Ebay, second chance?

[walrus]

I was bidding on multiple items yesterday, didn't get any or so I thought. I get an EMAil from the seller of a bent handle flex head f80 Snap on Ratchet. He saysthat he was having issues with the high bidder and before he goes to resolution he just as soon second chance me if interested. So is this guy legit or was he bidding against me? I'm certainly not going to give him what I bid yestersday, will the sale still go thru EBAY, I'd be real leery if not

 

[mrshaun]

depends on how high the bid went. close to new then go get one from the local dealer. if it is at least 15-20 percent less than new then go for it.

 

[Danglerb]

False second chance offers used to be common, but I am thinking with the ID blocked it is less likely.

Price is typically your highest bid. You aren't under any obligation to buy, any doubts and I would tell the seller to relist the item.

 

[Rigmaster]

All legit 2nd chance offers are handled 100% through Ebay, just as if you had won the auction as the high bidder.

If the "seller" tries to get you to do the deal outside of ebay, I'd be leery- not saying I would not consider it, but just be careful.

 

[airdale]

If the seller tries the make the deal outside ebay, I would definitely steer clear. There is no way to get your money back if the deal goes bad outside of ebay. Otherwise yeah, second chance is based on your highest bid and you retain all rights under ebay and Pay Pal policies.

 

[Nolan]

he just as soon second chance me if interested. So is this guy legit or was he bidding against me? I'm certainly not going to give him what I bid yestersday, will the sale still go thru EBAY, I'd be real leery if not

Is there any chance of the guy bidding against you having been a shill for the seller? If so, the second chance offer would be a useful tool for the seller and shill.

They'd almost always be able to maximize their profits.

Personally, I always delete all second chance offers without even bothering to read them.

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

What Rigmaster and airdale said.

Sometimes its legit other times it may be shill bidding, NO WAY TO TELL FOR SURE.. If you're willing to buy the item at that price then go ahead,But ONLY COMPLETE IT THROUGH EBAY.

 

[moose knuckle]

I had a second chance offer for an item after I was out bid. Told the seller what I was willing to pay, and had him relist it w/ a buy it now price, that way it's all documented w/ ebay.

 

[car99r]

Second chance offers are legit through ebay. However, you will see often where the seller has bid the item up only to get your bid at the highest you are willing to go and then offer you the second chance since his fake or friends account has won.

 

[PistolWhip]

There are lots of ways to tell if a seller is being dishonest or abusive to the system. One is timing after the deal ends. If the guy offered you a 2nd chance offer within a few minutes of the auctions end, its a shill deal and the guy was simply over bidding his item to get the highest possible offer. I'd tell him to go scratch if that's the case. How could he possibly be having "issues" with the high bidder, only minutes, or even seconds after the auction is over. I've had people try to pull that one on my and I usually tell them to go pound sand. If it was a few days later and your top bid is still a descent deal for the item, then I'd say its worth the shot, but make sure you at least use Paypal so that you have some protection.

Another is to look at his other auctions and see if some of his items always seem to sell for crazy amounts of money. You'll see like 1 out of 4 or 5 items selling for major mark up, which is usually a sign that the guy is having shill bids placed on that item to get the maximum offer of the real high bidder.
Look at recent bidders on his other items and see if the winners are ever the same person. Then see if there is feedback left by that person in the sellers feedback. If the same buyer is constantly placing high bids on items and then not leaving feedback, its a sign that the guy is abusing the 2nd chance system also.

 

[Flash21]

Another is to look at his other auctions and see if some of his items always seem to sell for crazy amounts of money. You'll see like 1 out of 4 or 5 items selling for major mark up, which is usually a sign that the guy is having shill bids placed on that item to get the maximum offer of the real high bidder.
Look at recent bidders on his other items and see if the winners are ever the same person. Then see if there is feedback left by that person in the sellers feedback. If the same buyer is constantly placing high bids on items and then not leaving feedback, its a sign that the guy is abusing the 2nd chance system also.

Good Advice, I use this method regularly and many times find that other high selling items the same user ID is bidding them up, ebay has the statistics on that.

For example, I recently bought some tools through an auction and right after, the sellers feedback dropped from a negative. That caught my eye so I checked his feedback again and noticed the lot of tools the guy sold me where already sold the week prior AND he has positive feedback from the sale. Same pics, same description, same everything. After looking at his other auctions, it was clear his shill bidder won the auction and even gave him positive feedback.

 

[Danglerb]

Many times ebay sellers don't know the system well, and don't know how to properly list and sell multiple lots of the same items. Second chance often gets used to sell a second set of the same items.

 

[Junkman]

.............. If the guy offered you a 2nd chance offer within a few minutes of the auctions end, its a shill deal and the guy was simply over bidding his item to get the highest possible offer. ...............

You are making an assumption that might not be true. I have listed items on ebay that I had multiples of, but chose to list them one at a time. If you list multiples, you run the chance that the bids will be a lot less, knowing that there are more of the item. If the bidding gets high enough, I will offer a second chance to the second highest bidder, hoping to sell more of the item. I will keep going down the list until I am out of the item, or the price drops to a point that it would be better off to list it a second time. If the item is used, then that can change the dynamics dramatically for a second chance offer, since not all items will be used to the same degree. Don't jump to conclusions that all ebay sellers are dishonest or use shill bidders. I have seen many times when two people will get into a bidding war because they want the item, and have no idea of the true value. This is even more prevalent in real time live auctions, where peoples ego's get in the way of common sense.

 

[Packard V8]

FWIW, eBay has a pretty good computer program for catching shill bids. If one bidder bids on multiple items from one seller, it will start a watch on those two accounts and check the ISP addresses and mailing addresses. If they are the same, the items are kicked off and the accounts are locked. It takes a lot of work on a seller's part to maintain multiple addresses and accounts, but some people will put more work into trying to steal when the same effort in honest labor would have made more money.

thnx, jack vines

 

[walrus]

I've been emailing back and forth with the guy. Apparently the original high bidder didn't realize there was a "D" engraved in the neck of the ratchet, even though the ad was quite clear that there was and even had a picture of it. Its pretty small but to each there own. He contacted me about 12 hrs after the auction ended. I lowered my bid and he has accepted saying he would go after the original bidder for the difference. Sounds good to me and the sale still goes through EBAY

 

[fletch33]

If the ...

Noticed your name, Airedales are the best dogs on the planet, my humble (maybe not) honest opinion.

I would agree with what others said here, watch out. I would not deal with anything outside of ebay using a reference to an ebay item. If I would do outside transactions, use paypal for the CYA backup.

 

[PistolWhip]

You are making an assumption that might not be true. I have listed items on ebay that I had multiples of, but chose to list them one at a time. If you list multiples, you run the chance that the bids will be a lot less, knowing that there are more of the item. If the bidding gets high enough, I will offer a second chance to the second highest bidder, hoping to sell more of the item. I will keep going down the list until I am out of the item, or the price drops to a point that it would be better off to list it a second time. If the item is used, then that can change the dynamics dramatically for a second chance offer, since not all items will be used to the same degree. Don't jump to conclusions that all ebay sellers are dishonest or use shill bidders. I have seen many times when two people will get into a bidding war because they want the item, and have no idea of the true value. This is even more prevalent in real time live auctions, where peoples ego's get in the way of common sense.

Regardless of what you think, that's still not the "intended" use of the 2nd chance offer system and as far as I'm concerned, I'd still pass on the offer. Not that I think you personally are doing something dishonest, it's just shady to be able to offer a second chance offer to someone within minutes of an auctions end and I'll play the percentages, which are not in my favor of the offer being an honest deal.
It has nothing to do with jumping to conclusions, I've been an E-Bay buyer/seller since 1996. Aside from that, I get the pleasure of dealing with internet scams and their victims on a daily basis. Trust me, my advice is not based on a "jump" to any conclusion. It's based on experience and the real world.

 

[walrus]

The seller emailed me several times I gave him the price I was willing to pay and that it had to be done through EBAY. funny he hasn't gotten back to me