It's pretty much first come first serve, but I only give each lurker an hour to respond. So If I give the first lurker an hour, and they don't respond, then I will notify the second. But if the first lurker ends up getting back to me before the second lurker does, then I'll give the villager to that first lurker.
I may consider an auction though if Merengue isn't in boxes in the next 2 days or so, because I want to take a break from cycling, and the auction would probably be for 3 days