Would you bid on an expensive Private auction on eBay?

[Filter81]

I have an auction going up in a few weeks on eBay, for a very expensive comic collection. I'm pretty close to having everything finished for the auction but the one thing I haven't decided yet is whether to make it public or private.

 

When I have sold some expensive comics in the past I have had to deal with people copying my auctions and pretending to own the same books, as well as the obligatory spam E-mails to all of my high bidders from people pretending to own the same books that they can sell at a lower price, and sometimes even legitimate eBay sellers trying to sell similiar items to my high bidders before my auction has even ended! Needless to say its all a real pain in the , and sometimes even affects the outcome of my auction.

 

However, if I make the auction private I'm sure that would scare some people off, and some people might think I have something to hide.

 

So my question is if you saw an expensive auction being sold by a powerseller in private auction format would that make you less likely to bid on it? (Assuming the powerseller's feedback was still public) Would you prefer the privacy given to you by bidding on a private auction? Or would you not care either way?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Aces]

The only thing people worry about is shilling.

 

 

Since the seller has access to the bid page you could copy/paste the bidders list and post them in a public forum like the Marketplace for everyone to scrutinize after the auction was over.

 

If we all saw 15 bids from some zero feedback guy called "Filter'slittlehelper" then we would know what was up.

[PovertyRow]

So my question is if you saw an expensive auction being sold by a powerseller in private auction format would that make you less likely to bid on it?

 

An ebay Powerseller means nothing, at least to me anyway. It would not factor into my decision. What would make me bid in a private auction is knowing the seller. Beyond that, I would not participate.

[Rob]

No private auctions for me. ESPECIALLY with expensive auctions. As the bid price of an auction increases, so does my radar for risk. When I see a high dollar comic selling in a private auction, for me, it's a big red flag. I stay away. I don't understand the need for making it private. Why should the seller care if someone else tries selling the same comic as his own?

[Filter81]

Thanks for the feedback! So far it sounds like not everyone would be bothered by the private auction, but it would keep a number of people away. I'd be interested in knowing how everyone else feels too!

 

I don't understand the need for making it private. Why should the seller care if someone else tries selling the same comic as his own?

 

Rob, I understand why you'd want to stay away from a private auction, to be honest thats the response I was expecting from most people. To answer your question though, here's a hypothetical example.. Somebody wants to sell a $50,000 comic on eBay. To feature it properly, set an appropriate reserve, etc is going to cost the seller approximately $500 in eBay fees (I'm using $500 for argument's sake since its a round number) Assuming the auction sells, he pays eBay 2% or 3% or whatever it is.. so lets say in this example it comes out to $1,000. So by listing the auction with a reserve of $50,000 he is expecting $48,500 if the comic sells for the reserve. So say the reserve gets met with 24 hours left to go in the auction. Then someone comes along with the same $50,000 comic, and decides to E-mail the current high bidder in the auction and offer him the same comic for $48,500 (since Seller #2 doesn't have to pay the eBay fees) If the buyer agrees since he's getting the book cheaper, the bid gets retracted and the auction may go unsold.

 

The larger concern though, is if someone comes along only pretending to have the book. Any scam artist can view the list of high bidders and claim to own the same book. Now the scammer doesn't have any $$ into the book since he doesn't really own it... so he can offer it to the high bidder for $30,000. If the high bidder is new to eBay, he may fall for it, retract his bid, AND be out $30,000. (Which is a problem by itself because if someone who were bidding on one of my auctions were to fall for something like that I'd feel partly responsible since it happened while they were bidding on MY auction) Whats more likely to happen though, is even if the bidder is too hesitant to pay $30,000 to some stranger in an off eBay transaction.. maybe now he wont value the seller's comic at $50,000 anymore.. since someone just "offered" it to him for $30,000. Also, I do know that some BSDs will ONLY bid if the auction is private because they are sick of all the spam E-mail and scam E-mails they get every time they bid on a high priced auction.(The last time I listed an expensive auction for sale on eBay, Three people copied my auction word for word including my pictures while my auction was still up on eBay, pretending to own my book even though they didn't. Two others E-mailed all my top bidders during the auction pretending to own the same book that they could sell for less (even though they didn't own the book), and still two others E-mailed all my bidders (Except for the highest one) after the auction was over pretending to be me, claiming that the deal had fallen through with my high bidder and giving them payment instructions on how to pay "me" if they wanted the auction for their high bid price.

 

During the auction I had several people E-mail me about the fake auctions that were listed simultaneous to mine, and several people informed me that they wanted the comic I was selling but due to the confusion they were too hesitant to bid (and as a result the auction ended about $1500 below where I was expecting..)

And two people I talked to after the auction (to warn them that it was not me sending those last E-mails) told me they were so sick of all the scamming that they were not likely to participate in high dollar eBay auctions in the future.

 

So those are some of the concerns with listing a high dollar eBay auction in a public auction format.. but it sounds like there are so many people who don't trust private auctions that in spite of all that public auctions are the better way to go. What does everyone else think?

[Rickdogg]

I would bid with more caution and with a price I could live with. I too can relate to other sellers trying to offer the same product for less. I can't stand people that do not have the decency to atleast wait until the auction is over and email the underbidder.

[goldust40]

Stick with public. People assume you've got something to hide with private, plus there's the shill factor. You'll get more bids with public - collectors need to feel confident when bidding on big ticket books.

[kahml]

The last time I listed an expensive auction for sale on eBay, Three people copied my auction word for word including my pictures while my auction was still up on eBay, pretending to own my book even though they didn't. Two others E-mailed all my top bidders during the auction pretending to own the same book that they could sell for less (even though they didn't own the book), and still two others E-mailed all my bidders (Except for the highest one) after the auction was over pretending to be me, claiming that the deal had fallen through with my high bidder and giving them payment instructions on how to pay "me" if they wanted the auction for their high bid price.

 

I can only hope that for each and every one of the problems you experienced with that last auction you reported the infractions (along with the e-mails, headers and all) to eBay.

 

They do respond to certain things, and one of them is other eBay'rs trying to "steal" money from eBay and to otherwise thwart the system. (Gosh, I acutally used that word outside of a comic book!?!)

 

As for this statement:

 

because if someone who were bidding on one of my auctions were to fall for something like that I'd feel partly responsible since it happened while they were bidding on MY auction

 

C'mon, get real, this is not your problem.

 

Larry

[Filter81]

I can only hope that for each and every one of the problems you experienced with that last auction you reported the infractions (along with the e-mails, headers and all) to eBay.

 

Yep, I reported every one of them. Some of the time I was satisfied with the way eBay stepped in... Other times they didn't do anything.

 

As for this statement:

 

 

Quote:

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because if someone who were bidding on one of my auctions were to fall for something like that I'd feel partly responsible since it happened while they were bidding on MY auction

 

 

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C'mon, get real, this is not your problem.

 

Well I suppose it would depend on the circumstances.. But particularly in the case where someone was E-mailing all my underbidders in the auction pretending to be me.. If they had paid the guy and then E-mailed ME when the book didn't arrive.. suddenly it woulda been my problem Plus, don't I as the seller, have at least some responsibility to make sure the people who bid on my auction aren't getting ripped off by some scam artist? especially when someone is going around pretending they are me..

[kahml]

To answer your original question: no, I probably wouldn't bid, but that's me.

 

As for "your responsibility," I think - as a PowerSeller - you should be on the phone with eBay every time one of these jackals poses as you. It is eBay's job to police it's members - and they really do take it very seriously if someone is going to tamper with their revenue stream or generate adverse publicity. If they didn't respond to an issue, you really need to get them to push it up the chain on their end.

 

Now, for someone was pretending to be you - did they spoof your e-mail address? Or did they merely say they were Filter81?

 

When you replied to the e-mails you got, did you ask the other folks to compare who and where the "original" e-mails came from? What was their response?

 

I realize a lot of folks aren't exactly tech savvy, but if they are going to be spending more than 4 figures for a book, they should at least have some smarts.

 

Just one person's opinion...

 

Larry

[sterlingcomics]

no.

[Red Hook]

Wouldn't particpate in an auction of that kind. Never have, never will.

 

The reward would not be worth the risk. As I've said before, transparency keeps everybody more likely to be on the up and up!

[CentaurMan]

Nope, not for an expensive book. If I were the high bidder I'd be very worried about getting shilled. Plus there's a general sense of unease and distrust around private auctions. Not worth the risk.

[BachelorOfComix]

negative

[burntboy]

Nope, not for an expensive book. If I were the high bidder I'd be very worried about getting shilled. Plus there's a general sense of unease and distrust around private auctions. Not worth the risk.

 

nicely put - i concur. i got burned bigtime early on and it was in private auctions. my feeling always is that the auction is private for only 2 reasons; it is going to be shilled up to a point that the seller is comfortable selling at, or the seller doesn't want anyone who has dealt with him in the past to contact the bidders.

[Mushroom]

No

[Filter81]

did they spoof your e-mail address?

 

Yep, they created a hotmail account. (Filter81@Hotmail.com or Fiilter@Hotmail.com) or something along those lines.. I don't remember exactly. Anyone who had E-mailed me prior to that and knew my E-mail address wasn't likely to be fooled but someone who hadn't spoken to me via E-mail yet might not necessarily have known.

 

I did try calling eBay to report the problem, but they just told me to E-mail SafeHarbor..

 

But I do see what you're saying. At some point I guess it is the bidder's responsibility to play it smart.

 

Thanks for the opinions.

[Filter81]

Well that was pretty unanimous After seeing all this I will definitely be keeping the auction public and dealing with the scammers as they come.

 

Thanks everyone for the opinions.