Sleuthing Users' Contact Info on Goodwill Auctions

April 5, 2010 2:13 PM

A few days ago I received an email from a guy I didn't know tipping me off that one of my mother's drawings was being auctioned on Goodwill. To make a long story short, I lost it. Now I'm wondering if there's any way of sleuthing the winner's contact information so I can make an offer to buy it from him/her directly. Any thoughts?
posted by dziga to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

Have you contacted Goodwill? I would find a number and call. Fastest way to get service.

Your mom is adorable.
posted by lakerk at 2:20 PM on April 5, 2010

Mod note: removed links, put them in your profile if you need people to check them out, thanks
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:22 PM on April 5, 2010

Could you contact Goodwill and ask them to contact him to see if the winner is willing to be contacted by you? They won't give you the contact info, but they might be able to ask him/her.
posted by klanawa at 2:36 PM on April 5, 2010

The guy who "tipped you off" is quite possibly the seller himself, and the high bid might be him trying to up the payoff and going too high.

That's my gut feeling, anyway.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:45 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

It doesn't make sense that the seller would snipe his own auction. A fake bid upfront would still be a jerk move, but sniping would ensure that dziga lost and he didn't make anything.
posted by papayaninja at 7:57 PM on April 5, 2010

I'm still with Sys, simply because the frustration of losing the bid might mean that dziga would pay even more than a winning bid would have.
posted by june made him a gemini at 10:09 PM on April 5, 2010

(also because they had no idea what limit the OP would stop at, thus rendering their last bid an accident)
posted by june made him a gemini at 10:10 PM on April 5, 2010

Response by poster: Update: I emailed Goodwill. They responded: "Thank you for your email. We apologize, however, we would not be able to share the other buyers personal information. We can certainly pass your information on to them, however. Please let us know the exact message you would like to send them, as well as your contact information, and we will pass it on to the other buyer. Thank you for your support of our mission."
posted by dziga at 8:44 AM on April 6, 2010