Ebay "private listing - bidders' identities protected"... 0

[Point Five]

Just realized that an ebay auction I'm actively bidding on and interested in is set to Private Listing. Seller has 15K feedbacks, 99.9% positive and appears to check out, e.g. I'm not worried he'll ship me a box of rocks or whatever instead of the book.

It feels a bit dumb to even ask, but is there any conceivable non-nefarious, non-shilling reason a seller would use this?

 

[Tnexus]

Allows buyers to stay even more anonymous? Though it does seem shilly.

[Vixom]

On 2/3/2023 at 8:48 PM, Tnexus said:

Allows buyers to stay even more anonymous? Though it does seem shilly.

That's the reasoning ebay gives and some inexperienced sellers believe. Good idea if you are selling std medication or enhancement pills or something. Most people don't even think about worrying about non private listings. Many more believe it is foul play so it actually eliminates potential buyers. 

Most likely to hide shill bidding. I bid a crazy price. If I it goes for something good I will pay. If it goes to high I won't pay. Rinse and repeat with another account next auction. They will either give up or I will get it for a good price. 

[Dick Pontoon]

On 2/3/2023 at 8:44 PM, Point Five said:

Just realized that an ebay auction I'm actively bidding on and interested in is set to Private Listing. Seller has 15K feedbacks, 99.9% positive and appears to check out, e.g. I'm not worried he'll ship me a box of rocks or whatever instead of the book.

It feels a bit dumb to even ask, but is there any conceivable non-nefarious, non-shilling reason a seller would use this?

 

As someone who's been on ebay for about the same amount of time as yourself IIRC, when I see sellers who list that way I'm still instinctively wary. However, there's a board member who I've bought from both here and on ebay who uses Private Listings and I'm sure he's not up to anything nefarious. I've never asked him, but thought he might run them that way to keep sales data more private; once the listing is over you can't see what item was purchased.

Regarding 15k feedbacks and 99.9% positives, don't forget that people like Dupcak are also able to maintain similar ratings.

Edited February 4, 2023 by Dick Pontoon

[Point Five]

On 2/3/2023 at 10:01 PM, MR. Pontoon said:

Regarding 15k feedbacks and 99.9% positives, don't forget that people like Dupcack are also able to maintain similar ratings.

Yep yep. In this particular case the book is slabbed, but I hear you for sure.