Member Spotlight Shines on The Bidding Board

Hey Chatter Readers,

Today, I'd like to draw your attention to a new variation of the Member Spotlight program at eBay. As you may know, the Member Spotlight program highlights a specific eBay member who has a unique or interesting eBay related story. However, there are also so many other interesting stories from members who make their own special communities within the larger eBay Community. To highlight these communities, enter a new variation of Member Spotlight. Instead of focusing on just one member, we'll shine the spotlight on groups of members, who make eBay special.

Today's Member Spotlight focuses on all the members who participate on the Bidding discussion forum also known as the "Bidding Board."

The Bidding Board features a dedicated, fun, and passionate group of eBay members, who proudly refer to themselves as "Biddies." The Biddies come from all walks of life with unique experiences, but one thing they usually share in common is buying items on eBay. Whether their purchases add to their favorite collections or were impulsively made while browsing ("I couldn't resist bidding on a new pair of my favorite shoes!"), the Biddies are among eBay's most active and loyal buyers. I don't know anyone here at eBay who would disagree with the Biddies' expertise on all things buying.

Biddies throw themselves with a passion into all aspects of bidding and buying on eBay. Some are quick to assist the "newbie" member still learning eBay's automatic bidding system (which many eBay veterans still call Proxy Bidding); another camp of Biddies is those who swear by the snipe. In fact, this thread, The Sniping Revival: Ye all come, is where many of the "Biddies" boast about their sniping prowess.

On this thread, resident Biddie and highly-respected member, tiptie, eagerly congratulates and awards his "Tiptie Sniper" ribbons, which are coveted by other members. However, tiptie is also a champion of the old-fashioned proxy bid. In true Community form to celebrate every buyer's experiences, tiptie created a thread to honor buyers whose winning bid was the earlier placed proxy bid, beating out all sniping attempts. You can read about those experiences here, Early Proxy Winners Versus The Snipers...The Testimonials and the Awards.

The Bidding board is also home to more serious and controversial discussions. One long-standing topic focuses on eBay's decision to make member IDs anonymous on the Bid History page (called Safeguarding Member IDs). You can read about the Biddies who have weighed in with their opinions and provided eBay with feedback on this thread, Bid History Changes including a***b user IDs. Other discussion topics include experiences with sellers, excessive shipping charges, Second Chance Offers, and Feedback.

Of course, the Biddies have their interests outside of eBay as well. Not everything discussed on the Bidding Board is about eBay. Usually, when they start discussing something not related to bidding on eBay, they'll type "OT" in the title, which means "Off Topic."

I hope that this spotlight on the Bidding forum has been educational for you. Now you know whom Bill Cobb is referring to when he talks about the Biddies during his regular Town Hall events. For me, reading the stories of items found and purchased on eBay in members' own words are what make my time reading the Bidding board enjoyable. So, if you haven't ever visited the Bidding board or stopped by in a while, be sure to check in soon and say hello to some of the Biddies.