exe for AOL.

I'm using firefox, but I also use AOL for proxy to hide my IP.

exebayer.

I just launch aol, connect to the aol network, then load up firefox and im hidden

So AOL is your isp? I use a local isp and only use AOL as a guess account. Once I launch AOL I can only use AOL browser for hidden IP, if I launch my firefox and then type whatismyip.com it shows my real ip. Maybe there's something that I'm missing.

exebayer

no I connect to aol using the client (existing internet connection).
I connect to aol using my airport therefore every browser on my computer is automatically connected through aol's proxy. The great thing about airport is the aol client connects through it so anything I do online will be through aol.

hmm.. does airport work with PCs?

or is this exclusively for macs?

um then u arent hidden i use aol to sign up and it dosent fill in my aol add unless one of my hiding proggies isnt workin right :)

hey all, I was wondering something. I found an IP blocker site...thingy, that works through ebay. Would it be suspicious if I was logging into my accounts with different Ips? I mean, since the Ips are random would they suspect me if I happen to get an Ip from china or something?

I think that that will get your account looked at real quick and rightly so. There are so many phishers out there that I actually think it is prudent for EB to prevent someone with an IP from China accessing a US account. I have seen those programs too and once I opened it and them tried to open IE and my provider would not let me on under the foreign IP.

k thanks. I'll just stick with my regular accounts :)

Just checked out the sticky on changing your IP. There are some interesting bits of info there and I posted a question that if anyone knows the answer or a workaround would be really helpful.
Go over and check it out

with hide ip you can pick what ip you want tp use so if it picks china you can change it to ummm dallas like me when im in say connecticut :)

Can you save the settings so you don't have to do it with each signon?

yes i dont change the hide ip thingy i just sign off clear cookies and sign back on with same ip :)

So are you saying that as long as you are cloaked via hide ip you sign on and off only clearing cookies in between?

Ever use this theory to shill bid?

BTW, I don't have a problem with shilling...as a buyer (myself) or someone bidding on one of my auctions, the item is worth what it is worth to you or not. If I am bidding on something that I think is worth $100, it's worth that, regardless of how the price gets to where it is at.

I might add that I never did it myself that much or got caught at it, usually had a friend enter a bid for me or me for them.

why dont u just start bidding at that or bin?

haha, then no one will bid on it. For some reason if you start something low, you'll get more bids on it, I wonder why :rolleyes: . Like my old computer was an okay machine but it had become outdated. So I decided to sell it on ebay. First I started the bid at like $100. No one bid on it. Then relisting the same item but starting it at 99 cents I got it sold for $295. Don't ask me why, but starting low always works. Super low, but only if you know that your item has the potential to go higher and it is needed by customers. Of course it could've been just a lucky day for me :D .

You must realize that when eBay gets in bed with a company like AOL or Doubleclick ;or worse yet buys them outright like PayPal and Skype..information is freely exchanged. That is their trademark ...their monopoly on information control.

Absolutely! I can get ahold of some discountiued collectibles that I have sold for $75. I listed one a week ago at $50 because being new for some reason I couldn't do a reserve price or obviously a BIN. No one bit so I re-listed for $40 and so far no one has bitten, although since mine was listed others have sold for over $50. Go figure.

What I like to do with another item is to start it at $50 and set a reserve at $201 and then enter several bids during the auction up to $199. If it doesn't sell no prob, no final value fee. If it does sell it is at a price I feel comfortable with.

My shilling only drives up the auto bids and only up to the reserve so if they don't make that final bid over the reserve they don't have to buy because the reserve was not met so the aren't hurt. Besides...if you don't think it is worth $200, then don't bid $200...that simple.
If I started at $199 though I might not get any bites and will pay a much higher FVF

Another thing that bothers me since I mentioned reserve auctions is if a reserve is set at say $50 on an item that I feel is worth $75 to me and bidding starts at say $10, I can put a $60 bid it and if no one else bids it up past the initial $10 bid it won't sell.

Maybe I am doing something wrong as a bidder, but that has always PO'd me that they won't let me pay the full amount that I am willing to.

My experience has been that when a piece doesn't sell, and I list it at a lower price, people get passionate about the piece after they bid and someone outbids them. That's when the fun begins as you watch them try to out bid one another, then another person comes in at the very end and snipes the item away from the ones who had been fighting it out.

Just opened up an aol account and will set-up my new ebay account with them; however, I notice that when I go to my network on my mac it still has the same IP address; is there another seperate one for aol that I can check ??

That doesn't say too much as I'm still getting the same IP address in my network configuration... am I not seeing something else? Is there another place I should be looking for the new AOL IP address?

don't have much time to be searching through old threads which is why I posted here, if someone could just explain in a few words that would be great. Thanks.