Hi!
Why do some eBay sellers hide bidders’ identities? They use so-called “private listing – bidders’ identities protected” in order not to disclose bidders’ identities. I don’t get it why would anyone need to do this… In any case, all you can see is a nickname. So, what’s the point of hiding it? As for me, it looks suspicious. Is it a scam?
Any experienced eBayers here? Please share your opinion.
You know, it’s not really true that all you can see is a bidder’s nickname. A bidder’s nickname won’t tell you much.
However, if you dig a bit deeper, you can see the 30-day activity summary (bid history): what number of items the respective bidder has been bidding on, the total number of bids (from this you can conclude what bidding strategy that bidder employs – whether he places one bid per item or competes continuously by placing multiple bids).
You can also see what is the bid activity (in %) with that particular seller and the number of bids that bidder has retracted within a 6-month period.
Most importantly, you can see how the bidder is bidding on that particular item you are interested in.
Thus, you get a pretty clear picture of who you are competing with and what to expect.
Best regards, Freddie
I agree, bid history and bidder information provide a lot of useful data. Therefore, I consider it as bad practice to hide bidders’ identities and bid history. For example, one thing worth checking is how many bids a bidder has retracted within the last 6 months. If that figure is high (see the screenshot), I would never compete against such a bidder. Why would I compete with someone who constantly bids irresponsibly, with no serious intention to buy, and then retracts these bids? So, yeah, it makes sense to know whom you are bidding against.
In the past I have also used the bidding history but as of Sept ’21 I don’t seem to be able to find that information any more. If it’s still available I’d like to know how to find it. Thanks
Dear Nena,
It is not necessarily a scam. I know at least a few absolutely reliable and honest sellers that make bidders’ identities private.
It is somewhat hard for me to understand why they are doing this as the real identities remain hidden at all times anyways.
With that being said, I have to note that private listings are indeed a factor that should raise a red flag.
According to my personal experience, private listings are mainly used by dishonest sellers. For the most part, it is being done to hide shill bidding (placing bids on your own lots).
You see, in order to engage in shill bidding, sellers have to create new fake accounts (users) all the time. Thus, these fake bidders have extremely limited feedback scores or none at all. If bidder identities are not private, you can easily notice that one and the same bidder with no feedback score is continuously bidding on that seller’s lots. Or there is a bunch of no-feedback-bidders competing for that seller’s lots. So, there is a good chance you’ll get suspicious that something fishy is going on. They (dishonest sellers) don’t want that. Therefore, they make bidders’ identities private (hide them), and bidders have no idea with whom they are competing.
My estimate is that at least 9 out of 10 sellers who make their listings private are scammers.
Regards, Editor
Dear Nena,
I agree with @Editor that it’s not necessarily a scam. However, there is a great chance it is. Consider this: I have been on eBay since 2004, have bought from hundreds of sellers, and I can recall only one honest seller hiding bidders’ identities. He was doing it 15 years ago and he still does. No idea why… The rest were scammers employing hidden identities for the ease of shill bidding. Thus, the chances that you will stumble upon an honest seller hiding bidders’ identities are close to zero.
Sincerely, Anna
Hello I have done business with a seller for years from China who sells a beautiful product. I do not think he/she shills. I appreciate the fact that my bids are private. Most people are not mad scientists strategizing and comparing the habits of other bidders to gain advantage or to root out some perceived corruption that does not exist. I think after a while we all learn the ropes at eBay. I have bought some turds but PayPal has always taken care of me and I can have confidence that I will not be paying for merch from cheats. It is up to me to know what I am buying. I can still make a mistake but I am not scared to because chances and hunches and relying on what I know are safer to go with. Have fun!
I have been with ebay since 2013. When ever I bid in an auction when private bidder bids, I was out bid. More than once I was high bidder. Example; I am high bid $1, next time I check bids private bidder is high bidder at $1. What happened to first bidder. The bid amount did not change. Happened two days ago. My experience when high bidder is bidding in an auction, get out. It seems like something is wrong when private bidder is bidding. Every time its suspicious! Not coincidence!