OT - Ebay going captcha crazy right now. Watch your snipes.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Wonder what the flags are that causes this, the only time I have to enter a captcha is if I'm sending someone a message.

[NonSportDaniel]

In theory sniping keeps eBay's cut lower than it might otherwise be. I wonder if this is an attempt to increase their top line.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by NonSportDaniel

In theory sniping keeps eBay's cut lower than it might otherwise be. I wonder if this is an attempt to increase their top line.

I'd err on the side on incompetence in this case. Maybe if they banned sniping altogether that would do it, but as it is, so many people use it for auctions it is only hurting themselves and sellers.

I don't think to many people are going to start early bidding wars with each other because of captcha issues. On higher end stuff, it might not matter. People will wait out until the last second to see how it's going.

What it hurts generally is the middle of the road and bottom rung stuff. (i.e. my stuff )

Maybe if they were coming up with their own sniping program to "capture the market" it might make sense, but I see no evidence of that.

IMO, if you are deciding to kill the snipe programs, you need to go to a more traditional "soft" auction ending like auction houses do. You get a bid, 1 more minute, you get a bid, 1 more minute.........or something similar.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

I've been asking them for that for years. Can't understand what the down side would be. It would make them more money for sure.

[tschock]

Think about what captcha impacts. Auctions? Yes. BINs? Not much. Incompetence or intentional? Pondering....