Why eBay's Private Listings Have an Undeserved Bad Reputation

Many people see an eBay seller who exclusively uses private auctions and assumes they are private because the seller is trying to hide something. This simply is not true! There are a number of reasons for using a private listing that cause me, as a buyer, to prefer private listings and, as a seller, to use them exclusively.

As a buyer, the first reason is privacy. I do a lot of business on eBay and a lot of people know my eBay user IDs and like to keep tabs on me to see how I am doing. I don't necessarily want them to be able to look at my buyer feedback and know exactly what I have been buying and how much I paid for it because it can create some awkward moments. Imagine if they stumble across that fabulous Christmas gift that turned out to be gently used and know exactly how much I spent on it. What if I am making a discrete purchase (use your imagination here, folks!) and my mother happens to stumble across it? I don't care for people to be privy to this information, or the fact that perhaps I like to buy used socks or exotic cars on eBay-it's just not their business! You know as well as I do that people like to be nosy and find out what is in the buying history of a friend, colleague, or family member.

As a buyer, the next reason is security. Given the ease with which someone can browse my buying history, any scammer can look at my history and see that I like to buy coins on eBay. The world is just flooded with fake Trade Dollars (sorry, non-coin folk bear with me) that the un-savvy are trying to unload on the unsuspecting. Recently, I received an unsolicited eBay message that this kind person had a nice selection of Trade Dollars he wanted to sell me at a terrific price. Judging by the poorly written message and my personal experience, I know that the best-case scenario is that I would end up with a bunch of fake coins, while the worst case is I would end up with nothing but an empty spot in my wallet. The unsuspecting often fall for this type of scam. If your only buy from private auctions, I can't snoop around your buying history to try to scam you.

As a buyer, I don't want unwanted solicitations! Even if the person selling Trade Dollars is on the up and up, if I want to buy Trade Dollars, I will go find them myself. I don't want my inbox full of unsolicited offers, even if they are legitimate offers.

As a seller, I prefer private listings because I am providing my bidders with a little more security against the previous three examples. In addition to this, from time to time I do encounter the hostile bidder who vows to take me down! This has only happened once, and I was never able to verify that this actually did occur, but the though of the rare rogue buyer going on a rampage would be a nuisance to me and to my customers when they send unsolicited messages to my customers to simply damage my reputation.

As a seller, I prefer private listings because of a neat trick I learned as a buyer. Feel free to use this for buying for other sellers, but it won't work with me! If you are interested in an multiple-item listing with the option to make a best offer, there is a simple way to get an idea as to what how low the seller is willing to accept. First, copy the auction number onto your clipboard (control-C), then go into the seller's feedback. Use the Find function (Control-F) and paste (Control-V) the item number. You will be taken step-by-step through previously completed transactions for that same item and will be able to see how much the bidder paid for it. So, you now have a better idea of what that seller is willing to accept. Since my auctions are private, this trick won't work on me, but it is cool nevertheless.

In conclusion, I hope you now have a better understanding of why some buyers and sellers prefer private feedback. There really is a legitimate reason; otherwise, eBay wouldn't allow it to be an option. It is a shame that a few bad sellers have created such a bias against private auctions, when I truly think they are best for all involved.