How do people sell small items for $3 with free shipping?

[dealforyou22]

If I ship an empty 1 oz package, it would cost me $4. Is there something I'm missing?

The item in question is an "Alcon contact lens case". A very small and light item. The seller is domestic in the US (Pennsylvania) and says in the listing the item will ship in a small package.

This is something I've always wondered. While I do hold the belief to focus on my own business and not worry about others prices, it makes me really curious to know how folks get away with this and maybe if there's something I can do to reduce my costs that I'm unaware of. Thanks.

[mam98031]

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@fbusoni wrote:

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@keziak wrote:

There seem to be some book sellers who aren't the mega-sellers selling for low amounts with free shipping. Even if they obtained the books for free and also free packing supplies it makes no sense. But lots of people use Fulfillment By Amazon with fees that make no sense either. 

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 I wonder if there might be some sort of tax deduction that they can take for doing so. 

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Why would there be a tax deduction for something you got for free in the first place?  What value would you put on the free items for the deduction?  How would you support the value if it ever came to that?

[mam98031]

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@gloryglorygifts wrote:

Did you not understand what I wrote. I said that BOTH the seller and the item were supposedly in the U.S. and the item shipped from China. They lied about both locations and yes, I reported them. I even asked about the tracking on here because I had never seen U.S. tracking like that before. That's when it was pointed out to me that it was from China. 

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This was the exchange.

If a seller is registered in the US, that means they had to have all the correct information to do that with.  To include a bank account, Tax ID, etc.  To be honest, that is not something I've seen.  Doesn't mean it doesn't happen, I'm only saying I haven't seen it,

It is good that you report sellers that abuse the process.  I have reported sellers myself that ship from somewhere other than what they state in their listings.