Question about e-bay private bidding

[akbakb]

Sorry if this post is out of topic, moderators please change it you feel it is but I do not know where else to put it.

So I wanted to bid on a Hot Toys figure on e-bay and, as I usually do, check the info on the seller. He has over 1000 feedback (100% positive), but as I check in each bidding all of them are private. So I cannot see anything on item sold or price. He also only has around 15 sold items in the past 6months.

I thought this was fishy, what do you guys think? I am new to this collecting and e-bay stuff...

 

[VS1976]

I never bid on unidentify bidders because of possible spikes in the auction. IMO, it's better to stay away from them.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Buying porn are you?

 

[steveo]

I never bid on unidentify bidders because of possible spikes in the auction. IMO, it's better to stay away from them.

Likewise. If it smells fishy, it probably is. I'm sure they have different accounts to bid up their prices. Stay clear or just bid the price you want to pay, and if it goes over then don't worry about.

 

[Darth Snoopy]

If you're checking on the ID of each bidder during the auction, you can't do that anymore.

eBay started a program called Safeguarding Members Identification (SMI) a few years back...now you can't see who is bidding on what.

Safeguarding Member IDs - U.S. and Canada Launch

Been like that since about 2007.

 

[cplhicks]

Buying porn are you?

Pffft it's all free online...

 

[Mr. EcKo]

Buying porn are you?

Dave's a Funny Guy

 

[akbakb]

Thanks for the responses. I decided to just wait and not bid. I am new to collecting and it sucks that older figures could only be found on e-bay.

 

[gagaliya]

Sorry if this post is out of topic, moderators please change it you feel it is but I do not know where else to put it.

So I wanted to bid on a Hot Toys figure on e-bay and, as I usually do, check the info on the seller. He has over 1000 feedback (100% positive), but as I check in each bidding all of them are private. So I cannot see anything on item sold or price. He also only has around 15 sold items in the past 6months.

I thought this was fishy, what do you guys think? I am new to this collecting and e-bay stuff...

private listing by sellers for ht/ss dolls mean 1 of 2 things:

1) seller has dummy buyer accounts to artificially inflate the price of their auction and dont want the legit buyers to find out
2) seller is selling fakes and dont want buyers to notify each other/communicate as private auctions will hide the buyer's id in the feedback comments

since this is a HT auction, i doubt it's a fake so probably just trying to inflate the price. So your plan is correct, pay what you are willing, dont get caught up in the bidding frenzy.