I agree completely. A large part of what eBay bidding is about is knowing who you're bidding against, how they bid, etc. This makes it far more difficult to decide whether, and how much, to bid, or whether it's worth the time. And as you say, Jeff, you can find yourself bidding against friends and needlessly running their costs (or them running your costs) beyond what it would otherwise be.

While I can fully appreciate the security concerns, this new blind bidding method raises a whole slew of other unanticipated problems and changes the zen of eBay. I don't like it at all.

Scott