I would tend to stay away from Privacy Auctions. I understand "some"
of the rationale from a sellers perspective but feel open auctions are
the way it should be. The arguement about others contacting "your"
so called losing bidders is a falacy. They are not "your" bidders.
You do not have exclusive right to them. Yes, they bid on your auction
but are no longer tied to a particular seller. They are fair game for
anyone the has chips to sell. I want to know who I am bidding against.
I also do not like the open ended auction. As a buyer, I want to know
exactly when an auction will close. If I get sniped, so be it.
Procedures are in place that allow proxy bidding. Place a bid that is
near or at what you are willing to pay. A price above that indicates
it went for more than you wanted to pay. That is not a snipe,
just outbid. Again, I would tend to stay away.
Regarding reserves. My main problem is when a reserve is so much higher
than the opening bid. I have seen auctions that start at $1.00 - $5.00
and the reserve has not been met with the bid at $75.00 - $100.00. I
would much prefer to see opening bids either at or close to the reserve.

Paul