Ebay's "second chance"... how does it work?

[Daniel Grenier]

After a deal fell apart on ebay, I now have this "second chance" option I can use. Having never done that before, I would like to hear from you guys who are familiar with this route. How does it work and what does it mean sell-price wise and fee-wise?

Thanks.

 

[Elox]

You are basically offering the item to the next bidder at the highest price they bid. Sort of a "Buy It Now" at their highest bid.

 

[Ole]

WARNING: Second Chance offers should only come through ebay's messaging system. Fake Second Chance offers are one of the most common frauds there is.

Always contact the seller through ebay to verify the offer.

Apart from that, Elox explained it: The winner backed out or was in some way unsatisfactory, so the second highest bidder is offered to buy the item.

I have accepted such offers, turned them down, and just this week been the target of a fake offer.

 

[phfitz]

Daniel,

Ole is very correct, check your 'my ebay' page for messages, a real second offer will be there. I've done very well once and passed up twice. I haven't been spammed YET.

Good luck with it.

 

[Daniel Grenier]

Thanks guys... One more question now pops into mind. As seller, am I supposed to offer this second chance to other bidders or should I simply relist? And, what's the difference in what ebay will charge me for either?

 

[jimgalli]

Daniel, I use that option often if I have multiples of something and I'm happy with how the sale ended. You can offer your second bidder the item for his bid, and the 3rd high bidder for his bid if it was enough. Sometimes there's quite a gap between #2 and #3. You won't pay any add'l listing fees but you will pay final value fees for all sales completed. Including #1 that was deadbeat. You have to go in and reverse those fees the normal way. If you make the offer to both 2 and 3 and they both say yes.....you can get in a bind because you then have a legal contract with both and possibly only 1 item to send. Use caution. If it's a major piece, I sometimes message the party I'm sending the 2nd chance to through the ebay message channel, and explain what happened to the #1 bid and why it's still available, and that it is a legit offer all done through ebay channels. I do that because there is so much concern about phony 2nd chance offers right now. It's easy enough to back track and see that one done correctly is legit.

 

[avandesande]

I just got this with a lens that I bid on that didn't make reserve. I was the winning bidder. I guess the seller looked through past auctions and realized my bid was a fair price. This was completely through the ebay system BTW.

 

[MattCarey]

The thing that bugs me about this as a buyer is this--

because Bidder #1 was there, my bid is now at the highest amount.

However, if bidder #1 weren't there, my bid would have been at the price of bidder #3 plus the bid increment. As noted by Jim, there can be quite a gap between #2 and #3.

Matt

 

[Ole]

--- but the bid now was the maximum amount you were willing to pay, wasn't it?

I know, sometimes the price looks higher when you're thinking about actually paying it rather than just entering a number in a web page...

 

[Curt]

If you did bid on it and wanted it, it's your chance to have it. It's your choice.

 

[avandesande]

Unfortunatly this will make it easier for sellers to use 'shadow bidders' to raise prices on their auctions.

 

[Dan Fromm]

The thing that bugs me about this as a buyer is this--

because Bidder #1 was there, my bid is now at the highest amount.

However, if bidder #1 weren't there, my bid would have been at the price of bidder #3 plus the bid increment. As noted by Jim, there can be quite a gap between #2 and #3.

Matt

Well, you're not obligated to buy when offered a second chance. You are when you win.

If you bid stupidly, you're off the hook. If you bid sensibly, well, then buying at the second chance may not be as good for you as buying at the 3d highest bid plus the increment, but you up for paying what you bid. So where's the problem?

Cheers,

Dan

 

[MattCarey]

Well, you're not obligated to buy when offered a second chance. You are when you win.

If you bid stupidly, you're off the hook. If you bid sensibly, well, then buying at the second chance may not be as good for you as buying at the 3d highest bid plus the increment, but you up for paying what you bid. So where's the problem?

Bidder #1 could have been a deadbeat, a joker, the seller....

Why should I pay more because he bid an amount he isn't paying? If he hadn't bid at all, I would have won the item anyway, at a lower price. Hopefully, my top bid was sensible to begin with, but who would rather pay a higher price?

What if eBay didn't do proxy bidding? You just enter the max you are willing to pay and the system immediately enters that as your bid. It would be very similar to this situation. I would get the item at my top (hopefully, sensible) bid.

I think that if offered a "second chance", one is in a position to offer less. Say, split the difference between my top bid and #3's top bid.

It has never come up for me, but I think that is fair.

Matt

 

[Curt]

That's right, you bid only the absolute amount that you would want to pay, no more. I had a second chance notice last year. I'm not sure exactly why the person who won backed out, I think they said they made a mistake or something. I decided to take the second chance. I got it for what I was bidding and that bid was at the limit I had set for myself, not a bidding frenzy. If you have any reservations pass on it and look for another item to bid on. In the end there seems to be more items comming up all the time. I saw a darkroom sink a couple of weeks ago and missed the bidding. A couple of days ago I bought the same one for $66 instead of the $225 which was the last bid I made on the other one. Unless you are bidding on a one of a kind the stuff on eBay are like a bus. Wait a little and another will come along.

 

[jimgalli]

The thing that bugs me about this as a buyer is this--

because Bidder #1 was there, my bid is now at the highest amount.

However, if bidder #1 weren't there, my bid would have been at the price of bidder #3 plus the bid increment. As noted by Jim, there can be quite a gap between #2 and #3.

Matt

In that case I wouldn't be above messaging the seller and telling him I'd pay a bid increment above #3 if he agreed.