private listing - bidders' identities protected

[jc92869]

when looking at ebay listings, some bid histories just say;

"private listing - bidders' identities protected"

typically when I see this, it is on an item whose bids have increased dramatically in a short period of time. My assumption is that the "private bidder" is simply the person selling or a friend raising the bid amount artificially. This is either because the current bids are too low, or to create a sense that this listing is desirable.

Am I right in my assumptions?

thoughts?

 

[rrlongwell]

when looking at ebay listings, some bid histories just say;

"private listing - bidders' identities protected"

typically when I see this, it is on an item whose bids have increased dramatically in a short period of time. My assumption is that the "private bidder" is simply the person selling or a friend raising the bid amount artificially. This is either because the current bids are too low, or to create a sense that this listing is desirable.

Am I right in my assumptions?

thoughts?

Not necessarily, there are a lot of reasons someone may do this. I would not jump to a conclusion of foul play.

 

[AwayWeGo]

For The Past Several Years, All Bidders' Identities Have Been Hidden.

when looking at ebay listings, some bid histories just say;

"private listing - bidders' identities protected"

typically when I see this, it is on an item whose bids have increased dramatically in a short period of time. My assumption is that the "private bidder" is simply the person selling or a friend raising the bid amount artificially. This is either because the current bids are too low, or to create a sense that this listing is desirable.

Am I right in my assumptions?

thoughts?

eBay values transparency so that bidders & potential bidders can be confident that the bidding process is on the up & up.

For that reason, eBay started off showing bidders' actual eBay user names, so that anyone looking at the bid history on any particular item could see who placed bids & for how much & when.

Before long, hornswogglers & bamboozlers started sending out bogus "second chance offers" to non-winning bidders. No doubt most eBay users were too savvy to fall for the scam, but it's possible some non-winning bidders did send money to scammers in response to phony "second chance offers." Shux, I received lots of fake "second chance offers" myself, including a bunch from auctions in which I was closer to the lowest bidder than to the highest.

After several months of that, after people started complaining, eBay changed the way it shows bid history. Now it shows when bids were submitted & for how much, but it anonymizes the bidders rather than showing their eBay user names. Some transparency is lost, but scams are minimized. As soon as eBay went to the current system of hiding bidders' identities, then -- BOOM ! -- I quit receiving bogus "second chance offers" just like that.

Under the original system, sellers could opt to have "private listings" to protect bidders' identities, & apparently it's still possible to go with "private listings" even though eBay bidders' user names now are all undisclosed.

By me, eBay does a good job of running a clean game. They are no dummies over there at eBay command central. They have eliminated insertion fees in many auction categories & have quit charging for photos in some categories as well. That encourages people to list items for sale via eBay. Meanwhile, the eBay commission ("final value fee") is on the steep side. Ditto eBay's PayPal fees to sellers. The after-auction money that goes to eBay & it's PayPal subsidiary is money that does not go to the sellers.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[antjmar]

when looking at ebay listings, some bid histories just say;

"private listing - bidders' identities protected"

typically when I see this, it is on an item whose bids have increased dramatically in a short period of time. My assumption is that the "private bidder" is simply the person selling or a friend raising the bid amount artificially. This is either because the current bids are too low, or to create a sense that this listing is desirable.

Am I right in my assumptions?

thoughts?

I share your concerns.
However couldn't a non "private" auction have a friend or another account bid up the price also?
"Private" or not you (as a buyer) wouldn't know the difference.

 

[ronparise]

I just won one of those private bidders auctions...i dont feel that I was taken advantage of at all. The bidding went up in a reasonable way over the last week, It was at $605 all day and in the last seconds jumped to $802 and with 2 seconds to go esnipe placed my bid and i won

 

[csxjohn]

Just do like Ron does and then nothing else matters. Determine your top bid and either use a sniping service or enter it your self in the last few seconds and what ever happens, happens.

If you get the item fine, if you don't, someone bid more than your max bid. Look for another item like it and try again.

 

[jc92869]

Agreed.

I can definitely see all the points made here. I think that what made me think there was something foul going on was the unusual bidding patter.

- the bids went from $50 to over $350 in irregular increments ( which is not consistent with automatic up-bidding) in a matter of a few hours, several days before the auction ended. And ALL of the bids (9) were "private bidders". -
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $355.00
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $355.00
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $350.00
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $300.00
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $250.00
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $200.00
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $101.00
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $51.00

VS.
what i commonly see

s***t( 88) US $30.00
6***l( 68) US $29.00
s***t( 88) US $28.00
1***e( 17) US $25.00
6***l( 68) US $23.00
a***t( 27) US $15.00
a***t( 27) US $10.00
t***t( 0 ) US $5.00

Of course i don't think that this is a scam. and there is certainly nothing wrong with a seller trying to get the highest bid possible. Just saw it and thought it was interestingly odd.

also, curiously 3 other listings from this same seller have the same bidding pattern typically starting two days before auction close. does this seller just attract "private bidders at a higher level than other ebay sellers? maybe.

 

[ronparise]

eBay values transparency so that bidders & potential bidders can be confident that the bidding process is on the up & up.

For that reason, eBay started off showing bidders' actual eBay user names, so that anyone looking at the bid history on any particular item could see who placed bids & for how much & when.

Before long, hornswogglers & bamboozlers started sending out bogus "second chance offers" to non-winning bidders. No doubt most eBay users were too savvy to fall for the scam, but it's possible some non-winning bidders did send money to scammers in response to phony "second chance offers." Shux, I received lots of fake "second chance offers" myself, including a bunch from auctions in which I was closer to the lowest bidder than to the highest.

After several months of that, after people started complaining, eBay changed the way it shows bid history. Now it shows when bids were submitted & for how much, but it anonymizes the bidders rather than showing their eBay user names. Some transparency is lost, but scams are minimized. As soon as eBay went to the current system of hiding bidders' identities, then -- BOOM ! -- I quit receiving bogus "second chance offers" just like that.

Under the original system, sellers could opt to have "private listings" to protect bidders' identities, & apparently it's still possible to go with "private listings" even though eBay bidders' user names now are all undisclosed.

By me, eBay does a good job of running a clean game. They are no dummies over there at eBay command central. They have eliminated insertion fees in many auction categories & have quit charging for photos in some categories as well. That encourages people to list items for sale via eBay. Meanwhile, the eBay commission ("final value fee") is on the steep side. Ditto eBay's PayPal fees to sellers. The after-auction money that goes to eBay & it's PayPal subsidiary is money that does not go to the sellers.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

Thanks for the history lesson Alan

 

[justmeinflorida]

I can definitely see all the points made here. I think that what made me think there was something foul going on was the unusual bidding patter.

- the bids went from $50 to over $350 in irregular increments ( which is not consistent with automatic up-bidding) in a matter of a few hours, several days before the auction ended. And ALL of the bids (9) were "private bidders". -
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $355.00
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $355.00
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $350.00
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $300.00
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $250.00
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $200.00
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $101.00
private listing - bidders' identities protected US $51.00

VS.
what i commonly see

s***t( 88) US $30.00
6***l( 68) US $29.00
s***t( 88) US $28.00
1***e( 17) US $25.00
6***l( 68) US $23.00
a***t( 27) US $15.00
a***t( 27) US $10.00
t***t( 0 ) US $5.00

Of course i don't think that this is a scam. and there is certainly nothing wrong with a seller trying to get the highest bid possible. Just saw it and thought it was interestingly odd.

also, curiously 3 other listings from this same seller have the same bidding pattern typically starting two days before auction close. does this seller just attract "private bidders at a higher level than other ebay sellers? maybe.

Here's a bidding overview, that may help you make sense of it all.

I've been buying/selling on Ebay for more then 10yrs and I've only had a problem once or twice, they were resolved via Paypal dispute.

 

[Egret1986]

Don't think so.

also, curiously 3 other listings from this same seller have the same bidding pattern typically starting two days before auction close. does this seller just attract "private bidders at a higher level than other ebay sellers? maybe.

In the last three months, I have bought from an eBay seller that has the "private bidders" (probably the same one). I just won one of this seller's auctions. Only 2 bidders. I won at $1.25. The one before that was won by me at $153. Both prime locations and weeks, Gold Crown, beach weeks. Now, the two previous timeshare auctions that I won went over $3,000, but I anticipated that they would because, again, prime summer weeks in an area that is high demand and low supply. and these were 3BR lock-outs with low maintenance fees and super points-to-maintenance fee ratios, along with free use of 2012 points. I sniped the most that I was willing to pay. Both auctions ended just short of my maximum bids.

As mentioned; snipe, snipe, snipe and you'll never get in a bidding war and pay no more than what you have predetermined you're willing to pay.

 

[csxjohn]

....
As mentioned; snipe, snipe, snipe and you'll never get in a bidding war and pay no more than what you have predetermined you're willing to pay.

This is the most important thing to remember when bidding on any item on eBay.

jc, I don't see any difference in the two examples you presented. $5 to $30 and $51 to $355 are pretty much the same percentage increase.

 

[bnoble]

Exactly so. It doesn't matter who else is bidding, shill or not. Decide what yo are willing to pay, and place a snipe for that amount. Then, walk away from it until after the auction ends.

 

[tuc]

also, curiously 3 other listings from this same seller have the same bidding pattern typically starting two days before auction close. does this seller just attract "private bidders at a higher level than other ebay sellers? maybe.

Some fraud, such as placing bids with secondary or friends' accounts, does happen. If you think this seller has exhibited a pattern of fraudulent, there's no harm is reporting your suspicions to ebay. As I understand it, they do conduct investigations and have sanctioned some sellers, though I don't think they'll ever tell you what the result of their investigation was.