Quote:
Originally Posted by 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.
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As I've said before, transparency, while the only real solution, is only a deterrent. It takes vigilance by the community to really make a change, and that can only happen when they are allowed to see what is going on.
Getting outed for nefarious activities is one reason why certain collectors and scam artists will think twice about doing bad things, as are other repercussions.
It's all about adapting to the current threats and trying to foresee the future ones. Those who are defeatist and say "what's the point?" are of no help here, same goes for the small minded babies (whose comments I fortunately don't have to read thanks to the lovely ignore feature!) who throw their insults because they have nothing intelligent to contribute to the discussion. Ironic that these are the same people who would benefit from AHs changing the ways they operate to make things safer and better for the hobby.