Posted By:
Frank WakefieldTwo different answers...
I stay clear of all private feedback sellers. Always. Initially becuase the stuff they sell looks like crap, or it is cut out photos from an old guide. (Which of it self seems blasphemous to a bibliophile.)
As for buyers, I understand the concern. If you don't want to sell to private buyers, mention that in your listing. Otherwise, I think you're obligated to sell to a private buyer.
If I were to win Powerball, I might get an additional identity, and make "big" purchases through it. And it would be private. A potential burglar could figure out who buys big stuff, and track them down. If you've made big strong bids on stuff, and a seller knows it, he might line up a shill bidder. Do you really want folks to know you're spending 4 and 5 figures on cards????
I think some folks should have 2 identities anyway. One for buying, and one for selling. A few regular seller dealers have outbid me on some cards that I was attempting to win, much to my annoyance. After that happens, it sticks in my mind. And if I see that they're the seller of some card I'm after, I pass on it. I figure I would have won a few of those auctions. They, as sellers, lost money because they outbid me on something. Petty? Probably. But it is the truth.
A fellow asked me to write a piece for a card magazine, and I was considering doing it, until he outbid me on a team photo. And unless he was totally clueless, he should have realized that it was me he was outbidding. I may well write the article, but it won't be appearing in his magazine given my current frame of mind. Maybe he'll contact me and mend fences... who knows.
So... I don't deal with private sellers. I think private buyers are ok.