Ebay Private Auctions: Why?
 

What is the purpose of 'private' auctions on ebay? I could maybe see the point for stuff that people wouldn't want other people to know you're bidding on, perhaps a 24" double-headed sex toy (L@@K!) or something like that, but the auction I was looking at was for a old license plate.

I thought private auctions were done by the seller to prevent other people from "sniping" him.

You know, you post one of your VWs on eBay, get 15 bids, someone watching could contact all of those bidders and say "Thom is teh suk, my VW is better, why don't you come take a look."

It's also a good way for crooked sellers to prevent bidders from being warned by others.

(With the recent changes, I don't know if that could be done anymore, though, even in non-private auctions).

+1 Seen this alot and usually will never bid on an auction like this. They are playing games and I do not need the hassle.

If you're selling high value items, using the "private" setup allows you to pre-approve the bidders in an effort to cut down on the deadbeats and scammers.

Aw hell, they say that even when my cars [i]aren't[i] on ebay!

Also a great way for the seller to 'shill' the item. This has happened more than a few times to me. I refuse to bid/participate in the sellers charade

Well its also to keep crooks from contacting bidders after the auction and attempting them to sucker them into a 'best offer' scam. Its a huge problem.

The only rational explanation is the seller gets the 'right' to shill bid without ebay being able to do anything about it. Like they would do anything even if it was patently obvious. eBay gets higher fees when the selling price goes up (for any reason, legal or otherwise).

I too stay away from those.

Theres a seller from Texas that ONLY does private auctions - wonder why?;) ;)

gee...wonder who that is.:rolleyes:
I personally won't bid on those auctions.

All auctions only use a bidder number now.

I only run private auctions so that my competitors don't see who is buying from me.

My customers appreciate private auctions so that what they buy remains private.

With my buying account, I have private feedback.

Some might like it but I refuse to buy from a private auction. Seen too many screwball things happen with them.

Targa,

Not all of them are anon bidder yet. When they go to 100% anon bidding I will cut my buying back by 50% at least. Been trying to move away from Ebay anyway and this would be the last straw. I know that the the feedback they are getting has been more negative than postive.

My customers do not like them. Usually selling airplanes and parts so its not a $2.99 oil filter.

did you take a survey?

as a buyer of high-end collectibles, i would want my identity protected, so that other sellers can not spam me. sounds logical.
SmileWavy

Problem is, your feedback.. you know, how you have handled past auctions and representations is hidden. Usually because you have something to hide.

I have been burned by one private auction, won't happen again.

I am not a liberal Democrat, and do not need a survey to make a decision.

I want to know about the others on the auction. Am working with Ebay on one auction right now where I was the first bidder and 5 hours later someone comes in and bids a LOWER price than I do, then a higher price. This is legally impossible and we are trying to find out how it happened.

On a private auction this would not show up. Have fun doing it your way, would rather have things out in the open to where we all know whats going on.

The intent is to prevent the bogus 2nd chance offers. Sure it conceals certain details from the general public, but thats kinda the point of it being private. Non private auctions get shilled all the time rather easily and people get burned in non private auctions all the time, so I don't buy the idea that it has anything to do with that.

I don't understand the 'bidder x' thing that went into effect recently. I still see a lot of auctions where I can see who is bidding on what.

The guys that I know that really wheel and deal on ebay all have half a dozen different userids, proxy snipe bidding accounts, paypal accounts, and will employ every trick in the book to get whatever they are after. There's nothing too shadey about this sutff, but its a global marketplace where people compete to buy and sell things. The more you know about how it works, the better your chances and finding whatever it is you need or want.

How is that possible? Does eBay allow a person to have more than one account from the same IP address? With Paypal, you would have to have as many bank accounts as PP accounts, no? :confused:

i think some of you are confusing private auctions with private feedback.

I wouldn't buy something from a seller with private feedback. auctions are ok if they are reputable.