Has anyone ever seen this before?

[TheWatcher]

Has anyone ever seen a person with private feedback? What's the point of having feedback if no one can see it? All it'll do is make someone suspicious.

 

Ebay private feedback

[Darthdiesel]

In most cases, it is a newbie seller that just got negged and now is afraid to show off the nature of that neg for others to view; hoping that you'll deal with them based on their positive percentage alone.

 

But in this case, I can't explain it? This seller is someone I won some real cheap stuff from recently:

 

TOA 92

 

TOA 97

 

TOA 87

 

Hulk 118

 

Hulk 132

 

And all the books were bought knowing they were in good or VG condition at best and that is what I got; great complete reader copies, no surprises. He was fast with shipping, combined and emailed me when I had questions. I was actually bugging him for something that I thought was a Marvel price variant (makes me curious when sellers scan a lot of comics in piles and cover up the 'possible variant' so I feel the need to email them asking for a better description or confirmation of whether it is not a variant)

[clarkkentdds]

For someone who is exclusively a "buyer" on Ebay, I see nothing wrong with making your feedback private. I made my feedback private because, frankly I don't want people to know how much I spend on comic books (I find the general population can't fathom a person paying over 10 cents for a comic book!) However, I do agree that it is sketchy to have a seller make his feedback private. If I ever sell something on Ebay, I will certainly reveal my feedback to allow for reference!

[Tomega]

I am always suspicious of private feedback and private auctions for eBay users and, frankly, believe that it promotes dishonesty and should be banned. Especially with private auctions, it is too easy for people to commit fraud by shill bidding on auctions. There is a seller ( comickeys) used to be a topic of much discussion on this board. Although I will not mention the particulars of the prior discussions because of unsubstantiated claims, I can say he appears to sell some of finest examples of silver age comics but I would never buy from him because all his auctions are private and so is his feedback. To me , he appears to be a reputable, professional seller who always was a gentleman and answered my questions. However, I have no way of verifying that his auctions did not have shill bidding because I cannot check on the bidding history. I am no way implying that was the case but it leaves me an uneasy feeling that I cannot verify the auctions validity. He lost a lot of potential business from me because of this and so does any other seller/buyer who has private feedback or auctions. In my own auctions, I cancel any bids from private feedback bidders unless they email me before or allow me to examine their feedback. I think sellers and buyers whose auctions and feedback is private would do more business if they made them public.

[Crowzilla]

I never thought about it form the buyer perspective before, but that sounds like a good idea.

Hope Darth doesn't do it - then I'll never be able to look at his bidlists and see what to bid on.

[Crowzilla]

I just did that private feedback thing - but you can still do a search and see items i've bid on in the past 30 days.

kinda ruins the whole idea of the private feedback.

 

[Darthdiesel]

then I'll never be able to look at his bidlists and see what to bid on.

 

Itching to see what Maxim issues I've bid on lately? Trolling to see where I buy my wholesale Lesbian porn dvds?

 

Setting your feedback to private does not prevent others from seeing your bidlists. I've set all my real bids on "hidden" variant auction to esnipe, so don't be surprised if you are either outbid in the last 2 seconds or you win the book at a "bend-over" price!

[greggy]

you win the book at a "bend-over" price!

 

Tell me about it! Look what you did to me with that Marvel Feature 3 CGC 9.6!

[Bugaboo-migration]

Maybe Arch can give you "Ben Dover" as a custom forum name now.

[greggy]

Hey, whatever fits!

[COI]

I used to keep my "Captains of Industry" ID private when I first began buying. I had the same reasoning, that it was my business what I bought. Also, I would have people spam my email because I was buying higher price CGC's. Apparently people would see me buying HG Spideys and decided I would be interested in their unslabbed VG's. So I kept it private, and when I first came onto these boards I found out people did not like that. One forum member who dosen't post anymore even blasted me for it.

[comicmankev]

I immediately distrust anyone with private feedback. But on the other hand, all my auctions are private ones!

 

Private auctions stop people from spamming your bidders, which happened several times too many for my liking when I started out.

 

But I would never hide my feedback! Why would someone send someone else money, who they don't know from Adam, and then expect to get anything back? After much thought I did actually win a couple of items from the renowned 'comic-keys' and their service was great, so why would he hide his feedback? I just don't see a reason for it. I can relate to why ou would not want anyone seeing what you've won, but at the end of the day, it's your business, and what does it really matter if they see you have paid $5k for a comic?

[hammer-migration]

How's this for a Spam horror story:

 

At about 400-0, my feedback was not private. Never was. I had one Ebayer who won a few $5,000 and up items. He was spam solicited constantly by someone using an anonymizer email, sending email after email, "I saw that you won a Spiderman 1, would you be interested in a Spiderman 2 for $xxx", etc. etc. etc., one after the other for almost an entire week. After a week of politely answering "no", "no", "no" (ad infinitum) he had enough with the solicitations and finally made it crystal clear to the spammer to please cease and desist or he would have no choice other than reporting the constant stream of unsolicited emails to his ISP. The next morning, his 10 year old daughter was accessing the family PC (as she always did before school), when thinking she was opening an attachment on an email from one of her PC penpals, opened up an attachment sent by the Comic spammer, and was presented with the image of one man performing a sexual act with his hand and forearm on another man, that usually is rarely seen even on the internet (What a thing for a 10 year old girl to see...how do you explain THAT to her?). Needless to say, my winner/bidder did NOT hold me at fault, but that fact didn't make me feel any better (I myself having a daughter and knowing how I would feel in a similar scenario). He did alert authorities and the trail ended somewhere in Japan (some off-shore anonymizer ISP service...he couldn't be traced). From that day on, my Feedback has been Private.

[clarkkentdds]

Ahhh... sensationalism at its best. While I certainly sympathize with your buyer, these isolated situations are in the minority. The advantages of a seller making their feedback visible far outnumber the slight negative repercussions that might arise from feedback (ie children viewing porn.) Feedback provides a reference for potential buyers, and it helps to make the sellers business legitimate! Hidden feedback and private auctions only deter buyers from purchasing on Ebay because it creates DOUBT. Why in the world would a seller limit his pool of potential buyers by hiding feedback and making an auction private? This only ultimately lowers your profit margin!

 

How can anyone argue against this simple fact? Feedback stimulates CONSUMER CONFIDENCE in the anonymous world of Ebay, thus driving prices upward.

 

 

 

[hammer-migration]

Fortunately, I must be the exception rather than the tenet you adhere to. I look at my ledgers, view the bottom line, and see a DIFFERENT picture than you do. Of course, I'm in a MUCH more advantageous position to see my accounts since they're right here with me, and you DON'T have access to them.

In another thread, I had listed the amounts of certain key issues (those that I've bought or sold more than 10 individual copies of) I've dealt in over the past 3 years, on Ebay and OFF Ebay (actually, where the majority of my sales and purchases occur). Over 30 Spiderman 1's transacted, almost as many AF 15s, etc. etc. Private feedback is no big deal when you're 777-3 based on selling MOSTLY high ticket, high grade, UNSLABBED books. I believe that I'm the ONLY Platinum Power-Seller on Ebay that ONLY sells Silver age high grade books, 85% of which are unslabbed with such an amazing success rate and so much repeat business. Because of this, I have NO problems with buyers being dissuaded as far as I'VE noticed. I'm so confident that the books, for the most part, will sell at the right price, I VERY infrequently utilize reserves.

Sure, you see a Private feedback individual that just signed on 1 month ago, now selling an AF15 after 20 feedbacks based on the sale of pots and pans, DEFINITELY, that may give you pause...BUT, that's not me, and most of my bidders know the difference.

I give it 101% as far as service, courteousy, and trying to please. AND, it shows in the total numbers (777-3). PLUS, you must keep in mind that I've logged well over 2000 transactions over the past 3 years that are NOT recorded on Ebay (off-Ebay sales).

[clarkkentdds]

My previous diatribe was not an attack on you personally. I have never done business with you nor do I know anyone who has. Furthermore, I have no reason to believe that you exercise the unscrupulous tactics that others have accused Comic Keys of practiing. I am simply stating a fact. Tell me how a private auction or hidden feedback can actually promote business on Ebay?

 

My theory...

 

1. A sellers hidden feedback creates DOUBT in the minds of potential buyers.

2. This doubt affects their willingness to place a bid.

3. Less competition for an item due to lack of bidders.

4. Lower profit margin.

 

Plain and simple...Tell me how this isn't true. I frequent this forum on occasion, and enjoy reading the Meth/Hammer/Comic Keys point of view because your posts are usually quite topical and you seem to know a lot about the hobby. I would really like to hear how you might argue against my simple premise.

[hammer-migration]

Can't argue it! Matter of factly, I AGREE with you! When I see "Private Feedback" my Spidey Senses start tingling...UNLESS I were to see a tremendous ratio of positive feedback numbers over negative/neutral. Also, if for some reason Harley Yee, or Reliant, or PCE, or PCG Mint, or Notch_top, or any number of other impeccable sellers suddenly went the Private route, it wouldn't faze me anywhere near seeing a 5 or 10 feedback seller going the Private route. I personally, do NOT feel that my business is affected negatively, or positively by opting to go the Private route.

[CosmicBob]

But don't you think the same argument applies to Buyers with Private Feedback? Would a seller be more likely to look upon a private feedback bidder with skepticism? I've seen auctions listed that say "No Private Feedback bidders".

 

I can see how you would say that a seller would be more likely to want his sales known to increase confidence as opposed to a buyers purchases visible. But I see the same argument of trust applied to both situations.

 

It's an interesting question and agree with you that a seller with private feedback is probably losing bidders. But a buyer can be affected as well.