Are you a seller looking to make a Second Chance Offer? Read our article on making Second Chance Offers

If you receive a Second Chance Offer, you'll be able to buy the item at the amount you offered in your last bid.

How Second Chance Offers work

A Second Chance Offer is when a seller offers you the item you were bidding on, even though you weren't the winner. This could be because they found more stock, or their reserve price wasn't met, but they still want to sell the item.

You can choose to accept the offer and pay for the item, or you can choose not to respond and the offer will expire automatically.

Tip
You can opt out of receiving Second Chance Offers by changing your communications preferences - opens in new window or tab in My eBay.

Accepting a Second Chance Offer

If a seller makes you a Second Chance Offer, we'll send you a "You have a Second Chance Offer" email. You'll also find the offer in the following places:

Your Messages - opens in new window or tab
The Bids/Offers section - opens in new window or tab of My eBay
There may also be a message on the ended listing page with a link to the offer

You'll have either 1, 3, 5, or 7 days to accept the offer, depending on how long the seller has chosen.

If you'd like to accept the offer, select Buy it in the email and complete payment like any other eBay purchase. You can also view and accept a Second Chance Offer in the Bids/Offers section of My eBay.

Confirming a Second Chance Offer is legitimate

You'll always find legitimate Second Chance Offers in your Messages - opens in new window or tab and in the Bids/Offers section - opens in new window or tab of My eBay.

We'll never send a Second Chance Offer email with the subject line "Message from eBay Member". If you receive an email with that subject line, it's a fake email and not from us. Please forward the email to spoof@ebay.com.

Learn more about recognising and reporting fake emails.

Tip
Protecting our members is one of our top priorities. We don't allow offers to buy or sell items off our site. When this happens, it poses a risk of fraud and buyers and sellers aren't covered by our protection programs if something goes wrong.

How bidding works