Ebay - Private auction or public?

[Nova]

What do you think, domainers? If you wish to sell a big-ticket name on Ebay, should you keep it private so the bidders can remain incognito, or would more of them want it public to see what's going on and "who's" bidding? Ebay seems to suggest the former, but I wonder.

 

[mark]

it would really depend upon the name imo. there are many high ticket domain names on ebay which are priced ridculously and will never sell; there are advantages to private listings again depending upon the domain name and who the potential market or buyer might be. on the other hand there are domainers who want to know who's in the bidding game to check for possible shill bids, and imo, those persons generally will not participate in a private system.

 

[Bart]

private auctions = way too tricky.

 

[madcamel]

Many bidders avoid private auctions.
I would go for public.

 

[seeker]

I would definately avoid a private auction on ebay as well.
In the past, there had been so many fake bids, that IMO gave a bad reputation to private auctions.

 

[Prosperous]

Yep, public is the way to go, builds more trust.

 

[beggers]

I would avoid private auctions. I've had much better succcess with public auctions. Personally, I don't like to bid on private auctions because you can't tell what's going on.

 

[Nova]

Thanks for all the feedback, people. I agree with public all the way and the arguments in favor of it.

How about the whois? Let's say the home page for the domain on auction has a clear link to it, or the url redirects straight to it. In that case, it clearly validates the auction. Therefore, how do you feel about keeping the whois private for a big ticket domain during auction?

 

[mark]

Thanks for all the feedback, people. I agree with public all the way and the arguments in favor of it.

How about the whois? Let's say the home page for the domain on auction has a clear link to it, or the url redirects straight to it. In that case, it clearly validates the auction. Therefore, how do you feel about keeping the whois private for a big ticket domain during auction?

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i would want the whois public for verification purposes. the link on the auction page may confirm the use of the domain, but not ownership.

 

[RegFee]

I agree, I think whois protection saves you from a lot of spam, but if you are actively trying to sell the name, you should disable it temporarily.