By any other name
by Sue Bailey
You’ve probably been there: you have a superb idea for a new eBay ID, but when you go to register it, it belongs to someone who hasn’t used it for about a decade. eBay’s line on unused IDs has always been that they won’t release them because someone, someday, might come back to claim them. But now we have some good news for you: eBay UK’s new head of trust and safety, Richard Ambrose, has just said that* eBay will be “releasing several million long-dormant IDs in the next few weeks. Have a look at some of your favourite short, snappy IDs - they might suddenly be available.”
We don’t yet have any details of exactly when this will be, but if I find out, I’ll update the post… after I’ve got the ones I want, of course 
*Sorry, link not accessible if you’re not a Powerseller.
Updated Tuesday: I’ve just heard back from eBay, and it’s not good news. Though this will happen at some point, there’s not yet a date set for the release. So keep checking, but don’t hold your breath.
Comments
2 Responses to “By any other name”
This is seriously good news, and I do support one suggestion from the original PowerSeller thread (started back at New Year and since deleted), that name-squatters should be made to pay an annual fee for doing so - e.g. if a “big name” like IBM, Nike, or Proctor & Gamble etc wanted to squat on an eBay ID for trademark protection etc, then they should be made to pay for the privilege.
Otherwise, eBay should have a very clear policy (via VeRO?) regarding using a “known” name as your ID. I have no problem with known and established, trademarked, names being protected in this way.
Like many others though, I do look forward to the name-release and am hoping that several of my online trading identities are freed-up, so that I can grab them and split a currently bursting-at-the-seams core ID.
I am a little concerned at the lack of transparency in the announcement regarding criteria though. How long does an account have to have not traded before it’s included in the reallocation? Or will it be based on length of time since last login?
Should those of us protecting trading IDs with accounts unused for under a year be worried? Is this week’s UK Cheap Listing Day the time to put a transaction or two on those accounts? Or, has the week-long “never sold before” promotion on the dot com site been designed to nudge those name-squatters into action?
Perhaps TameBay could find out more or pursue a longer, more detailed announcement from eBay?
Shades of the Location Abuse Policy global rollout surfacing?
Sooner rather than later on this please eBay.