Have you ever wondered why some eBay listings are ‘private’ ?
According to eBay private listings “allow buyers to remain anonymous to other eBay users.”
So what sorts of things are better listed privately.
- adult related listings (check eBay’s rules for what can and can not be listed here – http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/items-ov.html)
- underwear, lingerie, intimates
- skin care, body care, personal hygiene, medical needs…. actually just about anything that is listed in the Beauty, Health category
eBay listings with these types of products will get more bids and possibly higher end prices because the item title and details will not be displayed in either the buyer or the sellers feedback history.
There are benefits for both the buyer and the seller to use private listings. Let’s look at the reasons for both sides.
The benefits to sellers.
- It allows you to hide what products you are selling. When you find that ‘hot niche product’ that will sell really well you certainly don’t want competitors copying you and selling the same products.
- You can give your buyers privacy if they are purchasing items that they would prefer to be discreet about.
The benefits to buyers:-
- It allows buyers to hide the products that they have purchased.
- Many people today love privacy, they don’t want their buying trends available for all to see. Many buyers prefer to work with sellers who respect their privacy.
You can make any eBay listing private. It is as simple as checking a box on the page where you list your item for sale. It can be done on both the auction and the ‘Buy it now’ formats. So you can choose to just make sensitive items private, or choose to make every listing private if you would prefer to have no one see what you are selling. This way the only way anybody can find out what you have sold is to search the ‘completed listings’ for the items you have sold. You can’t completely hide from others seeing your activities but you can make it more difficult for the average person to view your eBay activities.
You still receive feedback on private listings the same way you have feedback for regular listings. The only difference is that the listing title is replaced with the word ‘private’. The feedback comment, the buyer’s or seller’s ID’s and the date remain the same.
So keep this in mind next time you are selling an item that may be ‘sensitive’ to others. You may just do better with a final auction price by listing it as private.
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