eBay

livadia · ‎09-19-2016

Just wondering what others' experiences are with second chance offers?

If I have additional inventory available (or the original winning bidder flaked out), and there are runner-up bidders, I do send them a second chance offer but I get very few takers. Do others find the same? If so, do you not bother offering them since it ties up your inventory until you hear back?

If you do offer them and have had success, is there anything you're doing that you think is increasing your chances of getting a Second Chance Offer sale?

TIA

brad62853 · ‎09-19-2016

@livadia

In my experience 2nd Chance Offers have rarely ever paid off. Why that is, is probably subjective based on any number of variables ranging from the losing bidders having already found what they wanted to those who aren't as active on eBay and the notification not being seen until the offer time has expired.

But, IMHO, one thing that eBay could do to make 2nd chance offers more receptive to losing bidders is change this.

How it works

When you send a Second Chance Offer, the bidder receives an email with the opportunity to buy the item at a Buy It Now price equal to their last bid amount. It's up to the buyer to decide whether to accept the offer.

For example, if the bidder's last shown bid was $75.31, your offer automatically contains a Buy It Now price of $75.31.

In a few eBay Motors and Business & Industrial categories, you can specify the offer price as long as it's less than or equal to the item's reserve price.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/second_chance_offer.html#how

I understand that most sellers may not want to take less than the high bid or even the second highest bid. But IMO if a seller is considering using the 2nd Chance Offer at all, they're obviously in the "move it out" mode and allowing them to offer the item to the second highest bidder at something less than what they originally bid might be more of a stimulant to push the buyer to make a purchase.

The way eBay has it setup now, in order to do that you have to skip that second highest bidder, assuming there were more than 2, and offer it ONLY to the next one down the list. IMO that's just another case of eBay lacking both common sense & having a real understanding of how buyers think when making purchases. If I have a second highest bidder out of multiple bidders, to me that says that bidder was more interested in my item than those who "dropped out" of the auction and would be more likely to purchase if I made them a "real deal".

The longer I'm on eBay, the more convinced I am that idiocy in the world is growing at an alarming rate. No where is it more visible than the view from eBay itself.

fortys-tech-n-stuff · ‎09-19-2016

One problem is that ebay doesn't remove that buyers bid, you have to pay your max bid, opens it up to shill bidding. I lost an auction recently by about 1$, about 1 minute after ending, the seller had already sent me a second chance offer, saying that the other buyer didn't pay. Before that other buyer bid it was at 56$, it jumped to 72$ after he/her bid, my max was 71$, it won't revert down to 56$, where would be if that bidder that pulled out wouldn't of bid on it, ebay expects you to pay your max bid.

retrose1 · ‎09-19-2016

Not many takers for me either. Most of the time the buyers bought another in the 6 days it takes to clear the deadbeat dispute.

And once in awhile you get a buyer that feels that you took advantage of them somehow and give you grief for trying to be a nice guy and offer it up to them.

It's just easier to relist after blocking the deadbeat.

(*Bleep*)

graciejoy · ‎09-19-2016

For the most part I would say that the second chance offers I have made have received about a 50 - 50 response. About half accept it and the rest do not.

For the most part I no longer make the offer. I started having people accuse me of being the winning bidder and getting caught with the last bid. Of course I have also been accused of making the last bid when I did not make the offer. Those people claimed I wanted more money for the item, so I took the last bid. Either way you get accused of doing something by somebody.

graciejoy · ‎09-19-2016

@fortys-tech-n-stuff wrote:
One problem is that ebay doesn't remove that buyers bid, you have to pay your max bid, opens it up to shill bidding.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Removing the winner's bid had a huge problem as well. Ebay use to let the bid go all the way back down. The problem with that is that a buyer could bid something way up by using two accounts to run off other bidders and then became a non-paying bidder on one account and then would try to purchase the item for the last bid which would be super low when they removed all of the winner's bids. Every time you fix one problem another just pops up to replace it.

pskaudio · ‎09-19-2016

@graciejoy wrote:
For the most part I would say that the second chance offers I have made have received about a 50 - 50 response. About half accept it and the rest do not.

For the most part I no longer make the offer. I started having people accuse me of being the winning bidder and getting caught with the last bid. Of course I have also been accused of making the last bid when I did not make the offer. Those people claimed I wanted more money for the item, so I took the last bid. Either way you get accused of doing something by somebody.

@graciejoy, somebody said you're up to something.....

I've had good luck with second chance offers as a seller. Never had one as a buyer.

Disclaimer: Statements may contain satire and sarcasm and should be considered nothing more than an attempt at humor. Any useful information is purely coincidence.

fortys-tech-n-stuff · ‎09-19-2016

@graciejoy wrote:
@fortys-tech-n-stuff wrote:
One problem is that ebay doesn't remove that buyers bid, you have to pay your max bid, opens it up to shill bidding.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removing the winner's bid had a huge problem as well. Ebay use to let the bid go all the way back down. The problem with that is that a buyer could bid something way up by using two accounts to run off other bidders and then became a non-paying bidder on one account and then would try to purchase the item for the last bid which would be super low when they removed all of the winner's bids. Every time you fix one problem another just pops up to replace it.

I see that as less of a problem because the seller has the choice of offering the item at whatever price to the second highest bidder, he doesn't have to sell at that price, they can just relist.

graciejoy · ‎09-19-2016

@fortys-tech-n-stuff wrote:
@graciejoy wrote:
@fortys-tech-n-stuff wrote:
One problem is that ebay doesn't remove that buyers bid, you have to pay your max bid, opens it up to shill bidding.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removing the winner's bid had a huge problem as well. Ebay use to let the bid go all the way back down. The problem with that is that a buyer could bid something way up by using two accounts to run off other bidders and then became a non-paying bidder on one account and then would try to purchase the item for the last bid which would be super low when they removed all of the winner's bids. Every time you fix one problem another just pops up to replace it.
I see that as less of a problem because the seller has the choice of offering the item at whatever price to the second highest bidder, he doesn't have to sell at that price, they can just relist.

You are correct and that is what most did. I am just telling you what buyers were doing and the reasons for that change in the second chance offers. It used to be as you were saying, but they changed it because of the less than steller behavior on the part of buyers.

7606dennis · ‎09-19-2016

@brad62853 wrote:
@livadia

In my experience 2nd Chance Offers have rarely ever paid off. Why that is, is probably subjective based on any number of variables ranging from the losing bidders having already found what they wanted to those who aren't as active on eBay and the notification not being seen until the offer time has expired.

But, IMHO, one thing that eBay could do to make 2nd chance offers more receptive to losing bidders is change this.

How it works
When you send a Second Chance Offer, the bidder receives an email with the opportunity to buy the item at a Buy It Now price equal to their last bid amount. It's up to the buyer to decide whether to accept the offer.

For example, if the bidder's last shown bid was $75.31, your offer automatically contains a Buy It Now price of $75.31.
In a few eBay Motors and Business & Industrial categories, you can specify the offer price as long as it's less than or equal to the item's reserve price.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/second_chance_offer.html#how

I understand that most sellers may not want to take less than the high bid or even the second highest bid. But IMO if a seller is considering using the 2nd Chance Offer at all, they're obviously in the "move it out" mode and allowing them to offer the item to the second highest bidder at something less than what they originally bid might be more of a stimulant to push the buyer to make a purchase.

The way eBay has it setup now, in order to do that you have to skip that second highest bidder, assuming there were more than 2, and offer it ONLY to the next one down the list. IMO that's just another case of eBay lacking both common sense & having a real understanding of how buyers think when making purchases. If I have a second highest bidder out of multiple bidders, to me that says that bidder was more interested in my item than those who "dropped out" of the auction and would be more likely to purchase if I made them a "real deal".

Actually, the second chance offer is just that, a second chance to purchase an item that you have already been outbid on. It is giving the losing bidder the opportunity to obtain the item for the amount that they have already offered to pay. If the SCO is being made because the original winning bidder failed to pay, it is offering the losing bidder the chance to buy it for the amount that they had bid without the need for the seller having to relist and further bidding.

If the reason for the SCO is that the seller has duplicates of the item, he can save time & money offering it to someone that has already shown interest in it rather than having to relist. The offer is made at the amount that the bidder has already ststed that they were willing to pay for the item if it had been the winning bid.

Of course, the bidder has the opportunity to pass on the SCO, if they so choose. The seller can then relist the item and the bidding process will start again from the beginning. No real harm to the seller with the exception to time for the new listing to run and any listing costs associated with running the new listing, of course.

Frankly, I've never had much luck with SCO's myself. That's probably owing to my giving more than the minimum 48 hours for payment in my TOS. In cases where the winning bidder advises that they changed their mind and will not be paying, I usually advise the person to which I could send the SCO that the buyer might not be buying it and ask if they would still be interested if that was the case.

While I suppose the use of the SCO may occasionally used by sellers engaged in questionable practices, if they are truly engaged in shilling, they are really inept if they have to resort to an SCO. Considering that the receiver of the offer has already given the amount they are willing to pay, the use of a SCO would show that the shill had failed in there attempt to increase the price. Of course, only the receiver of the offer is in a position to decide if the desire for the item is still present.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

fortys-tech-n-stuff · ‎09-19-2016

@graciejoy wrote:
@fortys-tech-n-stuff wrote:
@graciejoy wrote:
@fortys-tech-n-stuff wrote:
One problem is that ebay doesn't remove that buyers bid, you have to pay your max bid, opens it up to shill bidding.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removing the winner's bid had a huge problem as well. Ebay use to let the bid go all the way back down. The problem with that is that a buyer could bid something way up by using two accounts to run off other bidders and then became a non-paying bidder on one account and then would try to purchase the item for the last bid which would be super low when they removed all of the winner's bids. Every time you fix one problem another just pops up to replace it.
I see that as less of a problem because the seller has the choice of offering the item at whatever price to the second highest bidder, he doesn't have to sell at that price, they can just relist.
You are correct and that is what most did. I am just telling you what buyers were doing and the reasons for that change in the second chance offers. It used to be as you were saying, but they changed it because of the less than steller behavior on the part of buyers.

And corps love these kinds of problems, because it gives them an excuse to charge more to customers. You would think it would be common sense to go down to the amount of money it was at, before the flakey buyer bid. But no lets charge him the max bid, hell probably still be happy he won it.

fortys-tech-n-stuff · ‎09-19-2016

This seller comes and tells me the other bidder didn't pay, a few minutes after the auction ends. I told him you didn't even give him enough time to pay you, smells of shill bidding to me.

graciejoy · ‎09-20-2016

@fortys-tech-n-stuff wrote:
This seller comes and tells me the other bidder didn't pay, a few minutes after the auction ends. I told him you didn't even give him enough time to pay you, smells of shill bidding to me.

I would agree with you if it were anywhere but Ebay World. I have had people win something and then immediately contact me to tell me their kid bid on it or they demanded a partial refund or they were an international bidder who had not bothered to check how much shipping was and they did not want to pay for shipping. Ebay allows people to do what they want and they have allowed criminals to operate unchecked, so there may be a number of reasons the item is immediately available after the sale that does not involve shill bidding. I myself have seen some pretty crazy behavior after an item ended.

moonbloodstone · ‎09-20-2016

As a Buyer, I like second chance offers. Normally when I want something that I bid on I hate bidding over and over for the same thing. Usually, I lose the bid by .25-.50 cents. Perhaps it is a Shill bid that was first and I am given a second chance offer because the shill Bidder LOST.....I usually WILL ONLY BID THE HIGHEST I WANT TO PAY so, a second chance offer just gives me the item at the price I wanted to pay. So, If I want the Item I will TAKE the second chance offer.

Second chance offers Made ME feel scammed like I had been taken at first, then after consultations on the community boards I realized I PROBABLY hadn't. I read the eBay policy on them and understood how it worked and the benefit to me. So, I like them! I wished the eBay policy had it worded better....IT could be explained better so the BUYER WOULD NOT FEEL SCAMMED. I read everything so after I read about it AND ask about it I felt better.

There are problems with second chance offers though for me as a buyer:

The limit window as to HOW long I have to accept it is short. From MY experience maybe only 48 hours or so. It would be helpful IF the Seller had a control on this perhaps a box like....Make offer good for how many days? Sometimes I don't even see it in that short of a time and Don't See it until it is expired. Then I can't take the offer.
I check My mail every day most of the time however life gets in the way. Sometimes either eBay is NOT getting the notices out early enough OR I am missing then in a timely manner. So, If the offer is off the table then I loose the chance.
I feel better about taking a second chance offer Mostly on NEW items. If I am bidding on a "rare" hard to find widget....Maybe not. Then I would suspect it was a fraud widget and would not want to proceed. I would at that point examine the Feedback of the Seller. I would then decide based on the reputation of each Seller. Logically ONLY a collector Might have 2 of something. I will buy it based on the criteria that most of us know. If the Seller looks squeaky clean then I would buy it.
When You accept the OFFER it does not allow it to set in the cart very long. It should be allowed to sit in the Shopping cart until I finish the transaction with that Seller and check out. If I win an Auction then I like to go to the Sellers store and see what else they have to offer. Some stores are so poorly organized OR big that I might pick away at it for several days. I think on some expensive items this would not apply but on low-cost items, multiple items there is no reason NOT to let it sit in the shopping cart until the Buyer is finished shopping or Bidding on Your items. To accommodate both Seller AND Buyer a check box could ask "how long do You want this Offer to remain in effect?" Of course, a Seller might choose the minimum of 48 hours for example. From My experience as a Buyer when I have been filling a cart for the Seller who offers a "second chance offer" is it expires before I have a chance to finish shopping and it disappears. SO I HAVE TO PAY FOR IT IN THE ALLOTTED TIME TO USE IT. That means extra shipping charges possibly for ME and the Seller. Of course, this argument does not apply for free shipping. I have learned IF I really want it to PAY NOW. :womanlol::womanlol: OR I will put it in the cart and pay for the WHOLE ORDER. (I probably will quit looking in that store or will rush and miss something then and go on.) So IMHO IStore (or listings)f someone wants to look at my stuff and spend their time researching and shopping in MY Store (or listings) by all means take Your time! See anything You need to ask a question on, I will answer as soon as possible!
If I was a Seller I would be sure and send a nice Message to the Buyer saying something...a little sales pitch, being kind, etc about the second chance offer. Keep it personable.

So as a Seller I think second chance offers have a chance to build Your business. After I learned about HOW THEY WORKED, as a Buyer I have been quit Happy taking them. As I gear Up to start Selling I am going to put that one in MY box of tools!

slippinjimmy · ‎09-20-2016

The limit window as to HOW long I have to accept it is short. From MY experience maybe only 48 hours or so. It would be helpful IF the Seller had a control on this perhaps a box like....Make offer good for how many days? Sometimes I don't even see it in that short of a time and Don't See it until it is expired. Then I can't take the offer.

Sellers have always been able to specify the period of time a SCO is valid.

How long does the bidder have to respond?

You select the offer's duration, choosing from 1, 3, 5, or 7 days. If the bidder doesn't respond within the time period you specify, the offer expires.