Hmmm, I just wondered ....but if you got for an ebay item 11 bids and 10 of them have their identities protected, surely that is a little dodgy especially when the item is a current indemander???

Edited May 3, 201213 yr by viphitman

I make all of my auctions private, as some buyers don't want other folks knowing what they've bought...

Hmmm, I just wondered ....but if you got for an ebay item 11 bids and 10 of them have their identities protected, surely that is a little dodgy especially when the item is a current indemander???

strong arguements for and against private auctions so I guess its all down to your gut feeling case by case. Do you know the seller or have you dealt with him before ?

Private auctions negatively affect my actions as a buyer, as they are often (obviously not always) the tool of a shill bidding seller.

Otherwise, I guess they're useful for sensitive items like porn or something.

I do not know the seller but it's the first time that basically all bids are set on private for an item I am interested in . I often check the bidders activities with the seller as well due to all that shill bidding. Maybe ebay could allocate different numbers for private auctions and show the percentage of bidding activities with the buyer so at least you know the sequence of bidding, the bidding activities with the seller as well as the amount of different buyers.

Private auctions negatively affect my actions as a buyer, as they are often (obviously not always) the tool of a shill bidding seller.

Otherwise, I guess they're useful for sensitive items like porn or something.

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:lol:

Edited May 4, 201213 yr by Brooky

Otherwise, I guess they're useful for sensitive items like porn or something.

Nail on the head Bob.

Recent statistics show that 83% of men will openly admit to having had affairs, 91% of the same men will openly admit to having taken illegal substances and likewise 86% of the same group of men will openly admit to engaging in regular criminal activity.

However only 3% of the same group of men will openly admit to having looked at porn online.

Derek PhB, MFI