Ebay 2nd chance offers

[souldriver]

I was bidding on a record yesterday and bid my maximum of �12. I was winning right up to the last few minutes then three othe 'bidders' placed bids out bidding me. Never mind i thought, until this morning when I have a 2nd chance offer for the item. All seems a bit fishy to me, do i have to go through with the offer even though i origionally lost and 3 other members bid higher than me?

Could these others have been false bidders tryin to bump my price up as far as it would go?

[Pippa68]

Have the other bidders become non registered users? maybe they haven't met criteria set by the seller (feedback amount etc).

In any case when a second chance offer is sent to you, you should only pay your highest bid..not the original winning bid. And you don't have to accept the second chance offer :o)

[souldriver]

Thanks for the quick reply, won't be going through with it as i found the record else where a lot cheaper.

[Pippa68]

You're welcome ~ and well done!

[Ethel]

I would never accept a second chance offer - I suspect that very often shilling has been going on, and I have been the only genuine bidder.

It pushes the price up and I won't play!

[Pippa68]

I have been offered a few, Ethel ~ although they have arrived about a week or so after the auction has ended and the highest bidder hasn't paid or changed their minds.

It is true that it is a good idea to investigate..mailing the seller would be a good start, and also checking feedback.

I can't see how a second chance offer is pushing up the price as I believe you pay what you bid and not the highest bid?

[Ethel]

It's not the second chance offer that pushes up the price - it's the shilling that goes on before it.

I am the only bidder and the starting price is �1. I want it so bid �2. If nobody else bids, I get it for �1.

But the seller creates another id and bids �2.20. If that sale doesn't go through, the second chance offer to me is �2, not the �1 it should have been.

[Pippa68]

Oh yes, I understand shill bidding.

If suspected then of course don't go through with the offer :o)

I have often looked through the sellers completed listings and feedback to check out shill bidding. It can be quite easy to spot, especially if the same ID is bidding on totally unrelated items.

[Ethel]

Unless the item sold for over �100, then the bidders ids are now kept private.

Ah well. Buyer beware as always.

[Pippa68]

Oh yes ~ how I hate that one, Ethel! there is also the option of keeping bidding IDs private.

I once got involved with informing ebay about an unscrupulous ebayer. Not only was she shill bidding she was also telling sob stories/lies in order to make sellers end their listings early to do a Buy It Now for her..then selling the items on for profit.

Needless to say ebay were not interested in enforcing their own regulations.

[heathfield]

Second chance offers aren't always from dishonest sellers. I lost out on a bid for a long-out-of-print book I'd been trying to find for many years, and was offered a second chance to buy. Turned out the seller ran a country book store in the US, and actually had 12 still-new copies of it in amonst her stock! I bought one straight away. A couple of days later, I received an apology and a partial refund on the postage, which, the seller explained, she had simply overestimated.
There are some honest folk out there.

[Ethel]

There are. I am a very honest eBay seller. :)

[heathfield]

Ive seen the excellent feedback you get on here too, Ethel. lol