fluffythewondercat
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posted on July 6, 2003 06:45:42 AM new
I'm going to write to eBay about this, though I expect the usual dead silence. But they should be concerned.
I have noticed an increase, in several categories I watch, of sellers with hidden feedback running all their auctions as private. That should be a HUGE fraud alert flag.
While it is true that you can see how many negs a seller has even if the feedback is hidden, there is often a "grace period" while the scam is in operation. Recall the notorious mylittle1s. It took some weeks for all those negs to show up.
With private auctions, previous bidders can't even contact the current ones to give them a heads-up.
What do you think? Worth mentioning?
I am not a bathtub full of brightly-colored machine tools on Vendio.
[ edited by fluffythewondercat on Jul 6, 2003 06:46 AM ]
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Twelvepole
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posted on July 6, 2003 06:56:21 AM new
Yes, please do as will I now. I have always been an opponent of private auctions and feedback for just this reason.
AIN'T LIFE GRAND... 
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stopwhining
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posted on July 6, 2003 07:25:25 AM new
Many dealers in chinese antiques end up with private feedback so you dont know what past bidders have to say about the 1 million years old dinasaur egg ,ancient japanese samurai sword or archaic jade carvings that they were all made yesterday!
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AuctionAce
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posted on July 6, 2003 07:39:10 AM new
I never liked the private feedbacks. Reeks of possible scam.
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"Sometimes I think war is God's way of teaching us geography." - Paul Rodriguez
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ohmslucy
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posted on July 6, 2003 07:47:49 AM new
Most definitely worth mentioning.
I wonder how many new bidders even notice or, if they do, understand the ramifications...
I don't even bother to read the description, just hit that back button so fast it makes my head swim.
Lucy
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Libra63
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posted on July 6, 2003 08:47:19 AM new
I knew a person that had a hidden feedback because of so many negatives and I approached him in the local goodwill and I came right out and asked him if that is why his feedback was private and he said yes.
I told him that everyone could see his negatives from the counter so it is useless to put it private. He did enough business that it would be hidden soon so he went home and changed it. I told him people will be leary of buying from him if they can't read what your buyers are saying. He agreed.
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paloma91
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posted on July 6, 2003 09:06:39 AM new
I remember seeing hidden feedback with a few recent buyers. They ended up not paying. On the otherside of the fence, I was looking for a game for my little boy. The best price had hidden feedbacks. I didnt bid on that one.
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neroter12
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posted on July 6, 2003 09:09:06 AM new
Private feedback definetly a red flag! Its too bad new people aren't really aware of that, they are the ones to get snagged.
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shop4shoes
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posted on July 6, 2003 09:34:11 AM new
I wouldn't make my feedback private. However I have seen many sellers and buyers with perfect or near perfect feedback that is private.
I had one regular, who at the time, had over 800 unique positives and no negs. Feedback was private and had been for the 4 years she purchased from me.
Many bidders don't want others to know what they purchase. If you are in Germany you have privacy laws on your side and no one can research your bidding history. Not so for bidders in other countries.
I will bid on a private auction. I will bid on the auctions of an established seller, with good feedback, whose feedback is private. I will not bid on a new seller whose feedback is private.
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neroter12
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posted on July 6, 2003 09:43:16 AM new
Shop,
It is kinda diconcertibg as a buyer to have a seller say, "oh, i see you are really into xy and z". (They've looked you up!) As if not enough things aren't tracking you on this internet!! lol.
But is that the price you pay for doing it? If everybody else puts their FB out there, still leary of someone who won't.
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msincognito
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posted on July 7, 2003 09:26:49 AM new
I would like to see eBay exercise a little more judgement in shutting down obvious fraudsters ... but. ....
There are going to be scam artists virtually anywhere there are opportunities to make money - some of them are very subtle and some are quite brazen (like a private-auction, hidden-feedback seller with a high level of negs). Even at that level, there will be suckers stupid enough to be taken. At least eBay gives some indication of the need to check a seller out, and the means to do so.
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We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are.
------------The Talmud
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stopwhining
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posted on July 7, 2003 09:37:02 AM new
if you see a seller who has few or zero neg and yet keeps her feedback private-one possible reason is that buyers who are not happy with the item get refund but feel they should mention this in the feedback.
for example-a positive feedback for seller XYZ which said-item not as described,made yesterday ,smell cheap vinyl altho description said 200 years old,but seller is willing to refund.
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lovepotions
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posted on July 8, 2003 01:30:38 AM new
Of the sellers I have seen with private feedback profile some of them deal in Art or Expensive jewelery, or expensive collectibles.
It wasn't that long ago when it was pretty damn easy to click on ANY auction, view the bidder history then email ALL of those bidders with side deals and offers.... bid stealing was rampant in many catagories.
It is still possible to do..... you can still click on any bidder's ID and launch the ask Ebay MEMBER a question and EBAY still will forward it to this day....
My mom collects this overpriced (in my opinion) collectible porcelain doll series. Average price $150-$200+ or so.
EVERY SINGLE DAMNED TIME 3-4 different other people send the "Ask Ebay Member" question which EBAY forwards to her..... to offer side deals.
If those auctions were private NOONE could pull that crap. If the sellers feedback profile were private noone could cross reference closed auctions from bidders feedback connected to the winner and and pull that crap.
The people who own mtgsingles.com have a TEAM OF A$$HOLES with 100's of disposable user ID's. I have NEVER in 3 1/2 years been able to bid peacefully on an MTG card without one of them eventually sending me the ask ebay member question and telling me about the "Great Deals" on their site. I used to report the brand new user ID for spam and all related offenses but it is useless.....
If a high volume MTG card seller would go "private" and run private auctions then I might start bididng again.....
P.S. I run quite a few "Private" auctions...understandably in the Adult sections of course.... feedback is always (private) regardless of how you list any auction on that end of the site.
http://www.lovepotions.com
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