private bidding/identity

Question

How do I have my identity hidden/protected on my bids?

woodland_gnome · Answer

Every bid by every bidder on every listing is hidden in the same manner as all the other bids on that particular listing (a***b type alias, "Private listing--bidderS' identitIES protected" or a translation of the latter). You see your own ID in full only because YOU are the one looking; log out and navigate back to a refreshed Bid History Page and you'll see your ID alias. Only you and the seller (and I assume at least some eBay employees under at least some circumstances) can see your full ID.

Originally the usernames were visible to all, but scammers were sending fake Second Chance Offers to the losing bidders, so eBay started hiding the IDs of the losers for high dollar amounts, then when the scammers recorded the IDs while they were still visible before the auction ended they hid them once the current bid got above a certain amount, then just started hiding them all (to all but the seller and the particular bidder). Eventually it became just a privacy thing.

Private Listings (bidders' identities protected) existed before then at the seller's option, and it still protects identities a bit more than in ordinary auctions (a***b aliases).

jacbarcollectibles · Answer

That is a setting that a seller sets not a bidder. However, only you and the seller can see your full identity when bidding. All others will see your masked user id ( A***B). eBay sees no reason to block you from seeing your full user id.

inceptions · Answer

Hi @pko.pko.hwhzseai2 Your identity is automatically hidden to everyone but you and the seller. To test this yourself, log out, then go back and look at the bid history for an item you've bid on.