This could be insightful to some:

Had an eBay auction last year for a 2nd edition Player's Handbook (not revised) and it ended with multiple bidders. eBay provides "second chance offers (SCO)" for the two runners up. The top bidder never paid up (this was indicative of a shiller) and went thru with the SCO on the runner ups who didn't take it. So, OK.

About a month later, auctioned a classic rock LP and had multiple bidders.  eBay, again, provided SCO to the runner up. The top bidder, here, was an international bidder. Shot out the SCO and it was accepted and paid up quick. So, what happens, the top bidder pays up a couple days later and I have to refund (it goes well).

In both cases, I never gave the top bidder a hard time.  Don't know, but is eBay SCO an "automated" event? Seems like an  'eBay Second Chance Offer" to bidders puts the seller in a "bad light?"

Does eBay know best for either bidder or seller?

HexMapper wrote: The top bidder never paid up (this was indicative of a shiller)

This statement doesn't make sense...shilling is when you (or an acquaintance) bids up your own auction.



I've never heard of Ebay sending a SCO on its own. As far as I know, it is something the seller has to initiate.



http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/second_ ... offer.html

From my limited selling time, SCO have to be sent at the sellers request.
I've received a couple and never taken them, although a seller had multiple copies of an item once and sold a set to me at my highest bid, which wasn't the winning bid.
That was also initiated by him

sounds like you may have been a bit keen on sending the SCO against the Int. bidder then, unless he delayed a long while or ignored your contact? Depending on the timescale, I'd be pissed as the 1st or 2nd bidder in your example

ebay may send you the opportunity to issue the SCO, but you don't have to send it.

Both times I have attempted to use the SCO option it turned out to be a waste of time.  Top bidders sometimes flake out (or can't pay in a timely manner) leaving the option of SCO or relist.  Relist has always been a better option for me (usually with lesser results than the original auction however).

Even now I think that a number of buyers are wary of SCO, espescially if there were low feedback bidders involved in the original auction.

sounds to me like you want to leave the SCO alone, Hex.  

I have to wonder if eBay has an algorithm they run through bidder history for items that determine if an auction qualifies for a SCO after meeting a certain criteria - thus an automated SCO notice is sent to the seller?

Or, do they actually assign man hours to observing auctions for SCOs?

Is it eBay alerted by the community, sellers, or bidders of suspicious activity that, in effect, generates the SCO?

I've had several second chance offers.

Two times it was a seller who had multiple copies of the item.

The other time it was a shill bidder.  I knew it was a shill bidder because the second chance offer came within a few hours of the auction closing.  (I didn't take the offer...and later kicked myself because even the shilled price...as it later turned out...would have been a bargain.)

That is why you must snipe on Ebay.  It really is the only way to go.