The eBay hack! Have buyers been spooked?

[*Brum6y*]

There has been a long standing gripe from sellers where it would seem eBay "turns off their lights" for a while, indicated by abysmal sales.  Then, just as suddenly, the lights are turned on and sales return to 'normal'.

While this little circus continues, in my opinion there seems to be an overall sense of angst that hangs in the air at a roughly constant level.  However, since the (somewhat belated) announcement of eBay's hack, the negative reports on sales seem to be rising.

The first response - certainly one i would expect from eBay - is that the Google search algorithm has been changed in a way that could adversely affect eBay listings.  Certainly, this would have an effect on people just surfing the web for a product, but if someone is willing to buy off eBay, I believe they are likely to go directly to eBay and search there.

The second, is that buyers might be having second thoughts on just how safe they really are on eBay.  It is no secret that one of eBay's best played marketing strategies is one where the average buyer feels 'safe' using eBay.  This has now been shattered - not only by the fact of the hack and it's belated admission, but by the enforced password change.  This action is so 'in your face' that even the sleepiest of troglodytes will need to sit up and take notice.  Also, for some, the horror of changing a password would be one step on the far side of having bamboo strips pushed up their fingernails.

So - my question is: Have buyers been spooked?

[*CountessA*]

It's probable that some at least have been spooked.

Some others will have been incredibly annoyed - even wildly upset - that their carefully considered snipes placed with Gixen or similar will have been UNSUCCESSFUL, and that rare and incredibly beautiful Georgian silver pieces that they wanted have been sold for prices MUCH MUCH MUCH lower than their worth...

 ... because Gixen can't place an automatic bid if it's faced with a page instructing the eBay user to change their password before continuing.


And YES. This happened to me, and I am  <-- very upset that I didn't win the pre-1800s silver tongs by my favourite Georgian female silversmith. The seller would be very upset too. Very. The tongs sold for a stupidly ridiculous amount. There is no question in my mind that other buyers had also set up their snipes and were faced with the same issue, becoming aware of it only when they logged into eBay.

Now I'm off to find a dark corner where I can sob my heart out.

[*CountessA*]

Brumby, I suppose I veered off-track a bit with my reply...! (I really did want that Georgian silver.)

Getting back to the main question, it's not just that eBay was been hacked; it's a number of other factors which may conceivably be hurting buyer confidence (in terms of being a buyer on eBay, that is).

   • eBay is perceived as being very closely associated with PayPal (as of course it is, in the sense of PayPal's ownership). Therefore, a compromise of details on eBay will lead at least some people to fear that their financial (PayPal) details are also compromised.
   • eBay was touted as being safe. It's now exposed as being no safer than any other ecommerce site.
   • eBay's security was certainly never anywhere near as high as, for instance, an Australian bank's online site - but because of eBay's own message of safety, it is likely that some people will confusedly think that very high security sites such as, for example, the ANZ bank online, may not be as safe as it is claimed. eCommerce in general may be affected, and this in turn may affect potential new eBayers. That is, it's not just that eBay will be thought unsafe because the security breach occurred on eBay, but eBay will be thought unsafe because a security breach occurred on a site considered very safe which means that online buying perception is affected which means eBay is affected because of that GENERAL lowering of perceived safety for online buying. It's a flow-on affect. (I hope that makes sense.)
   • eBay failed to notice the security breach until some time later. This speaks volumes about eBay's security system; not only can it be mugged, but it won't even notice it's BEING mugged.
   • eBay failed to notify its members - until the news was reported from an external source. eBay then issued a brief statement and asked members to consider changing their password. (That subsequently became "You MUST change your password" - but there was no notice to that requirement until members were trying to log in... but that's another story.) The real problem here is that eBay buyers have the sense that eBay would not have informed its members of the security breach at all... that it was "forced to" by being outed by an external news source. Hence eBay buyers feel not only unsafe, but deceived, disdained, disregarded and despised.

[callostemma]

This particular ebay buyer can no longer get into her account
they want us to change our password
Not so easy
Despite changing my email address when i changed provider
ebay still has me registered under my old address
so no  emails get through
Their computer system does not recognise my phone tone  i have a dial up telephone
which also does not have a hash or star key
My brother will be around soon panicking because he cannot buy anything n my account 

[*Ubbie Max*]

When I got back from my fishing trip I changed my password but, I haven't got a clue if I got hacked. My account looks OK & I haven't received any demands for payment on goods I didn't buy.

[*Brum6y*]

An excerpt from a message from eBay:

We recognise that the password reset may temporarily interrupt the normal bidding process for buyers. We're taking additional steps to ensure successful transactions for sellers:

• All listing and final value fees will be refunded automatically for auction-style listings that ended between 11:00 PM AEST on Wednesday, May 21, 2014, and 4:59 PM AEST on Thursday, May 22, 2014. Sellers will see these credits on their June invoice.
• Sellers can end any auction-style listing without penalty between 11:00 PM AEST on Wednesday, May 21, 2014, and 4:59 PM AEST on Sunday, June 1, 2014 and will receive a credit for all selling fees related to these listings on their June invoice.
• Sellers can also cancel any auction-style listings that ended in a sale between 11:00 PM AEST on Wednesday, May 21, 2014, and 4:59 PM AEST on Sunday, June 1, provided the buyer paid with PayPal and we can verify through PayPal that the buyer's full payment has been refunded.

If your seller hasn't shipped the silverware, Countessa, you might still have a shot...!

[*CountessA*]

Brumby, I suspect the seller did ship the tongs immediately. I will contact them anyway, but ... yes, I'm reasonably sure they did not delay. They are one of the very very few sellers left on eBay selling genuine antiques described fairly and with wonderful customer service.

Anyway, I did find another piece by the same maker and in the period I want (with clear hallmarks, made between 1786 and 1790). It has the most superb acorn bowl grips I have seen, and - I'll stop now before I burst into a paean. It's from an antique shop specialising in silver, located in Gloucestershire. In fact, they had several of exactly the sort of thing I collect (*eyes glitter with feverish collector's glee*), and the prices were fair. I had a lovely chat with the owner, and my acorn bowl silver tongs are on their way to me.

[*smee*]

You must dash out into the forrest and collect some acorns before the tongs arrive

You might want squirrel the acorns away, they are in high demand

[*CountessA*]

Acorns are ideal when used as a bombardment against cheeky lads running around in forests shouting, "Come on in, the acorns are fine!"

 

[*smee*]

Its not acorn season till August

Are the tongs made in China?

If so the best ones are made by mao tse

You may have heard of them before
very famous Mao Tse Tongs

[*CountessA*]

Wash out your mouth with Chinese lye soap!

No! And neither were these any sort of kitchen implements designed by the Prince of Yue, so you can forget such an idea immediately.


These were made in London, and are more than 200 years old.


Anyway, I have messaged the seller of the first piece in which I was interested. We'll see... but ... I am reasonably certain that he would already have shipped off the item. 

[*smee*]

He might think your query is tong in cheek

[*CountessA*]

Or perhaps he will say the cat has his tongs.

[*Ubbie Max*]

Check this out, class action commenced against Ebay.

http://www.zdnet.com/ebay-served-class-action-lawsuit-over-hack-7000031956/?s_cid=e551&ttag=e551&ftag=TRE7ed