As a rule, Second Chance offers usually only come from sellers with a lot to sell!

Remember, there are some dishonest sellers out there who use other logins to drive up the auction bids. You really wanted that Glowing Green pair of second hand jeans, and you had never seen a pair like them, so you ended up bidding and bidding quite high! And then, someone overbid you at the last minute. Drats.

So the seller sends you a Second Chance Offer. Is it genuine? That might seem a strange question, but there are a few things you can check.

Did the offer arrive way too quickly? If it's in your email within a day, and the item is second hand, be suspicious. That is really too soon for the winner to be a non-paying bidder. That just reeks of shill bidding (fake bidding by a friend). Or if the item is second hand, it's strange that they have two, isn't it?

If the item is new, have a look at the feedback of the WINNER. Make sure they've got good feedback. Alarm bells ring if the winner is a "nobody" or they only have feedback from the SELLER.

If the seller has quite a few things for sale or quite a lot of good feedback, it is probably ok. They probably have several items to sell. So you can buy in confidence, because you got it for less than the winning bid - a bargain! =)