Mar 02 2008
Is eBay Fluffing The Numbers With Test Auctions??
Also see our newest posting 05/01/2008 on this subject The 2nd Boycott Begins – And Is There More eBay Numbers Manipulation?
The eBay discussion forums have been buzzing all weekend about phantom auction listings that would not accept bids.
There were strange looking seller ID’s like, SDC_PROD_9074_35 that came up in item search, but clicking on that sellers feedback number the seller changed to PCRUSH.COM registered on 02/28/2008 and now NARU. See example below.
Another interesting thing about the above user PCRUSH.COM is that it is against eBay policy to register a userid.com or userid_com, and i believe the system will not allow that if you or i were to try it.
It has been confirmed by Ina Steiner, of Auctionbytes.com that eBay has been running test listings during the boycott. eBay has been busy pulling these test listings and pink slapping board posters that discussed it.
There are a couple of threads left, one is here and here is another, there were a bunch others but eBay has pulled most of them, including this one “is eBay creating listings to boost totals look” that was 18 pages long, I have it screen captured here in our archive in jpg format. NOTE: This archive is in a folder on our server. To view an image click on it, allow it to fully load, then click on the lower right corner to expand it to fit your screen.
Here is a lot more info with the selling names and suggested listing totals on Event Horizon’s Blog. Also see www.companyexposed.com for more screen captures and other info.
It seems John Donahoe is doing an excellent job wreaking havoc on eBay even before officially taking office!! Read this Seeking Alpha blog article by Timothy Church, It spells it out quite well.
eBay has claimed the boycott has had little effect on it’s listings. But if they were using these thousands of test listings to skewer 3rd party listing stats generators like, Medved Charts and PowerSellersUnite.com it is outright fraud!
You can see the listings fall after the February 18′th start of the eBay sellers boycott. Then notice it starts climbing around the 21’st, in February’s Medved chart below.
And notice the spikes in Medved’s March chart below
These spikes seem to indicate listings being indexed and removed rapidly. Very similar to the Vladuz Hackings of last year. Just not as excessive.
Interesting isn’t it!
I’m wondering if eBay did indeed use these test listings to skewer the publics view of the boycotts effectiveness? I wouldn’t put it past them to pull a dirty rabbit out of the hat, every corporation has their dirty bag of tricks.
Seichiro an alleged eBay PR Spinner who works Yahoo’s eBay Finance discussion board even publicly stated that eBay had a contingency plan ready to be put in place if the listings dropped too far!
Meanwhile eBay has started running damage control – as this story is spreading across the net like wildfire.
I got into it with Seichiro last night regarding one of the sellers in the phantom listings. Another poster quantum_analyst pointed out how to tell is a poster is working for the corporation that he was pumping for, Seichiro never did answer his request. He must be a for real eBay PR Spinner.. And it was sure interesting that he knew about the contingency plan!
It is my suggestion to all the eBay boycotter’s.. Keep on boycotting eBay and all their subsidiaries! Do not List or Buy Anything On eBay! And keep it up until eBay gets rid of John Donahoe and the rest of the useless board of directors that are getting fat off of sellers and investors hard earned money!
UPDATE 03/03/2008: The official eBay announcement is: Some Shopping.com listings appeared accidentally on eBay.com over the past two days. This system issue has been resolved. We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.
However on 03/01/2008, Ina Steiner posted an update on her blog, Usher Lieberman responded by email on Saturday, “This was a limited test that has run its course.”
eBay should keep their stories strait! First it was a test – then the system “issue” has been resolved!
I was booted of eBay for posting this:
Date Name Transaction Num Shares Price(s) Value
12/28/07 COBB WILLIAM C Sold 5,000 $33.74 168,695.00
12/14/07 COBB WILLIAM C Sold 5,000 $33.06 165,284.50
12/14/07 JACOBSON MICHAEL RICHARD Sold 70,000 $33.29 2.33 Mil
12/06/07 WHITMAN MARGARET C Sold 640,000 $33.62 21.52 Mil
11/29/07 COBB WILLIAM C Sold 5,000 $33.64 168,192.00
11/16/07 WHITMAN MARGARET C Sold 640,000 $32.43 20.76 Mil
11/15/07 COBB WILLIAM C Sold 5,000 $32.40 161,982.50
11/08/07 DUTTA RAJIV Sold 62,500 $32.86 2.05 Mil
11/08/07 WHITMAN MARGARET C Sold 640,000 $33.20 21.25 Mil
10/30/07 COBB WILLIAM C Sold 15,000 $36.52 547,846.50
10/25/07 DUTTA RAJIV Sold 125,000 $35.75 4.47 Mil
10/22/07 COOK SCOTT D Sold 18,100 $36.39 658,659.00
10/22/07 COOK SCOTT D Sold 44,937 $36.05 1.62 Mil
10/22/07 COOK SCOTT D Sold 33,100 $35.90 1.19 Mil
10/22/07 COOK SCOTT D Sold 3,600 $35.80 128,880.00
09/28/07 COBB WILLIAM C Sold 40,000 $39.14 1.57 Mil
09/21/07 WHITMAN MARGARET C Sold 640,000 $38.75 24.80 Mil
09/17/07 JACOBSON MICHAEL RICHARD Sold 70,000 $37.20 2.60 Mil
09/14/07 COBB WILLIAM C Sold 15,000 $37.88 568,198.50
.. Funny thing is that they are now buying it back up now it tanked??”
Isn’t there a law against this type selling??
Buying back their shares and giving them to corporate officers is not illegal. But it does allow them to artificially hold the price up to a degree, and put more of their investors money in their pockets.
I think an investigation by the SEC is in order!
EBay Accused of Padding Listing Numbers
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2273210,00.asp
OMG! they are spinning further now…
“EBay denied that any forum deletions were intentional. If any posts were taken down “it was accidental,” the spokesman said. “We’re not afraid of hearing from our community and allowing them to post and discuss things and be angry on our boards.”
Doc, please check your messages at your ebaymotorssucks forum.
doc,
i am totally astounded by your site. actually speechless.
your incredible work is most appreciated. my hope is that it is used in evidence in what will be the trial of the century.
thank you!
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A place to unite.
A place to focus.
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http://www.accknowl.com/
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