When you request to buy an item, you do not pay for it immediately. Instead, your bank will put in place a "pre-authorisation".

Pre-authorisation is a term banks use when they want to earmark or reserve a certain amount of money within your account. It is a way for your bank to confirm to us that you have the required funds to make the purchase without withdrawing any money.

The charge you see on your statement is the pre-authorisation, not a withdrawal.

IMPORTANT: When you make a request to buy an item on Second Skin, and your bank puts a pre-authorisation in place, no money is removed from your account. You will not actually pay for an item until the seller accepts your request.

If your request is rejected, either by the seller or by our system, you do not need to request a refund. The money is still in your bank account, it has just been reserved for this purchase. Once your request is rejected, your bank will automatically remove the pre-authorisation.

We tell your bank to remove the pre-authorisation as soon as your offer is rejected.

The exact amount of time it takes to become available again depends on your bank, but funds are usually available within a couple of days. Unfortunately we have no control over this process.