What is the point of this? When I see it, I assume that the seller has something to hide (such as selling pirated goods of some sort). Is there another reason why someone would want to keep their feedback private?
I privatized mine after a seller for the 3rd time held my feedback hostage and then left dishonest negative feedback in retaliation of my truthful feedback.
It's a very sad and common practice I'm afraid and Ebay won't do anything about it. Sellers don't seem to realize they need to leave feedback for a buyer's payment only, and immediately after being paid. That's a buyer's only obligation. A confident seller with a decent honestly advertised product wouldn't worry about "having the upper hand". I always left feedback immediately after a buyer paid, when I was selling stuff. Not only is it the right thing to do, but one could also argue that it makes the buyer happy and more likely to want to do the same in return.
So anyway, after I got burned for the third time, I decided to make the lies private..
Ebay should make it compulsory for sellers to leave feedback to buyers before buyers can leave feedback to sellers.
I have had sellers in the past emailing me and saying "leave me positive feedback and then I'll do the same". What the fuck? I paid for your item quickly, so I deserve positive feedback, regardless of what I want to say about your service, mr dodgy-seller.
I leave positive feedback for my buyers the second I receive payment.