Re: Anyone Else Dislike "Private Listing" Bidding on Ebay?
I can understand why someone would 'hesitate' to bid on a private auction. Just the word 'private' makes it seem a bit mysterious - like you're sneaking in on something private.
Having said that, I REALLY understand why a seller would open a private auction - to protect himself from other sellers! If another seller had a similar (or EXACT) match of what the auction seller had to offer, then what really stops 'other' potential sellers from contacting the second highest bidder (and third and fourth .....) and telling them they could buy from them at such-n-such a price. That keeps the selling price from going higher (removing the competition keeps the bidding from continuing).
That type of behavior can certainly keep the prices down for a buyer - but it seems vastly unfair to the sellers.
Now enter the shill bidding dilemma. If you are concerned about shill bidding then bid ONLY the price you feel is right for you. The shill bidder can't force you to pay more than you are willing to pay. And if the seller contacts you about 'second chance' (because indeed there was shill bidding OR the winning bidding DID actually drop the ball) then the whole thing is in your court. Go ahead and negotiate with the seller. Tell him/her you're only willing to pay the amount you bid before going back and forth with the winning (but now defaulting) bidder in the auction. Or you've lost interest. Or whatever. Hey, I'd like to be in this position - no pressure and I'm the one calling the shots! I can walk away with no negative feedback!
I believe there are legitimate private auction sellers out there - just as there is shill bidding going on in the 'regular' auctions. Don't be afraid to contact the seller and ask LOTS of questions - both about the item they have for sale and why they are running a private auction. Weigh all the answers you get from them. If you really have interest in the property they are offering, this won't be 'work' to you - but research. You should do this with regular auctions too.
And there is also that risk with a regular auction that bidders will start contacting each other during the auction and thus grind it to a halt! Not good for sellers and overall not good for ebay in the long run.
It could be that one bidder may contact another bidder and tell them what their top price is. Something like, 'hey, if you're going to keep outbidding me, just tell me what your top price is and if it's higher than mine I'll just stop.' If the other bidder says they are going to go higher, then the first bidder might just drop out before they reach their 'top price' and the seller doesn't get 'true auction price' for his item. That can't happen with a private auction.
As buyers we all want the least price and as sellers we all want top price. It's funny that we act (and look at this) differently - depending on which side of the transaction we're going to be on.
And, as always, it is your right (and even your responsibility) to pick and choose the auctions you bid on. If a private auction makes you nervous stay away. Some people stay away from auctions when a seller has very little feedback (depending on the pricetag, I do that myself). There's that catch-22 thing going on. Hard to get feedback if you can't sell anything because no one will bid on your auctions because you have low (not bad) feedback. A seller who has lots of feedback might have only feedback from being a buyer. What do you do then? (grinning)
than the max that I was willing to pay.
