can't tell if a seller is genuine

MandMaud

It says that this is a 'private listing'

Personally, I would not buy anything from any such seller :(

I only buy from sellers with proven track records and as I am in the UK I only buy from the ebay UK

Remember the old adage:

If it looks too good to be true then it probably is ;)

Yes, I've never got the purpose of private listings.

Oh, just remembered a trick that buyers can do - when a seller offers many of the same kind of thing, look back to see previous sold prices so as not to over-bid. Also if they accept best offer, when there are many completed listing it's possible to work out exactly what best offer they'll accept, and bid exactly that amount and no higher. I think the buyer can't see these details with private listings?

I wasn't searching on eBay.com, but on .co.uk - but one item showed up in search results. It did surprise me as I don't think it has happened before. (Different from US listings on eBay.co.uk.) :)
 

BrownBear

It says that this is a 'private listing'

Personally, I would not buy anything from any such seller :(

A private listing only means that the identity of the bidders is not available to other bidders. I use private listings because the items I sell are collected by a small number of people who may not want to disclose that they are bidding against people that they know in the collector community. A private listing only ensures that the bidders are anonymous to other bidders.
 

MandMaud

A private listing only means that the identity of the bidders is not available to other bidders. I use private listings because the items I sell are collected by a small number of people who may not want to disclose that they are bidding against people that they know in the collector community. A private listing only ensures that the bidders are anonymous to other bidders.

That's a good point that I wouldn't have thought of.

Doesn't it also mean the bids can't be seen (when clicking through the number of bids, shown in the listing)?

... Of course I could just look up eBay's help pages. :D
 

BrownBear

That's a good point that I wouldn't have thought of.

Doesn't it also mean the bids can't be seen (when clicking through the number of bids, shown in the listing)?

... Of course I could just look up eBay's help pages. :D
I think you can see the bids, but the middle of the bidder names are blanked out.
 

avalonian

It says that this is a 'private listing'

Personally, I would not buy anything from any such seller :(

I only buy from sellers with proven track records

This seller has been rated as 99.5% based on 340653 feedback ratings.

If that isn't a proven track record then I don't know what is.

:) :) :)
 

Aunty Anthea

This seller has been rated as 99.5% based on 340653 feedback ratings.

If that isn't a proven track record then I don't know what is.

:) :) :)

Only 340653 feedback ratings

thinking (perhaps you should wait for a few more positive feedback ratings) :joke: