Ebay sellers who use "private listing - bidders' identities protected"

[Jaymiester]

I'm always looking at bids and who the bidders are on auctions I'm interested in. Not that I can see much info on the who, as Ebay has made that difficult, but at least I can see if someone is driving up the price of the auction or auctions of a particular seller. It's always a red flag when I see the same bidder, bidding on all the sellers auctions and miraculously not winning any of them. So for me, it's frustrating when a seller lists their auctions as "private listing - bidders' identities protected". What exactly are they protecting the bidders from?

 

I personally think this type of auction is designed to protect the seller. Seems to me, it only makes it easier for the seller or sellers friend to jack up auction prices without being detected.

 

Are there legitimate reasons for selling this way?

 

What do you think?

 

 

[Mikebloke]

I remember when this first started, it was apparently done to prevent seller upping the bid by hiding other bidders names. I didn't and still don't get that logic. Its mildly frustrating when you suspect foul play, but the golden rule still applies: Know your limit, never go above it. 

[taxman]

Only legitimate reason I can think of is when the item is very, very expensive or if it's of a sensitive nature like adult related.