Ebay 'private' auctions - dodgy?

Hi,

Private auctions have always struck me as dodgy, i.e. they offer potential for sellers to dupe buyers etc. Ebay, in their infinite wisdom (or greed), have made my account default to private auctions whenever I list something. The last item I tried to sell didn't get its reserve (even though the photos were near pro-quality and it was rebuilt + guaranteed).

I'm wondering if the private status may have acted as a deterrent? I'm pretty peeved that Ebay would do this to my account...why? I've paid £15 to list an auction with nothing to show for it... Greedy bastards.

Justin

Private auctions were devised so that the seller could verify each and every bidder prior to bidding, usually manually verifying that you have a good ebay rating, etc.  This is the same as what a real auction house would do.  You can't just walk into a lot of auction houses and bid away, most require some kind of confirmation that you can afford to bid.. 

Secondly, yes, for some reason it seems that people have gotten the impression that a "private" auction means some kind of shenanigans on the part of the seller.  I don't know how that is the case since the private auction is FOR the seller, not the buyers.  This will keep a lot of bidders away regardless of their rating.

Ebay is pretty wise and they've closed a whole lot of gaps that people have exploited in the past.

Svart said:

Secondly, yes, for some reason it seems that people have gotten the impression that a "private" auction means some kind of shenanigans on the part of the seller.  I don't know how that is the case since the private auction is FOR the seller, not the buyers.  This will keep a lot of bidders away regardless of their rating.

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Thanks. I'm left wondering whether my reserve was too high (below other, inferior examples I've seen sell), or whether the private status deterred people...

It would've been easy for ebay to send members an email to tell them their auctions would default to 'private'... It wouldn't surprise me if they suspected it'd bring in profits on account of people having to relist items as public auctions. I only sell occasionally, and now have a £15 bill for something unsold.

Justin

Private, and with a reserve, is probably just a little too rich for some people. I have bought from auctions like this, but I know it is not for everybody.

You can just untick the box that makes it private. If you chalk this one up to experience, hard as I know it is, and readjust your parameters somewhat, your item will sell next time.

There is no reason whatsoever to why some things sell and others don't.  Suffice to say an inferior item can always be spotted at a higher price.  You may list 6 times at the same price, and suddenly have a bidding war on the 6th pass.  Not uncommon.