what does it mean "private listing" buyers identities protected. Why does that happen

[dancingpartner01]

can anyone tell me why the above message appears on an item on which I am bidding?  Why is a bidder on a publicly listed item on an open site such as Ebay listed as "private listing; buyers identities protected", and they are a bidder?  What's the deal and why the anonymity?  Makes me a bit suspicious.  An answer would be apreciated.  So time consuming to get to Ebay and ask a question so maybe someone here can tell me.  Thanks.  dancingpartner

[zelly888]

So what you're saying is that you can see all the other 35 bidders IDs?

[lyndal1838]

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@audistarelectronics wrote:

It does seem quite strange that we get pushed to within range of the buy now price anyway. Also with big sellers, it is difficult to prove the issue as they have multiple exact items to list, but with used items or a smaller seller, it soon becomes obvious when the item pops up relisted again. I find it hard to believe that out of 35 bidders, I am the only one private. Please dont tell me that this is just a coincidence. I need the item regardless, so I will see what happens, and just pay the buy now price at the end, which is what I will be doing in future. Don't like games.

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Can you please explain what you mean?

Are you saying you can see the identities of 35 bidders on an item but not your own?  It must be a very rare item/hard to get item to have 35 bids, let alone 35 different bidders.

Can you put up the item title here so someone can have a look....an auction with 35 bidders these days is something very unusual.

Regardless of your issue with the bidding, if there are similar items listed as Buy It Now items it is quite normal for the auctions to end at very similar prices....the BIN prices are usually the average prices that the item will sell for.  Occasionally you will find an auction that finishes a lot lower than the BIN price, but not often.

[digital*ghost]

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@audistarelectronics wrote:

It does seem quite strange that we get pushed to within range of the buy now price anyway. 

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It's not really that strange at all. I often bid just a little below the BIN price on auctions, and so do a lot of other bidders (some bid just over, too). If I want to buy something regardless, I'll see if I can get it a bit cheaper at auction, and a lot of other people have the same reasoning - if it sells for $100 BIN, I'll bid $99 and hope the underbidders are trying to get more of a bargain than me. 

[audistarelectronics]

Sorry, meant to say all the other bids are private, with mine the only ones showing the ID. Item is if you wish to take a look.

1141172364669.

[digital*ghost]

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@audistarelectronics wrote:

Sorry, meant to say all the other bids are private, with mine the only ones showing the ID. 

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Yours is the only one showing to you because you are logged into your ID.

If one of the other bidders looks at the history, they will see their ID but no one else's. The seller sees all bidding IDs. Other members see no one's ID.

[lyndal1838]

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@audistarelectronics wrote:

Sorry, meant to say all the other bids are private, with mine the only ones showing the ID. Item is if you wish to take a look.

1141172364669.

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Thanks for clarifying...you actually said exactly the opposite to what you meant.

That is the wrong item number anyway....it should have only 12 digits.

[digital*ghost]

There's only one 1 at the beginning. 😉 (Sine Wave Inverter listing, well-known seller of machinery, 35 bids but only 10 different bidders, all IDs are hidden to me, of course). 

[davewil1964]

I wouldn't bid too high from this seller.

If you do, definitely be prepared to pay the return postage for the not as described item and don't let them string you past the 45 day Paypal claim limit.

Have a look at their feedback.

[lyndal1838]

Thanks Digi and Dave.

I would not even think of buying from this seller.

There have been at least 3 threads since Christmas about problems with items which the seller will not address.

[audistarelectronics]

Thanks for the advice, didn't win the item, went for 3 dollars less than the buy now price....surprise surprise. Wont be buying it from them either, found another supplier with an equal/better unit for the same money.