nanastuff
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posted on September 7, 2000 12:33:38 PM
Would like opinions or reasons why a buyer or seller would want to keep their feedback private (other than a bunch of negs).
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borgt
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posted on September 7, 2000 12:38:14 PM
No other reasons I can think of. I wouldn't bid on an auction where the seller has hidden feedback.
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nanastuff
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posted on September 7, 2000 12:42:14 PM
borgt...thank you Problem is, I am selling and I have a person that has bid on three of my auctions and he/she has private feedback..and shades. Don't want to panic, but I was trying to think of why a person would do that.
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Glenda
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posted on September 7, 2000 12:43:55 PM
A few reasons I've read: A fellow purchased an adult toy, and the seller said what it was in the feedback - embarrased, the bidder made his feedback private until that one moved to a second page. Similarly, some newbies received their first feedback and were embarassed ("I've taken your feedback cherry." )
(ubb)
[ edited by Glenda on Sep 7, 2000 01:03 PM ]
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clancaudle
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posted on September 7, 2000 12:45:50 PM
Hi nanastuff - I am new here, but thought this was an interesting topic. I, too, would panic a bit. I think what I would do is e-mail the person and ask why their feedback is private. If their answer doesn't satisfy you, cancel their bids. Having an NPB on three (!) auctions would be seriously painful!
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HartCottageQuilts
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posted on September 7, 2000 12:46:35 PM
Apparently some sellers make their FB private - or make the auctions themselves private, or both (is the FB from private auctions automatically private? I don't think so. Anyway) to make it at least a bit more difficult for competitors to harvest their bidders' email addresses for spamming.
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mballai
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posted on September 7, 2000 12:48:13 PM
Why not ask the bidder why their feedback is private? It's a legitimate question. Depending on the answer you get, you might feel justified in canceling their bids
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nanastuff
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posted on September 7, 2000 12:52:15 PM
HCQ...thanks..knew there had to be more than one reason for the privacy.
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Glenda
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posted on September 7, 2000 01:02:55 PM
HCQ: is the FB from private auctions automatically private?
If an auction was private, the feedback comments left for the seller will show up, but instead of a transaction number, it will show
Item: (private)
(On the other paw, if you look at the feedback left by the seller, however, the auction numbers will display.)
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njrazd
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posted on September 7, 2000 01:30:30 PM
Even if the feedback is private, it will still show how many positives/neutrals/negatives there are. Although I would prefer to not deal with users with Private Feedback, if they have all positives, it would probably not be a great risk at all.
******************
That's Flunky Gerbiltush to you!
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borgt
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posted on September 7, 2000 01:33:42 PM
LOL, this reminds me of the auction I recently won for a pair of k.d. Lang tickets. The auction was private, I guess so no one would think I'm lesbian  - Funny, because I'm male and my wife and I had a great time at the concert! The seller had a lot of ticket auctions and this was the only one that was private.
Edited to add:
Maybe I am a lesbian, trapped in a man's body
[ edited by borgt on Sep 7, 2000 01:35 PM ]
[ edited by borgt on Sep 7, 2000 01:36 PM ]
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rancher24
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posted on September 7, 2000 03:15:21 PM
Glenda....Would seem to me that it should be the other way around (not doubting you, just amused at another eBayism)....
Seller must be identified when selling an item....But auction is private to protect bidder for a variety of reasons (adult material, strange item, spam harvestors)....By making the bidders FB include the item # their purchase is no longer private...
~ Rancher
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Glenda
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posted on September 7, 2000 03:32:08 PM
Rancher24: I wasn't complete in my answer: If you look up the seller's feedback, and if you look up the bidder's feedback, any private auction they have bid in will say (private) instead of the item number.
The feedback number of a private auction for either the bidder or seller shows only if you alter the URL to show the feedback left by either one of them.
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pointy
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posted on September 7, 2000 03:50:15 PM
Many of my auctions are private, for exactly the reason HartCottage mentions. Competitors(more like lazy no good bottom feeders) harvest the e-mail addresses. I feel strongly that all bidders names and e-mails should be private. I think it's bad business for Ebay to make their customer list public. There's never been a company in the history of modern commerce that made this info public. If I was starting up a business selling widgets, the first thing that I'd do is harvest all the e-mail addresses of people who had showed an interest in widgets by bidding on Ebay. As a seller I don't care who's bidding in my auctions. 99% of the transactions are completed successfully, and you can't get yourself paranoid about bidders with questionable feedback. A waste of time and energy. Most of the time they wind up getting outbid anyway.
As for feedback being private, I can't think of a single good reason why someone would do this and I'm surprised that Ebay allows it.
[ edited by pointy on Sep 7, 2000 03:50 PM ]
[ edited by pointy on Sep 7, 2000 04:52 PM ]
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nanastuff
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posted on September 7, 2000 04:18:40 PM
Thanks everybody. I really can't see any reason why someone keeps their feedback private (except for lots of negs). The person that was bidding on my auctions has now been outbid (won't close till Sun. night though). This must be a new person..has shades too and all zeros on the feedback page. Perhaps this is a new person and I am tempted to email her just out of curiosity as to why. I appreciate everyone's input on this.
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guyuellas
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posted on September 7, 2000 09:07:12 PM
I know of two booksellers that have private auctions and keep their feedback private. I sent email and asked them why out of being curious and they told me they do it to protect their clientle from being spammed by other ebayers that are selling similar of the same item. They also get repeat sales from these folks. One also does it because of the type merchandise he sells, adult related, and wants to keep his clients protected. Makes sense to me.
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