What does it mean when the Listing says private listing and the seller is asking you NOT TO BID

[susanhomegirl93662]

Well thats my question, next to the listing is a child looking into a small lake...if you click on it the seller remarks only say please do not bid on this listing it is private..well, how did it get on a public site , why is it even there? I don't understand this at all...

[woodland_gnome]

Sounds like a listing set up to sell to one particular buyer.  eBay used to allow a seller to set up a listing with a list of preapproved bidders (and it could be just one) but discontinued that, so now when a sale is intended for a particular buyer a seller has to get a little creative.

[mudshark61369]

susan...,

What the gnome posted is probably exactly what happened. Sometimes you will see those listing and they say Private listing for "ebayjoe" only, do not buy this item. 

I'm setting one up next week for a repeat customer. I listed 3 items in that category, he bought two, and mentioned in a message that he wanted the third item, but didn't have the money at that time. Since the auction w/ a BIN price ended wthout any bids. I told him I would relist it when he had the money. The only photo will be the one I use on my selling ID, the title will be very abreviated and there will not be a discription.  It will also have scheduled start time that we agree on so he knows when it will show up, and a copy of the listing will be sent to him in advance, so he can search it by item number.

[susanhomegirl93662]

Thank You ! I understand now..I didn't even know that that could be done..so the transaction runs as normal but a particular buyer is already in line to make the purchase..got it 

[woodland_gnome]

What happens is that where the seller and buyer have agreed on a price that is only supposed to be available to that buyer, the seller sets up an auction listing with the agreed price as the starting bid and then once the buyer has bid ending the listing "to sell to the high bidder", which creates a transaction with the "current bid" amount as the price (and the seller cancels bids by anyone other than the particular buyer, which is why the seller is asking others not to bid, because bids prior to the designated buyer bidding would have to be cancelled before the d.b. can bid only the starting bid so that can cause a lot of extra work for the seller--later ones can be cancelled just before ending the auction early).  But to list without a description can cause other problems, such as the listing being removed for violating the policy of not describing the item being sold, or if the item is not what was promised and the buyer goes to file a Significantly Not As Described case (and there is no description).

I personally recommend doing it as a fixed price listing with a high Buy It Now and Best Offer option and then the buyer offering and the seller accepting via Best Offer.  That way you don't have to reject the other offers (they expire when the seller accepts the d.b.'s offer) or if the d.b. doesn't follow through the seller can go with a suitable offer from someone else or lower the BIN to a reasonable amount.

[susi-star]

The seller is being dishonest and I don.t agree with that methond...How does the seller know if the buyer can purchase that at his wanted price...guess I won.t be using ebay anymore thanks.

[susi-star]

The seller is being dishonest and I don.t agree with that method..oh well crooks everywhere including ebay.

[mscarlett1450]

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@susi-star wrote:

The seller is being dishonest and I don.t agree with that method..oh well crooks everywhere including ebay.

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Certainly not dishonest.  Here's a situation.  I have a listing for some dinner plates.  Buyer writes to ask if I have other items in that pattern.  I write back with a list and price.  Buyers says I'll take it all.  I make a listing for all the items and put a picture of my avatar for the main pic, add item description to the listing and title it "Special listing for janedoe" and send item number to buyer.  Buyer sees it and makes purchase.  Done.  True story.  Buyer was looking to complete a dinner service she inherited from her grandmother.  Everyone's happy with this honest sale.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@mscarlett1450 wrote:

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@susi-star wrote:

The seller is being dishonest and I don.t agree with that method..oh well crooks everywhere including ebay.

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Certainly not dishonest.  Here's a situation.  I have a listing for some dinner plates.  Buyer writes to ask if I have other items in that pattern.  I write back with a list and price.  Buyers says I'll take it all.  I make a listing for all the items and put a picture of my avatar for the main pic, add item description to the listing and title it "Special listing for janedoe" and send item number to buyer.  Buyer sees it and makes purchase.  Done.  True story.  Buyer was looking to complete a dinner service she inherited from her grandmother.  Everyone's happy with this honest sale.

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@mscarlett1450

I totally agree.  Another possible scenario would be if a listing ended without selling, but a buyer indicated they would buy it if re-listed for them.  The seller could re-list the item, with reserved for and their ebay id in the title and description, indicating that the item was only for purchase by that user.

Nothing dishonest about it.   

 

[kus1617]

I  have had buyers make requests for items that they may be needing, I contact them letting them know if I have the item, the price and if they are interested I set up the item as a BIN w/BO, I let them know in advance what the BO price is, I set the BIN price 2 or 3 times higher to discourage other buyers, I set the BO to accept the buyer interested (pre agreed price) to be accepted...They view the listing, then purchase.

Seems to work for Me.

[thatsallfolks]

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@susi-star wrote:

The seller is being dishonest and I don.t agree with that methond...How does the seller know if the buyer can purchase that at his wanted price...guess I won.t be using ebay anymore thanks.

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They know because they already discussed it with the buyer. I don't think you understand what's being done here. Maybe read the posts again? Seems like a bizarre reason to stop using the site.