I don’t know if many of you noticed, but during my last two auctions I kept my bidder’s list private. This is why: During my Christmas auctions, I received word from one of my bidders that someone had contacted her, pretending to be me & attempted to sell her the doll outside of eBay. Thank God she contacted me.

I informed EBay of the situation. However, there is not much EBay can do to thwart such scams. In order to protect the privacy of my bidders, I opted to make my auctions private. This week, I have chosen not to make my bidding list private. I’ve done this for several reasons. One of which, is so that completed auctions will appear in my feedback area. With private auctions, they do not. Also, I think public lists give a sense of security to the bidder. It allows them to strategize & plan their bids. This week, I’ve added a note to my listing, informing my viewers & bidders that I NEVER contact bidders in an attempt to complete a transaction outside of eBay. Please protect yourself. If you receive an email like this (and I’m sure there are tons of scams concerning eBay), do not delete it. Contact eBay, or the seller. Do not reply to the email. These people are phishing for any of your information they can obtain.