How do you cover costs if you auction off an item?
Let’s say for example I list a lawn mower as an auction starting at $.99 cents, if it only sells for like $5, but shipping is like $40, how do you make money?
FYI: isn’t it customary to list an item at $.99 to give everyone a fair shot?
Just saying
26 comments
onefootflipper
·8 months agoYou should never sell a lawnmower on ebay.
You should never run an auction on ebay, auction is an expert choice and 99 percent of items are the wrong choice for it. It is better to just be wrong 1 percent of the time than to light your money on fire doing auctions with incorrect items.
The sheer act of you posting your item for auction should cause real buzz in whatever internet world is related to that item, people should be talking about it on message boards, facebook groups and it might even show up as a front page feature story on one or more websites. If that doesn't describe what you would be listing, then it is the wrong choice for auction.
babyers88
·8 months agomy answer is a fool and his money are soon parted. If you are interested I have some magic beans to trade for your lawn mower.
eoma689485
·8 months agoFairness isn’t determined by the starting price, it’s determined by whether everyone has equal opportunity to bid under the same rules.
soh.maryl
·8 months ago". . . to give everyone a fair shot"?
Everyone already has a fair shot, regardless of your price.
krazzykats
·8 months agoI'd also add that you need to review what shipping a mower would actually cost, don't guess at shipping costs.
Get a measuring tape and scale.
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fm2000
·8 months agoIf you sell a lawn mower for $5 and charge $40 for shipping, you end up losing your item, losing a lot of money on shipping (perhaps into the hundreds because no mower, not even a non-motorized old fashioned push one can be shipped that cheap), and you end up tearing your hair out in frustration trying to figure out how to pack such a cumbersome and large item. You also lose a ton of money on a special box or crate and tons on packing material. A mower is probably going to have to go freight if it has a motor, which can be bonkers expensive, many times more than $40.
Sell it locally. Shipping a non-motorized push mower is a pain, a motorized one would be a nightmare for someone not familiar with how to do it. Just the time prepping it by draining the fluids isn't worth $5 of time.
Barring specific types of sellers with specific types of items, just don't do auctions. Price research items, and allow offers if you wish, this will get you similar results and has similar flexibility without the financial risk of 99 cent auctions. Price research is critical. Many sellers sell items that need price research but don't do it, and it costs them money and/or lost sales.
luckythewinner
·8 months agohow do you make money?
By not doing [Edited by Moderator] things like selling something at a loss.
isn’t it customary to list an item at $.99 to give everyone a fair shot?
Not, it is not customary. Nor is it advisable. There is absolutely no good reason to "give people a shot" at paying less than you are willing to accept. It is [Edited by Moderator] thinking like this that leads to sellers not making money.
inhawaii
·8 months agoStart the bidding at the lowest price you are willing to accept.
No, it's not customary to start auctions at 99 cents.
stainlessenginecovers
·8 months agoStop RIGHT there!
That right there is a sure sign of someone with the intelligence less than a small rock in your garden.
Great thing is: there are many like that
Bad thing is: nobody, even rock boy, will 'ship' you that item if it sells for .99c.
ed8108
·8 months agoIs business about fairness?
When something fails to sell is it really worth the cost you have advertised, when you need money to pay the bills & eBay fails to deliver you buyers to purchase your items ?
Do you reluctantly reduce your asking prices or get yourself a day job ?
Happy selling 2026
stephenmorgan
·8 months agoI sold 55 auctions last year and I would never start a bid at 99¢.
I start then at a little below market price and mostly they have sold with just one bid. Occasionally one may get two or more bids, but mostly not.
I think I have done better with Auctions than Buy it Now because of what I been selling. I also think people are interested to get a good price so they will bid and hope no one else bids. It really depends on what you are selling if auctions will work for you.
jdbelt1960
·8 months agoHow would you even ship a used lawn mower? First it would cost more than $40. Next you have to drain and clean the fuel tank, oil reservoir etc. Also no it is not customary to list everything at .99 cents. You start your bid price at the lowest you will accept.
ryry-jj
·8 months agono, there is nothing "customary" that says anything about starting an auction below anything the seller wants to start at.
The better questions may be...."how do you cover your cost if you don't know what you are doing?" That is a difficult question to answer. eBay makes money off of every sale, you only make money if you charge enough to earn a profit, don't let eBay dictate your profit
simba6
·8 months agoYou can list it as the buyer pays the shipping. There is a calculator that will display the correct shipping for the buyer's Zip code. Starting at .99 is done to attract buyers. There is always a risk it could sell at that price. Keep in mind there are no set prices in venues like this. Prices vary as the crow flies.
You can also list as fixed price / buy it now. Just set the price your happy to sell it. Many buyers don't want to wait for an auction to end. They want it yesterday.
I would start small and work you way up. Start with low say under 25.00 items at first.
eoma689485
·8 months agoThe lawnmower example isn't the best as I doubt the post office would appreciate a used lawnmower that smells of gasoline and oil.
So list any item, auction or otherwise, at the least you are willing to take for it. No need to start any listing at 99 cents or even what eBay suggests - you will be disappointed.
kensgiftshop
·8 months agoI wouldn't try to sell a lawn mower on Ebay.
I would stick in the front yard with a for sale sign.
tobaccocardyahoo
·8 months agoOne needs to understand when Ebay recommends starting an item at $.99. It does so when its Terapeak database of sales is unable to find a relevant comparable item and its sales history.
Do you think that is a good reason to sell an item below its value? Prices realized on Ebay auctions have always varied greatly from week to week. With auctions making up a small fraction of Ebay listings, the swings are even greater.
Various posters have questioned the intelligence of sellers who start their auctions at $.99 for good reason. It was never necessary, and is now far more dangerous than in the past.
caldreamer
·8 months agoShipping a lawn mower will be a nightmare. If it gets "damaged" in shipping EBAY will force you to refund customer "purchase price + shipping". Also, FedEx and UPS have "extra surcharge" for odd sized or oversized load.
EBAY charges "selling fees" based on (purchase price + shipping + sales tax) plus 40 cent handling charge. Honestly, it would be a lot less hassle just selling locally.
soh.maryl
·8 months agoOr, if you're determined to lose money on this transaction, just find someone who is desperately in need of a lawnmower and give it to them.
monroe67
·8 months ago"FYI: isn’t it customary to list an item at $.99 to give everyone a fair shot?"
What if I need a new lawnmower but only have 75 cents to spend?
How is a 99 cent auction fair to me?
kibble-net
·8 months agoAs someone who used to auction off items starting at 99 cents back in the day.....
.....I would recommend using calculated shipping precisely for this reason.
So you DON'T lose money.
The other option is to start the item at the upper bound of the shipping cost estimate, say $50 in your scenario.
There is no rule that says auctions have to start at 99 cents. You can use any price you like. Another option would be to simply use Buy It Now instead.
Why set yourself up for failure?
"JUST SAYING".
gurlcat
·8 months agoOnly a complete moron would do what you described.
No it's not customary for (any kind of) items to start that low, especially not with free shipping, and I don't even know what you mean about giving everyone a "fair shot." If there were any factor that might contribute to fairness it would be time (longer auctions give more people time to find it and bid on it). But the amount of money for the starting bid has nothing to do with fairness to buyers, nor should it, unless maybe if the item is something like a replacement heart or kidney or whatever. But even in that case the richest person would win.
bashort
·8 months agoI loved $.99 auctions back when they were popular, I used to source a lot of inventory this way.
bashort
·8 months agoThis tactic is only used by either people who are absolutely clueless or who have a item that through experience they know is in demand and will bring a good price, sellers from either of these groups are rare anymore.
Auctions are just not a good way to sell on ebay in my opinion
gurlcat
·8 months agoThey are definitely risky; I have had my share of disappointing winning amounts. But I've had some pleasant shockers too. Last month I debated whether to just list this mixed lot as a BIN, and I was thinking maybe $175, but even that might be too much, and I'd have to wait a long time to get a taker.
So I decided to bite the bullet and auction it with a starting bid of $25.
krazzykats
·8 months agoWhat if it sells for $0.99?
You should set up calculated shipping to cover costs based on the buyer’s location.
Personally, I only sell large, heavy or bulky items as local pickup or at a yard sale.
I might also try listing them on Craigslist or Facebook for local pickup.
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