[D. Bergin]

I've never used a "Private Bidder" listing. I just listed a bunch of items for auction yesterday and I just went to look at my last listing which was still open, and it took me awhile to even find the "Private Bidder" option. It was hidden behind another tab.

I have seen many legitimate sellers use that option sporadically. Say if they listed something adult oriented, like a vintage Playboy or Penthouse magazine, and then turned it off for like Sports Cards, Comic Books, etc....

It would be easy to forget you had it on, and for it to carry over into subsequent listings.

Would be impossible for me to know your guys intentions, without knowing his history of listing. Was this unusual for his M.O., or has he been doing it for years? If all his listings for an extended period of time are "Private", I'd have a hard time believing he had no idea all along.

Personally, I'd be wary of "Private Bidder Auctions" on Ebay...though to look at it another way...aren't basically all Auction house auctions Private Bidder Auctions? I just looked at the bid history of a random auction on the Lelands site and they're all Private ID's.