Selling Items for Less than the Cost of Shipping

[etsvcs]

Hello Friends,

I've noticed that some sellers are selling that cost more to ship than the product itself, is this real, are these sellers knowingly selling at a loss?

For example, I saw this item that I could have bought for .20 if I bought it in bulk. I looked at comparables on eBay and noticed that one seller was selling the same item for $3.99 plus free shipping using USPS Ground Advantage.

I ran the numbers, and a 1-once item shipped from my location to the furthest zip code costs $4.36.

If I tried to sell the same item at $3.99, I would lose -1.35 after eBay fees and cost of goods sold. I think the lowest price for me using USPS ground advantage for a nearby location is $3.96 for a one-time item. I would still incur a loss after eBay fees.

I ran the numbers, a 1 o

[fbusoni]

You have no idea what the sellers in question paid for their items.  Perhaps they paid nothing.  Or were paid to haul said items away.

There is, additionally, the impetus to sell items, even if one makes a few pennies on a sale, in order to keep up one's numbers so one's metrics do not lapse / fall below an expected standard.  

If I am missing your point, please let me know.

[tdl_collectibles]

Do you know if they are selling books? Maybe they have a bulk rate for media mail that they've negotiated, but the listing shows Ground Advantage as a default.

They could also be inserting those wine coupons or other "freebies" that buyers can scan for marketing materials and the seller could be relying on bonuses from that as well.  Every time I buy a book, there are 3 or 4 of those little postcards for meal plans, wine clubs, etc....

[titipeo]

We do not know item cost for seller, maybe they are trying to build up feedback, perhaps they send coupons, or direct buyers to check their non eBay online store and purchase directly. Maybe they are trying to get people to check their eBay stores, or they are bad in math and can't come up with the proper profitable selling prices. Maybe seller treats eBay as a hobby to keep them active, who knows. 

[chapeau-noir]

Loss leaders?

[fern*wood]

Math is difficult for many.

[12345jamesstamps]

Have you ever gone into a grocery store or a retail store to buy something because it was on sale?

And did you buy only that item or other items?

And how does a seller get buyers to their eBay store to just look at items in their store?

If I get something that was rather low cost...and my postage cost 50% below face value to ship it...I might make a profit(actually I always do.).

[onefootflipper1]

If it is a media mail item then realize that charity media mail sellers have a break even cost about $2 less than you do. This also causes bad at math sellers to copy those prices and sell them at a loss instead of just throwing the item away.

Large numbers of trading card and postcard sellers sell for 99 cents shipped and take a loss every single time they sell one of those items. They will defend it to the death though. Heck Burbank Sportscards does it and they are the biggest in the world.

Also a lot of sellers put things in and then never change anything, and that BAD ITEM can sit for years at a buy it now price free shipping that will eventually go lower than their break even point as shipping prices go up.

Some sellers just have no idea what they are doing. I could buy 10 Funko Pops a day on ebay for $5 shipped or less  and every single one of those sellers would be negative on the transaction between shipping and ebay fees, yet people are listing them at those prices every day.