Question about eBay policy on usernames

[mittu]

I just created an eBay account and noticed something that struck me as odd in their rules regarding choice of username. Here are the rules, bolding mine:

Remember that User IDs:

* May contain letters (a-z), numbers (0-9), and/or some symbols.
* Must be at least two characters long.
* Can't contain spaces.
* Can't be obscene, profane, or violate eBay's guidelines.
* Can't be an email address or Web address.
* Can't be the same as another sellers' eBay Store name.

Things you can’t include:

* The @, &, ', <, or > symbols.
* URLs (example: xyz.com).
* Consecutive underscores "__"
* An underscore "_", dash "-", or period "." at the beginning of a User ID.
* Spaces or tabs.
* The word "eBay" (only eBay employees may use "eBay" in their User IDs).
* **The letter "e" followed by numbers.**

Most of it seems to be logical and straightforward but what is the reason for the final rule? Why can we have usernames like “straightdop123” but not “straightdope123”?

[Mangetout]

I think you’re reading it wrong; I think they’re saying you can’t create a username consisting of something like ‘e1234567’.

You can have e followed by numbers elsewhere in a name; I know this because my posting ID (i.e. not my selling ID) on the ebay boards is SecretAttackMode901.

[GorillaMan]

Looks to me like a way to stop people registering things like e13ay_h4x0r

[mittu]

You could be onto something there but it seems a bit futile to me, seeing as it would still allow names like TopE13ay_h4x0r or AdminE13bay.

[mittu]

oops, that should read AdminE13ay.

[Peter_Morris]

I think the rule forbidding spaces is strange. I can’t see the point. Why am I allowed to be Peter Morris in some places, while in others I am forced to be Peter_Morris and in some places that don’t allow underscores either, I am Petermorris.