Why are so many bidders now listed as something like "h***i ?

[likesmountains 52]

I don't bid that often but I don't remember seeing this before.. Thanks

[suninvited]

1. If you look at the bid history of any item you will find this note

from EBay:

To help keep the eBay community safe, enhance bidder privacy, and protect our members from fraudulent emails, eBay has changed how User IDs display on the bid history page. Only you and the seller of the item can view your User ID, all other members will see anonymous user IDs, such as x***y.

[grasswire]

2. yeah, I hate this

Because if you work a certain category as a buyer or seller, you can strategize accordingly when you can see the ID. As a buyer, you can know to drop out early if a certain bidder comes in (knowing that he/she will run the bid up higher than fair value). As a seller, you can keep tabs on what regular customers are bidding on, and list accordingly.