posted on December 30, 2004 09:18:10 AM new
I have noticed there are a lot of sellers who list items at .99 I have the same items that they do so I know about how much they paid for the item. What I don't understand is how sellers can sell an item for .99 and have a cost in it of 4.00 plus ebay fees & any other fees (paypal, vendio etc.). These sellers list many items at a time, some sell for .99 and some go for just over that, but below the cost of the item and a few over the cost.
Can someone tell me what the purpose of this is? How are you making money doing this? Am I missing something here? Is this they way to get traffic to your auctions?
posted on December 30, 2004 09:23:32 AM new
Maybe they are making up the different in the "shipping and handling " fees. Do you see any high S & H on these 99 cent auctions?
posted on December 30, 2004 09:55:15 AM new
And it could be some sellers don't CARE what they get.
I have a bunch of old DVDs left over from when I closed my store. I have no personal interest them, and they're old enough I'll never get my cost back.
So I put them up for a PENNY and $3.00 shipping.
Some do very well, and some do in fact go out for pennies. I don't want to carry DVDs anymore, so I'll take what I can get. I just want 'em off my shelf.
If you want to find the true market value of something put it on eBay for a penny with reasonable shipping and just enough handling to actually cover listing and Paypal fees.
And keep in mind the largest seller on eBay sells CDs and DVDs for a penny. MANY sellers see this as a sign of success and try to emulate them.
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Replay Media - The best source for board games, card games and miniatures on the web!
http://www.replaymedia.com
[ edited by replaymedia on Dec 30, 2004 09:56 AM ]
posted on December 30, 2004 10:10:57 AM new
It's a numbers game. I have played it before.
Say you have an item that costs you $1. You sell it for 99¢, charge $3.95 shipping or so. After fees and postage you make about $1. Do this a couple hundred times per week and you make a couple hundred dollars. For many sellers, just and extra $50 a week is a nice boon.
The down side is keeping up with fullfillment and emails.
Here is an idea for you: Sell an ebook or somthing that can be downloaded. Put it on your web site (with a little research, you can password protect it using the .usr file, but that's not necissary). In your WBN give the link to download your book. Then, in your listing require instant payment.
Set it up as a reoccuring and you have almost 100% automation.
posted on December 30, 2004 10:13:29 AM new
Maybe it's stolen merchandise, so anything they get for it is profit!
When I first started on eBay I listed a ton of stuff at rock bottom prices and only charged actual shipping just to get a lot of transactions to build up my feedback. Kind of made me wonder though, it was a lot of work for $1 though. A lot of this was stuff I had lying around already and it would have gone to the Sally Anne or the garbage otherwise, so even getting a dollar for it was better than throwing it out. Sometimes I'd be surprised and bidding would go up to $10 or $20 or $50 though.
posted on December 30, 2004 10:23:15 AM new
The key is know the cost of the item-you know how much it costs you,(you said 4 dollars) but how much it costs the other sellers?
like they said,it could be stolen items,stolen from their employers or other sites with fraudulent credit cards.
Or did you pay retail,they could be your wholesaler or kids of your wholesaler??
or they could be retailers who have gone bust working from home.
or like they said,list at 99 cents and some get more and some get less,in the end,they may make out with a decent profit.
You can tell who they are-liquidators,wholesalers etc by what else they list and how many they list and what their formats are like and what the pictures look like.
yeah,make money on shipping,where is fluffy the dumb cat??
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
posted on December 30, 2004 10:27:43 AM new
of the 9 years i am on ebay,i have seen wholesalers dumping their nice merchandise on ebay- for example Czech porcelain figurine and the bids just get lower and lower.
Now,there is a large west coast italian murano importer/wholesaler going out of business and dumping their goods on ebay,i feel sorry for those who are retailing murano on ebay,how can you compete??
another source of dumping come from overseas seller,if you are selling foreign items,your only advantage is lower shipping cost
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
posted on December 30, 2004 10:28:51 AM new
There are some sellers who have a large enough volume and enough stock to make money this way. One of the big time CD sellers makes a couple of dollars on postage, plus they have a lot of CD's that goes for a good price. The ones that only go for 99 cents are probably considered as advertisement.
There are others, like my competition, that charge outrageous shipping. Like $7.50 for an item that cost 73 cents to mail. And judging by his feedback, he only ships out about half of what is bought. When his feedback gets bad enough he gets a new ID and starts over again.
Then you have the ones that are just plain stupid. They hang in long enough to hurt the business of the ones who charge a reasonable price, then quit.
Be kind. Everyone is fighting their own secret battles.
...Author Unknown
posted on December 30, 2004 11:08:37 AM new
I don't know what the percentage of items on ebay are stolen goods, but I'll bet it is significant. I have a friend in Santa Barbara who owns a camera store. There estimated loss this year from stolen goods is over $8,000.00! Thats just one store.
Life Is Too Short To Drink Bad Wine
posted on December 30, 2004 11:39:34 AM new
I went back and looked again at the shipping cost on these .99 auctions and did see that the sellers are charging a flat shipping rate. $3.50-$4.50 for a first class mail envelope. These might mean they are making up the "loss" in the postage fees. Especially when they are mailing a pair of earrings that weight nothing!
posted on December 30, 2004 11:44:38 AM new
Even if they are making the profit on shipping, it would seem to be a minimum wage kind of operation. But that's all some people are looking for. When I started all my profit seemed wonderful. Now, after 5 years I don't want anything to do with sales that only net a few dollars.
So I think the initial eBay thrill and enthusiasm is part of the reason.
posted on December 30, 2004 12:05:31 PM new
I don't know about the others but, when I list an item for 99 cents it is something that I have no investment left in or I am using it to attract buyers into my ebay store. (My shipping and handling stay the same as on all the other items that I sell.) I will also do this with damaged stone items. Clearly stating that the item is damaged and more often than not, the buyer will end up coming back to buy one of the nicer pieces later on. (I have bought this way to find out how reputable a seller is before I buy a large quantity from them)
Kevin
posted on December 30, 2004 02:11:13 PM new
On the topic of "knowing" what your competion pays..... I used to have a product that I purchased direct from the manufacturer. I got a great price and wasvery happy. About three months ago one of my other supplier contacted me about a new line they were carrying that they thought I might be interested in. They were right, but then I already had them. Imagine my surprise howevr when I found out I could buy them for much less from my supplier than from the manufacturer. Since they were purchasing in quanities much greater than I ever would be able to they got much deeper discounts.
Remember... you don't always know what your competion pays no matter how sure you are of it .... unless of course you know their account manager at their supplier
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on December 30, 2004 02:32:40 PM new
I buy my merchandise in bulk. I make the big mark-up on the items that will bring it.When it gets down to dead sellers it goes for 1.88, .99 or what ever I can get out it. I make some on the shipping and get rid of it. Some sellers probably buy lots like I do,you take it all for one money and you have no idea what your getting. I bought out someones audio book business last year,I had no idea what I was getting only that there were a few thousand audio books.They were new inventory from truck stops out west. Made a very nice profit.
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Two men sit behind bars,one sees mud the other sees stars.
posted on December 30, 2004 02:55:36 PM newMAH-MAH:
Rub it in!
UNABRIDGED AUDIOBOOKS were my #1 all-time best selling item way-back-when I lived in BAWHSTAN!
I'd walk over to such&such a store & buy oooodles of them (closeouts from BOOKS-ON-TAPE) for $4 each & sell them for $15 - $30 on feeBay plus da nice shipping...
I really miss my audiobook customers
Interestingly, the ABRIDGED ones I couldn't give away -- had to start them at......99cents!
posted on December 30, 2004 03:39:45 PM new
As someone smarter than me once said: I lose money on every individual eBay sale, but I make it up on volume.
posted on December 30, 2004 05:44:46 PM new
Speaking of "making it up in shipping" I know a lot of buyers really rensent it. Maybe as long as it's not outrageous, the people don't mind, but when people are charginf $5 or $9 for "shippind and handling" and they just put a 73 cent stamp on an evelope people get upset. I've seen people sell an item worth say, $10, but they list for 99 cents plus $10 shipping and handling. So they save on listing & FVF fees, but even though the buyers are still getting their item for a decent price once they average out the purchase price & shipping/handling, I've seen them leave negative feedback like "good deal on product but outrageus shipping cost"
I've found that no matter how I justify it: tape, packing supplies, gas to drive to post office, etc is not free, plus time spent driving to post office and waiting in line. Some people don't care. They like it when you charge the actual postage. No "handling" fees. Big companies can get away with it, eBay sellers can't.
posted on December 30, 2004 05:52:03 PM new
why cant we get away with high shipping cost?
because we are rickshaw coolies ,we dont need to fill the gas tank.
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
posted on December 30, 2004 06:03:18 PM new
I can get away with it, I AM a BIG Company too! in my mind, but they have no idea. One buyer once told me I'll buy from a regular seller the next time. Was I an illregular seller? He thought I was a BIG Company? Then i ran out and told all my friends,,,,,HEY they say I am a BIG company on E bay! Felt Sooooooooo Good! Imagine that, ME a BIG Company.
posted on December 30, 2004 06:03:52 PM new
I don't gouge on shipping, but I do add a buck or so to cover envelopes & boxes. Eminently reasonable, but we're talking eBay here. I USED to get fairly regular complaints about the extra dollar.
Three secret words you should all repeat:
"Endicia Stealth Postage"
I haven't had a shipping complaint in over a year and a half. If they don't see a dollar amount on the stamp, it can't bother them, can it? It makes a BIG difference.
Course if I were adding a huge percentage on every order, I doubt I'd get away with it. But it definitely helps eliminate the "you don't charge EXACT postage? You crook!" type buyer.
--------------------------------------
Replay Media - The best source for board games, card games and miniatures on the web!
posted on December 30, 2004 08:08:03 PM new
We're upfront about our handling fees, which tend to be between $2 and $4. On some fragile or complicated items we can sometimes charge quite a bit more.
Someone asked just today if I would be willing to ship at actual postage cost. I replied that I would when and if they found me an employee happy to work for $0/hour; free boxes, scale, tape, bubble, and peanuts (not to mention PC and printer); a landlord who doesn't charge for my shipping area; and a free vehicle that doesn't have maintenance or fuel required.
I'm not usually that caustic with customers, but it really frosts my shorts that I should be shipping for free. We're very clear that we don't intend to gouge anyone on shipping; I don't even want to make a profit. However, I'll be damned if I'm going to LOSE any money on it.
BTW, is this thread really about $0.99 auctions, or $0.99 BINs? We start 90%+ of our auctions at $1, and I think our average selling price last month was something like $150.
