Why not have some sort of hidden bidding system? You enter your bid, and you only find out if you’ve won at the end of the bidding. Seems to solve most of the problems with shill bidding, sniping etc.
Just about the only disadvantage I can see is that you can’t see what the bid is, and choose to bid higher than that, but then if everyone simply put in the highest amount they would pay, that would be the end of things.
Why not?
Much of the mentality behind eBay is its very openness and transparency. You know exactly what the current bid is, and you can choose to try and beat it. You can follow multiple auctions, and build up an idea of how popular an item is (something useful for buyers and sellers alike).
‘Sealed bids’, which is what you describe, are fully established in ‘real world’ situations, particularly with property. And they are loathed by many people, due to their lack of transparency.
It’s not about the highest amount I would pay, it’s about the** lowest ** amount I need to pay to be higher than everyone else bidding and win the item.
If you couldn’t see you were losing that Jerry Garcia guitar by just $20, you wouldn’t put in an even higher amount, and Ebay would get less money on comission.
It boils down to “it’s less profitable for ebay.”
The current system is better for the sellers because it allows stuff like a bidding war to break out over an item. Even sniping can only result in higher final bids. And higher selling prices mean more money for eBay, so you won’t see eBay changing the current auction format. As mainly a buyer on eBay, if it goes to a sealed bid approach, it’s gonna lose me as a customer. The current openness in the bidding is a big plus. And if other buyers have the same sentiment as I do, that would be also be bad for the sellers and eBay.