To-date, I have done only one second-chance offer. Interestingly enough, exactly what you suggested happened! I got a note from the bidder with some questions -- he never had received a 2nd chance offer before and was afraid it was some sort of scam. I assured him it was legit & me that sent it & that I had ANOTHER of what he just missed out winning & would he like it at his max bid? The answer was "yes", we completed the deal, and exchanged positive feedbacks!
In terms of how long do you hold open the offer, as I remember, ebay automatically sets that for you. What happened was the unsuccessful bidder receives an e-mail which says that he is receiving a second chance offer because "either the winning bidder was unable to complete the deal or the seller has more than one of the items". (That's not an exact quote, but those 2 possibilities are specifically mentioned.) I can't remember whether it is part of the e-mail or if there is a clickable link, but a complete listing of the auction is given to the 2nd chance bidder!? The only differences from the original auction listing are: 1) It is a "Buy It Now" ONLY "auction" with the BIN price set to the max bid that the bidder placed, 2) The BIN auction ENDS 24 hrs from the time that you send the 2nd chance offer, and presumably 3) The special 2nd chance BIN auction is ONLY made available to those unsuccessful bidders to whom you send the 2nd chance offers.
It really seems like a slick ebay feature that I think I'll be utilizing more often.
Jabbergah
