Ebay question (private bidders)

[1eyed_jack]

So I've recently run into a few auctions where the bids are all private, and had a few questions.

Does this mean the actual bidder wants their info private, or that the person running the auction doesn't want the info to show?

Also, on a related note, what is the purpose of hiding the identity, which is already pretty hidden?

Unless I'm missing something seems like a way for bidders to shill while thinking they are being sneaky about it.

[crackberry]

in short. seller wants to hide identity of bidder so they can shill

my personal view is that it's dodgy

[1eyed_jack]

Originally Posted by crackberry

in short. seller wants to hide identity of bidder so they can shill

my personal view is that it's dodgy

Ah, disappointing. I messaged a seller about buying one of his cards straight up, need it for a set, and he gave me back some price that is quite a bit more than the card should be worth. The auction ends in 30 minutes and the bidding is low now, but something tells me it will skyrocket soon

[tristan20]

Bad feedback or to keep their purchases private

[SportsItUpCards]

Well ebay allows it, so it can't be that bad a thing. I would imagine it could be used for many different reasons... but sure there could be some to use it for the wrong reasons. A legit reason I could think about would be, to prevent other sellers from stealing your potencial customers. Because even though the names are some what not legible, still, us in the card world might know who some bidders are, so if another person had a card to sell, they could contact your bidders and try to sell to them. So then that ebay seller would lose a bidder. There are other reasons i'm sure, just too late to think right now. Where there are legal options to use, there are some who will take advantage of some features for their own personal play ground. What can we do.... we will never know. If it were me to use that feature, it would be for the right reasons, but I can't speak for everybody. I've never used it, and probably will never. Just saying. There are other reasons why one would want to keep bidders private. But of course, as we all know, dirt bags ARE out there.