my bid was cancelled as well. granted my bid was something like $100 , but still. i'm reporting it as well..

Well, tutima is now not a registered user and all the items he had listed are gone. Looks like we may never know what happened.

Apparently same here---this is the response I received:

" Dear XXXXXXXXXXX,

Hi, this is tutima. I did't do anything. In this mornig I checked my e-bay, then I saw every bid was canceled. Also, someone use my e-bay id, then try to mess around other persons auction too. I was reported E-bay. I was victim too. By the way thank you very much to bid my auction. Tutima07

- tutima07 "

The plot thickens.

The poor guy just might be telling the truth - hacking into e-bay seems to be a new passtime for some ... We'll see if E-Bay reinstates him or not..

time will tell..

Carl B.

Reinstated...

Yes, I have received some nebulous response from E-Bay Safe Harbor about resetting identities and stolen accounts, so his story may have indeed been legit. I think they will suspend him till they complete an investigation, so maybe that bodes well for him.

I don't see the logic behind targeting someone in such a fashion, though. Unless it was done to give a bidding advantage.

As for hiding bidders, I don't like it at all. I have had people snipe my stuff and then call me enthusiastically about the 'deal' they got offering to sell it to me. When I inform them they sniped an auction I was bidding on...they get less enthusiastic! "Sorry man, you bought it for $150, I was bidding $79, so that's what I'll give YOU for it!" Even with names shown it really doesn't dissuade people who are clueless. And with the proliferation of sites like Auction Sniper where all the bidding happens in the last 15 seconds anyway...you really don't have time to see who you are bidding against, anyway.

What it does do, however, is give me a damn good idea what kind of person is bidding, and what they usually limit their bids to---meaning if I saw "Bidder X" on an auction that I knew I wanted...I'd nuke the bid bigtime to make sure I got it. I mean I have bid 2X what I think I could have gotten it for otherwise...and then listened as people on a forum complained about 'the idiot that bought it for $400 and drove the price up for everyone!' I don't do it often, but there is some stuff you just can't get.

These light covers are still selling in Japan for less than 1/2 what the bid ended up being. And I can get them for that. So if I can get 'em, there's no reason to be stupid about the bidding.

Now, a 'one of six ever made' Mechanical FI setup... in restrospect $400 doesn't see that high a price to pay! (Shhhh! Keep my identity secret!)