eBay question?

[janda the red]

Hey guys....

Just a quick question regarding private sales listings on eBay.

There's an auction I want to bid on, but the bid list is hidden? What's up with that seeing as eBay scrambles bidders identities anyway....

I want the item.... But this seems a bit suss to me.

Your thoughts/advice

Cheers

[UltraMarginal]

I've never heard of the bid list being entirely hidden like that. sounds odd to me? maybe email ebay support and ask for an opinion. they may have been hacked, to prevent visibility of shill bids?

do you have a link you are willing to share?

[janda the red]

hey Um... thanks for replying mate

here goes with link:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/321053707...=p5197.c0.m619

[Megatron]

hey Um... thanks for replying mate

here goes with link:

http://http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/32...=p5197.c0.m619

Link's not working for me.

AFAIK, sellers have the option of making their listing "Private", which hides bidders' identities (as well as the item from a user's bid history page and feedback page). I don't know why a seller would want to maintain such privacy to be honest... but all the reasons I can think of do not elicit confidence in either the item or the seller. If you really want the item though, my suggestion is to always be backed up by Paypal's buyer protection program, just in case you get the item and it's not as described. But I'm sure you knew all this anyway.

[Kazza]

The way its being bidded on with .99 seems like shill bidding, just a cent lower than maybe someones maximum.

[janda the red]

hey megatron... i just clicked on link, works for me? strange....

anyways... thanks for the advice, item would be p/up for me ( cod ) using paypal would be what i'd wanna do usually though.

just dont get why someone would have this sort of listing?

[janda the red]

cheers kazza...

i might just enter the maximum i'm prepared to pay and take my chances

[UltraMarginal]

Looks legit enough to me, though I still can't think of a good reason to hide bid history like that.

the .99c bids is just a method to try and beat someone elses max bid I'd suggest.
The seller has been a member since 2003 and has a 100% positive feedback so I'd suggest they're just getting rid of an old bike. the last thing they want to do is get a negative feedback with only 208 feedback in total.

if you're paying COD, and only bid what you're comfortable with, you can always refuse to pay and walk away if it's not the real deal as advertised. and put in a complaint to eBay.

optionally, if you can fit it in before the end of the auction, ask if you can visit and look at the bike in person. then you'll know what you're buying for sure. of course with under 3 hours left that might be difficult.

[Megatron]

hey megatron... i just clicked on link, works for me? strange....

anyways... thanks for the advice, item would be p/up for me ( cod ) using paypal would be what i'd wanna do usually though.

just dont get why someone would have this sort of listing?

Ha! Works now.

My first impressions: the seller hasn't sold anything recently, and has only made a few purchases. Further, it looks as though the seller has made every other current listing Private. If I were to take a guess I'd say that for some reason, the seller believes it is the safer option. There's no indication whatsoever of fraud or bad intention, based on their feedback profile and history. I'd say that rather they don't have a lot of current eBay experience, and probably thought that the Private listing option was a good idea (since eBay didn't have it a few years ago when the seller was active). So, I don't see any real issues here. If you bid, good luck and I hope you win.

[janda the red]

thanks for the advice guys.... appreciate it.

sadly i missed out on it though, went for $247.50... id set my limit @ $202.50.

atleast i learn't something...