"Second chance offers" on an eBay auction - Germany

so here's the thing:

I went on ebay to bid on a fitness company membership.

I made my offer: 100euros

I was actually outbid by 2 other guys, so I thought that was the end of that... but this morning when I log in I have this email:

Fitness Company Business Club 3 Monate Gutschein Berlin
Aktueller Preis:
EUR 100,00
Sofort-Kaufen-Preis:
EUR 100,00
Gültig bis (Uhrzeit): 30.04.08 22:04:08 MESZ
Nachricht vom Verkäufer: Hallo, ich habe den Höchstbietenden wg. unseriöser Nachverhandlungen nicht berücksichtigt. Wenn Sie noch an der Vertragsübernahme interessiert sind, dann können Sie jetzt zuschlagen... Für schnelle und umkomplizierte Abwicklung wäre ich sehr dankbar. Rufen Sie mich einfach an 01XXXXXXXX. Mfg J.XXXX
Verkäufer:
faXXXXXX0 (46)
100.0% Positive Bewertungen
Mitglied seit 08.03.03 in Deutschland
Artikel aufrufen | Frage an den Verkäufer

so this is basically saying that I have until 22:00 today to buy it and my 100euro bid right?

do you guys think it's a scam? I mean there were other 2 guys that outbid me and this just seems strange. The guy doesn't know I'm not german should I call him or ask a german friend to call him since he would probably find it easier to con sum1 who doesn't speak german all that well

I like it how ebay covers their collective derriere:

Wenn ein Angebot an unterlegene Bieter unter Meine Nachrichten mit der Betreffzeile ?Angebot an unterlegene Bieter? angezeigt wird, können Sie sicher sein, dass es echt ist. Wenn es dort nicht angezeigt wird, handelt es sich um eine Fälschung. Antworten Sie dem Absender in diesem Fall nicht und schließen Sie den Kauf nicht ab. Bei Angeboten, die nicht über eBay übermittelt werden, könnte es sich um Betrugsversuche handeln, die nicht durch den Käuferschutz gedeckt werden. Mehr zum Thema

Weitere Informationen zu Angeboten an unterlegene Bieter:
Der Verkäufer faXXXXXX unterbreitet das Angebot an unterlegene Bieter entweder, weil der Höchstbietende nicht in der Lage war, die Transaktion abzuschließen, oder weil der Verkäufer über einen zweiten identischen Artikel verfügt.

Der Verkauf dieses Artikels unter Verwendung der Option ?Angebot an unterlegene Bieter? steht in Einklang mit den eBay-Grundsätzen. Sie können nach Abschluss der Transaktion mit dem Verkäufer Bewertungen austauschen. Es stehen Ihnen auch alle eBay-Services zur Verfügung, wie z.B. Käuferschutz.

I have had a few offers like this as well (for different products) and they all turned out to be scams... I reported the accounts to EBay and in each case within a few days they sent me an email confirming the accounts had been compromised. If they accept Paypal payments and if the offer was made officially (through the EBay mail system and not direct to your personal email) then perhaps it is a legitimate offer and I suspect you will be insured for fraud.

positive on both counts.

I'll probably contact him it just seems strange that the top bidder didnt buy it and had no negative feedback

Several questions and my interpretation of answers:

1. EBay says that if his email subject line is "Angebot an unterlegene Bieter" then it is serious. Was that his message subject? If not --> probably a con.
2. What else is the guy selling? Only tickets for fitness clubs and the like but not making many sales? If yes --> probably a con.
3. How many tickets did the guy have for sale? Did it state something like "3 from 4 available"? --> If yes --> probably is ok and he is selling to the 3 highest bidders in one go to minimise his tx costs.

Where's the link to the article that was sold? You don't need to block out any details. EBay articles are visible to everyone, even after the sale for several weeks. There shouldn't be anything secret about it.

It could also be that he is telling the truth and that he has contacted the next 2 or 3 highest bidders and will accept the offer from whichever bidder gets back to him first in the affirmative.

Sounds like a scam by the gym to sell more membership cards says the cynic in me.

I sell on eBay and have made 'Second Chance Offers' where I've had more than one of the same item and its sold at a good price. Some get accepted, some don't. The offer should be sitting in your 'My eBay' account and in your messages. Sellers can specify the duration of the offer so it sounds like the seller made it a 1 day duration, ie, he sent you the offer last night. You can also go to another eBay site (ie .UK) and do an advanced search with the article number. The item should be sitting there within the eBay system, with you being the only bidder permitted to accept the 'Buy It Now' option. If all the above checks out then it sounds legit.

Unfortunately, since eBay decided to hide bidders user names, it's become a shill-bidders paradise. Possibly the seller had some mates bidding to bump up the price and one of them inadvertently won the item but you were the highest legitimate bidder.

suggestion: check out previous buyers and send an email
perhaps also to the losing bidders to see if he has pulled this stunt before

yeah that's what I would do if it were the british or american ebay site

being the german it's quite hard to navigate

it all sounds legit:

"eBay <SecondChanceOffer@ebay.de>
reply-to SecondChanceOffer@ebay.de,
date Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 10:04 PM
subject Angebot an unterlegene Bieter Fitness Company Business Club 3 Monate Gutschein Berlin
mailed-by ebay.de
signed-by ebay.de"

the background is that the guy is leaving germany and he's selling his fitcom membership

"Auf Grund eines Auslandsaufenthaltes möchte ich meinen Fitcom Vertrag für einen Zeitraum von ca. 3 Monaten, d.h.
03.05. - 25.07.2008
abgeben.

Mit der Clubcard Business kann man in ganz Deutschland in allen Fitness Company Lifestyle und Business Clubs trainieren. Viele andere Gutscheine oder Mitgliedschaften beinhalten nur die Lifestyle Clubs.
Die Karte wurde von der Fitcom Filiale in Berlin-Steglitz (Schloßstraße) ausgestellt, insofern muss der Auktionsgewinner einmal mit mir gemeinsam zu dieser Filiale gehen, um seinen Namen auf meiner Karte bei der Verwaltung zu registrieren.
Da ich am ab 03.05. nicht mehr erreichbar bin, müsste dies möglichst bald nach Auktionsende geschehen, also vom 28.04. bis spätestens 02.05.2008. Bitte bieten Sie nicht, wenn Sie diesen Besuch in Berlin nicht gewährleisten können.
Nach Angabe der Studioleitung ist die Karte danach jedoch deutschlandweit gültig!
Mit Ablauf des o.g. Zeitraumes sind sie automatisch aus dem Vertrag entlassen, Sie haben keinerlei weiteren Verpflichtungen und müssen nichts kündigen."

Gonna call him as soon as I talk to a german friend of mine, he told me to be extra careful with contracts and binding documents coz they are a lot of scams and shady businesses going on

I'd pass on this one altogether if I were you, only because FitCom has been really bitchy lately about what is and is not permitted under membership rules.

how nice I called and left him a message in english he didn't even bother to reply

oh well

Why would you worry about German eBay? It's not difficult to navigate. I sell on .uk, .com & .de and they are all the same. Same buttons with different words so I can't understand what your problem is?

And as stated previously, a link or article number would be nice.

PS: Are you trying to talk about a 'scam' that you freely bid 100 yoyos on ... or complaining about the eBay system?

Maybe the OP's German isn't good enough to make the German site easy to navigate.

I think selling the remainder of a club membership is the shady part of this deal, not the second chance bit. "This membership is not transferable." Ever seen that? It does seem a bit of a contradiction to wonder about the legitimacy of someone offering to sell something he's not authorized to sell but which you are fully willing to bid on.