i did not ask for my 1 machine bid to be private, but i thought that this is what PM is for.
No big deal, but it is not cool without asking permission.
your terse PM about "people are asking" does not constitute my permission. Besides, I am in US and did not even see it until now.
If you wanted bids submitted only via here and not PM, you should have said so.
people are playing with societal norms here very loosely.
"Just saying"