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Receiving and Accepting a Second Chance Offer (for Buyers)

A Second Chance Offer lets you use Buy It Now to purchase an item you didn’t win at the price you bid.

Important: A genuine Second Chance Offer is always shown in the Buying section of My eBay. eBay will never send a Second Chance Offer email with a subject line beginning "Message from eBay Member". If you receive an email pretending to be a Second Chance Offer with that subject line, it's a fake. Forward the email to spoof@ebay.co.uk or spoof@ebay.ie.

A seller can make a Second Chance Offer to a non-winning bidder when:

  • The winning bidder fails to buy the item

  • A reserve price listing ends without the reserve price being met and the seller choose to offer the item to a non-winning bidder

  • The seller has a duplicate item for sale but hasn't chosen to run a Multiple Item Listing

If you accept a Second Chance Offer, you can use checkout.

Second Chance Offer sales are covered by the PayPal Buyer Protection Programme.

You can choose not to receive Second Chance Offers by changing your notification preferences for Buying emails.

Learn more about second chance offers and how they work.

Verifying a Second Chance Offer

There are several ways to check that a Second Chance Offer is legitimate.

Verifying SCO

Verification Message

Closed Item Page - A Second Chance Offer message is displayed stating that "You’ve received a Second Chance Offer on this item.…”. To view the details and purchase the item, click the “Second Chance Offer” link.

In My Messages - A Second Chance Offer email is forwarded directly from eBay, shown in your Inbox with a blue background and a subject line stating, “You’ve received a Second Chance Offer on this item.…”.

In My eBay - Items I Didn't Win - In My eBay>All Buying> under Items I Didn't Win, select the Second Chance Offer filter and click 'Buy It Now' to purchase the item.


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