Second Chance Offer and Fees

[redfredsped]

Can you end a SCO early without any fees or penalties?

I had a zero-feedback bidder win an auction, then after contacting him, he says he doesn't want it anymore. So I sent a cancel offer to him and thankfully he accepted it (which returns my final value fees as a credit). Then I sent a SCO to the next highest bidder (first time doing this). He messaged back saying he'd only buy at a lower price. Not that I don't appreciate the offer, but it is too low. I asked him to decline the SCO but hasn't acted yet. If I go ahead and end the listing (SCO) without him accepting or declining, so that I may either relist as another auction or possibly another SCO to the next highest bidder, is there any fees or penalties I'm not aware of that could be hurtful to me? I am a good 20 year eBayer, but am moving from my home very soon and just need to get this sale done. Any advice will be appreciated.

[portkoop-0]

Well, there exist several problems...

First off you should've filed an Unpaid Item Dispute, but that's history now.

Here's the real problem:
Lets say I am the second chance offer buyer...

Just for example, my max bid was $40 however I was winning at $25...

Until the final non-paying bidder came along and won the auction with a $50.

Again this is just an example...

Now the seller of the item sends me a second chance offer to purchase the item for $40!!!
But that wasn't my winning bid before mister no-pay come along, I would've won at $25 if that fool wouldn't have bid and that reeks!  Because who is to say one of the seller's friends didn't come in and bid up the price just to lock me in at max. bid?  Either way I should be allowed to buy the item at my original winning amount before the final non-paying bidder showed up.

Of course, I understand that to the seller $25 isn't particularly enticing either.

I get that much but it's not fair to me to have to pay max. bid when the winner didn't pay.

We can argue about this for a long time but that is the entire beef with the whole system, a second chance offer is a great system in theory but in actual application it reeks of fraud and most buyers smell the rat when offered to purchase the item at MAX bid after the winning bidder bails out.

It has been this way as long as I can remember, I would offer to ebay on how to fix this but I hate wasting time.

So speaking for myself I always file an Unpaid Item Dispute and then relist.

The UID places a unpaid bid defect on the default account, gives me my FVF's back and prevents the winning non-paying bidder from leaving feedback.

[redfredsped]

Yes I see your point and I've had to do a UPI once before. But as I am moving very soon, I didn't have the 6 days to wait (as this item is large and I have nowhere to keep it once I leave) and am definitely lucky that he accepted the cancel. After I've read up on SCO, I see the potential scam usage so I guess I don't blame the guy since these bad apples spoil the bunch. I was indeed weary of the original bidder the whole time as it was a 7 year old account with no history at all. Terrified actually that he'd win. And as my luck fell, it was him that won by 10 bucks.

Regardless of all that, am I okay to end the SCO since he is not interested, with no ebay  "punishment"?

Also should I bother doing a second SCO to the next-in-line highest bidder, or just relist as an auction again and see?

[redfredsped]

Or do I have to wait til the SCO expires or for him to (maybe) click decline? I just can't get hit with a huge FVF by me being ignorant you know

[nobody*s_perfect]

The SCO listing is a type of fixed price listing, so fixed price listing rules apply.  You can just end the SCO listing. There will be no final value fee.  The FVF penalty only applies when a seller cancels an active auction that has received bids.  The only exception would be in the extreme case where eBay suspected that you had taken the transaction off-eBay in order to avoid fees. But since you will re-offer or relist, you probably won't be suspect.

Check on the expiration date of your SCO listing.  The default duration is 2 days IIRC, so this might be a moot point.

Also, the only reason not to relist immediately is the risk of having two buyers for this item.  If you are certain that the buyer who got the SCO will not change their mind and purchase it at the SCO price, then you can go ahead and relist or send another SCO without waiting.

BTW, you can send a SCO to any underbidder. You don't have to work your way down the list in the order of their bid amounts. For instance, if your third-highest bidder has zero feedback but the next-highest is well-established as a buyer you might choose them instead.

[nobody*s_perfect]

" it was a 7 year old account with no history at all. Terrified actually that he'd win."

A seller can cancel any bid on an auction at any time right up to the final moments.  If you're that uncomfortable with a potential buyer, it's better to follow your instincts, cancel and block them rather  than to go through a failed transaction as you are now. 

Cancel bid: http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CancelBidShow

Block bidder: http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BidderBlockLogin

If you are in a hurry to unload this item, then you should relist it in fixed price format, rather than auction.  If you set an optimistic price but add "Best offer," then you'll have a chance to look into a potential buyer's background before accepting their offer.

[portkoop-0]

You can end the SCO anytime without fault.

Yes, the winning bidder won by only $10 but that's over the SCO's max. bid, what was the second buyer's initial bid?  And no that's not entirely fair to you as a seller either... Personally I would just relist as auction again but that's me, you're welcome to give the SCO a chance but if you're on time sensitive matters it may pay to be reasonable is all I'm going to say here...