Why do sellers make private listings?

#16
jadejett said:
Just to clarify - this bag isn't a high end item. It's only a couple hundred dollars. Your answers make sense, but most of them don't apply in this case. I never thought of shill bidding though. I'm wondering if I paid more than I should have now. I really DO need clarification as to whether or not sellers are obligated to disclose if a listing is private. Herein lies the crux of the matter. I'm wondering if I can cancel my auction. Just refuse the package and RETURN TO SENDER. I don't like the idea of being taken advantage of and if there's a chance that shill bidding took place, than I'm going to be a little more than annoyed.
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I am somewhat confused. You are just angry that the auction was private? I mean, you knew the dollar amount you were bidding and you could have stopped bidding at any dollar amount right? You don't have it yet to verify it's authenticity, so what is it you are angry about. I am not taking any side, just playing devil's advocate. A seller has a right and pays to list in any format they choose just as a buyer has a right to not bid. If you did pay more than what it is worth, then that was your choice on the dollar amount to bid. Doesn't the listing say "bidder 1" or "bidder 2" even if private so you can see the amounts that each bidder was bidding. Right now it seems you have nothing but speculation just based on the fact it was private. I have purchased quite a bit from sellers that do private auctions, some of them not even high dollar ones simply due to the fact that the seller has had their account hacked before and cancellations done or spamming occur. Right now it just seems that you are upset that the auction was private and no, a seller does not have to disclose an auction is private as I do believe that is shown on the bidding page.
 
#17
I think that jadejett's real concern here is that it's possible that this seller, who is not selling multi-thousand dollar Birkins and therefore wouldn't have that much reason to use private auctions, is selling counterfeit Hayden Harnett bags. I can see why she would be concerned, especially if the seller is selling the same exact bag over and over again.

My main question here is: Are there even counterfeits of Hayden Harnetts? I guess I would not be that surprised, since fakers tend to catch on pretty fast, but I just think of HH as sort of under the radar, smaller brand, and not all that widely known--not like Coach, for instance, which is practically all fakes these days. KWIM?

As a seller, I do sell some very high end items so I tend to make those auctions private to protect my buyers. If someone would rather not bid on a private auction for whatever reason, all they have to do is ask me to remove the private thingy and if I can, I will.


edited: UGH, I didn't even think of shill bidding. I suppose that's possible if it was an open auction as opposed to Fixed Price or Best Offer.
 
#18
It stops the spammers - no matter what brand of bag you're selling, unscrupulous people will attempt to spam whoever they can, wherever they can.

They just tap in the word' handbag' and they have a multitude to choose from. Both sellers and buyers can be targeted with offers of fake goods.
That's why alot of people use private listings, to protect the buyer.

For me, personally, private listings serve as a red flag if i see that person selling several obviously fake bags and all of their previous sales have been private auctions.:smile:
 
#19
Thanks for your responses ladies - and thanks for clarifying Cynthia. :yes:

Shopstomuch - if I seem angry, I assure you, I'm not. Concerned would be a better word. And yes, angry if I was a victim of shill bidding. All of this is speculation, but I don't see why that's a problem. That's what TPF is for. To ask questions and air concerns. I do believe that a seller should be obligated to inform buyers if it is a private listing. It seems like common courtesy.
 
#20
jadejett said:
Thanks for your responses ladies - and thanks for clarifying Cynthia. :yes:

Shopstomuch - if I seem angry, I assure you, I'm not. Concerned would be a better word. And yes, angry if I was a victim of shill bidding. All of this is speculation, but I don't see why that's a problem. That's what TPF is for. To ask questions and air concerns. I do believe that a seller should be obligated to inform buyers if it is a private listing. It seems like common courtesy.
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Ok, I'm confused. Doesn't it say right on the listing if the auction is private? I had mine private for awhile because I was dealing with someone trying to interfere with my auctions and I thought it showed right on the listing that it was private. At least it did when I previewed my listings before posting them. Am I wrong?
 
#21
I would just wait to get the item to see if your concerns are validated then before becoming upset. There is enough to get upset about in this world at this point without this also. I have had some of my buyers also get approached by spammers etc so I have on occasion made a listing private. I did not announce it was private as it is shown private auction on the bidding page. Yes, TPF forum is for voicing your concerns and as I said, I was playing devil's advocate. Hopefully you get it and all is ok.
 
#22
As I said before, and I guess I need to reiterate once more, I'm not upset. I'm merely concerned. If you're truly playing devil's advocate, then you wouldn't assume to know how I was feeling. Nowhere on the auction did it say it was private. I only noticed when I won and it said my identity was private.

As I also mentioned, I'm not so much worried about the item being fake. Rather, I'd like to avoid bidding on private auctions in the future. That's it, that's all. Thanks for all the responses! :yes:
 
#23
Nowhere on the auction did it say it was private. I only noticed when I won and it said my identity was private.
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That is so weird, I have never seen that before. I'm not doubting you! I just am not familiar with that happening.

I'm curious why bidding on private auctions is the thing you're interested in, though? Am I just confused?
 
#24
Because if it's an item that's not expensive, and wouldn't warrant untrustworthy sellers harrassing buyers with 2nd chance offers, then there's no need for an auction to be private in the first place. I tend to think of people who use private auctions to list cheaper things to be up to something. Usually selling fakes. I didn't think about shill bidding but that's another good point that was brought up. I would just prefer to avoid being put in the situation in the future when it concerns items of lower value. I've never had this happen before. Why does everyone think it's so weird to question why an auction is private? I think it's perfectly reasonable in my situation. Not everyone buys Chanel or LV. A cheaper bag simply doesn't warrant this treatment.
 
#25
That's why I do it too. I get at least 10 - 12 emails in a 7 days period from "Sorry to bother you, I am wholesaler" and "Is the the same item as ..." scammers and I don't want my bidders to have to get the same emails. I'm afraid some of them are phishing for info and a lot of my bidders don't have a lot of experience. I would hate to see their accounts hijacked. When a bid goes over $200 it's automatically done (bidder 1, bidder 2 and so on) by eBAY.
 
#28
jadejett said:
Just to clarify - this bag isn't a high end item. It's only a couple hundred dollars. Your answers make sense, but most of them don't apply in this case. I never thought of shill bidding though. I'm wondering if I paid more than I should have now. I really DO need clarification as to whether or not sellers are obligated to disclose if a listing is private. Herein lies the crux of the matter. I'm wondering if I can cancel my auction. Just refuse the package and RETURN TO SENDER. I don't like the idea of being taken advantage of and if there's a chance that shill bidding took place, than I'm going to be a little more than annoyed.
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I've gotten sketchy second chance offers on items that are $100 to $200. Still worth a scammers time. I think that's a totally legitimate reason and appreciate it as a buyer. Definitely no reason to cancel your bid (I don't even know if ebay will let you for that, and return to sender is just bad ebaying).
 
#29
drdreawisc said:
Definitely no reason to cancel your bid (I don't even know if ebay will let you for that, and return to sender is just bad ebaying).
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This was taken out of context. I'm sure everyone would agree that a return to sender would be warranted if the seller was shill bidding. Proving that would be difficult. I'm going to contact ebay to get further info on private listings today.

Thanks for all the help everyone! :idea:
 
#30
jadejett, I think I understand what you're saying now.
It seems like your concern started because you were surprised that the auction was private, then moved on to other issues such as possible shill bidding and/or counterfeits as it became clear that this seller is selling the same thing over and over...My own radar would probably be going off at the same time if I were in this position.

As for the price of the bag--hey, a $200-$300 purse is still an expensive bag to a LOT of people!! Just because it's not thousands of dollars doesn't mean you aren't entitled to be just as cautious about your transactions as anyone else. I hope you didn't take my earlier question about whether HH bags are counterfeited as somehow implying that they're "cheap", because I don't think that and didn't mean it to sound that way! I just think of them as more of a boutique item; it's a smaller brand.
 
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