Ebay "Private listing bidders - identity proteced"

[queen_8688]

I've only started this because I've gotten sick and tired of something I'm seeing on here and I'm getting no answer. 

 I'm using this current incident as my example, but it's happened dozens of times during my auctions. For 5 days, I'm the ONLY one bidding on an item at a very low price. Less than 11 hours to go, another PRIVATE BIDDER shows up. I have no problem with other people bidding on items, however, I've become EXTREMELY SUSPICIOUS that these private bidders with their identities protected are actually the sellers of these items. It is against the policies to allow sellers to bid on their own items. I've tried to figure out how I get my identity protected as a bidder, but there IS no option anywhere to switch to an identity protected account.

So, who ARE these "private" bidders? Why do they get their identities protected and not the rest of us? I'll tell you why,  because if their name was displayed like the rest of the bidders, it'd be obvious.  At least tell me how to navigate to the REAL email for customer support to get a real person.. because there isn't one. I'm tired of this underhanded fraud that apparently is being allowed.

[dryophelia]

@queen_8688 

All bidder ids are masked. You see your id but only when you’re logged in. Log out to see what it looks like to others. 

Sellers can’t bid on their own items. They would need a separate id to bid on their own things. 

Reactionary bidding on eBay is not smart. 
Bid once, bid your absolute maximum and bid as late as possible. 
If you can bid in the last 10-15 seconds, your competing bidders will not have time to react to your bid. 

[redmodelt]

You can see your name when you look at an item you are bidding on, all other bidders ids are hidden. It has been like that for years. If I looked at an item you are bidding on, I would not see your name just a random letters and *'s. In any case, it would be a wild guess that someone is bidding on their own auction just because you can't see their name or say private and jumps in at end, which bidding at the end is pretty normal and you maybe got out bid. 

The way you have written this post, it reads that you are both the buyer and seller. " but it's happened dozens of times during my auctions. For 5 days, I'm the ONLY one bidding on an item at a very low price. "

The seller could care less as long as the item sells and they get paid, place your highest bid and let it ride.