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eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

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Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#321

Post by dlcarrier »

BeetleB wrote: post #32
whyenot wrote: post #12

So scraping bots and “buy for me” bots are bad, but the incredibly annoying sniping bots are OK? That sure feels like a double standard.

I never understood why eBay set things up to enable sniping. Many years ago, there was an auction site called uBid. They had the sane rule: Bidding is open as long as there have been bids in the past 5 minutes. So the end date could be January 24th, 3pm, but if someone bids at 2:58pm, the deadline is extended to 3:05pm. And it keeps going. You know, like how auctions in the real world work.

Pretty much every auction platform I've seen, except eBay, extends listings by a few minutes every time a bid is received.

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#322

Post by IOT_Apprentice »

BeetleB wrote: post #32
whyenot wrote: post #12

So scraping bots and “buy for me” bots are bad, but the incredibly annoying sniping bots are OK? That sure feels like a double standard.

I never understood why eBay set things up to enable sniping. Many years ago, there was an auction site called uBid. They had the sane rule: Bidding is open as long as there have been bids in the past 5 minutes. So the end date could be January 24th, 3pm, but if someone bids at 2:58pm, the deadline is extended to 3:05pm. And it keeps going. You know, like how auctions in the real world work.

Wow. I remember Ubid, and I bought several things from it. It would become problematic when folks would bid up things far beyond the starting price.

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#323

Post by RadiozRadioz »

ukuina wrote: post #278

Only until Agent Commerce Protocol is more standardized: https://www.agenticcommerce.dev

I don't see why this thing has much reason to be focused on agents or AI - a standardized API for ecommerce is useful regardless of that usecase.

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#325

Post by terminalshort »

geocar wrote: post #318
terminalshort wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course you can run anything you want on your computer. But it is also ebay's right to decide whether or not its computer will allow requests from your computer.

> But it is also ebay's right to decide whether or not its computer will allow requests from your computer. That is dangerous thinking right there: Ebay does not have rights. Of course ebay may do it anyway, and it may take time for justice to correct things, but it is not Right, nor their right, to violate law even to protect themselves.

> Ebay does not have rights

No, that is the actual dangerous thinking. Ebay enjoys the same freedom of association that you do. Their right to not do business with you is exactly the same as your right to not do business with them. It's the very same right you exercise every time you use an add blocker.

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#326

Post by dlcarrier »

advisedwang wrote: post #2

LLM-initiated purchases probably rack up chargebacks, support calls, etc for mistakes the LLM makes. I'm not surprised they want to limit it.

They should treat it like freight forwarders. They're allowed, but when you use one you don't get the return policy.

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#327

Post by pks016 »

ycombinatrix wrote: post #139
pks016 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have lost most of my bids to bots. Bots will literally bit at hh:59:59. The ceiling value doesn't work unless you bid way above the asking price.

Are you sure the winner didn't just have a higher max bid than yours?

Maybe but highly unlikely. I was winning till like hh:59:30 but suddenly the winning bid was like 30 dollars more than my bid

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#328

Post by gond »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #249
gond wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are falling for the zero-sum fallacy and mixing categories on top of it. Globally, wealth gets created, which leads to a positive-sum game, not a zero sum game. On the other hand, if one quadrillionaire in a city owns all the money available in that said system except 100 currency units, the remaining 100 humans are in possession of exactly 1 currency unit. The suffering for the 100 humans is significantly higher…

I am not having zero sun fallacy. Please read what I said again. I said the exact price is zero sum within the bounds of the deal happening. The wealth creation is caused by the deal happening at all. > if one quadrillionaire in a city owns all the money That's a valid risk factor but on a random eBay purchase I think it's fair to say we have no idea if the purchaser or the seller gets more utility out of each dollar…

Then we actually agree on parts? Well, excuse me if I interpreted you wrong.

>we have no idea if the purchaser or the seller gets more utility out of each dollar.

Assumption: the seller opened the auction with his actual hard lower limit, he should be happy with what he gets as soon as that limit gets hit.

The original poster said that he essentially altered the bid in favour of the seller. However, the exchange of subjective equal values is based on the balance between the two parties and now gets distorted in favour of the seller and in detriment of the buyer. This should result in win/lose if I am not mistaken.

So, maybe I get you wrong, I am not sure right now.

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#329

Post by quietsegfault »

the_gastropod wrote: post #284
quietsegfault wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I only sell stuff on EBay as-is, no returns. I'm not sure if this protects me from their money back guarantee, but it gives me a little peace of mind until I too get bitten.

My listing was as-is, no returns. Didn’t matter. And I tried challenging it. Recorded a video where I opened the returned machine, assembled it, and pulled a perfect shot of espresso. Based on my server’s access logs, nobody at eBay even viewed the video. Whole experience cost me over $200 in shipping fees. Horrible experience.

That stinks! I feel very lucky now that I've gotten away scot-free.

Re: eBay explicitly bans AI "buy for me" agents in user agreement update

#330

Post by jacquesm »

WheatMillington wrote: post #309
malfist wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reply has hallmarks of AI slop. Green name, 2x its not X its Y, em dashes. If you want to be a productive member try commenting what you put into your prompt instead of the slop that comes out. Also classic ai drivel: This is about protecting the business model, not their inventory. My brother in AI, eBay doesn't have inventory. They're a platform.

What does green name signify on HN? I've always wondered.

New account, sub 400 karma, less than 30 days old iirc.

See https://news.ycombinator.com/noobcomments

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