Auction Houses and blind bidding

[tschock]

Paul, So let me ask this. If ebay is more transparent, and these people can be outed (buyers or sellers), what is their actual punishment? So far it seems that they are just "banned" but can obviously open a new account and start the practice again. Apparently many times over from some of the anecdotal evidence already presented. Has anyone on ebay ever been prosecuted for this type of activity? (a sincere, and just curious, question)

If not, then why does it matter how much more transparent ebay is if nothing is really being done about it? We already have a number of cases where an AH was prosecuted for this type of activity, so while they may not be as "transparent" you think they should be, they seem to be held to a higher standard, thus making them more reliable in many collectors' eyes.