Hi sunshine, its funny you posted that...i did the exact same thing to one of my listings last week, put it at .99 cents, just out of curiousity to see where the price would go. let me say however, that my shipping cost is always the same, in fact, i don't even list one until i'm asked, and then its the exact quote given to me by canada post, i don't believe in making money on shipping, materials, yes, but actual profit i don't believe in-just my opinion...
anyhow, it is true, more people will tend to bid on your item if its .99 cents, even if they know it will probably end at a price higher than what you would have originally posted it at. its all psychological. if people think there's a chance they could get something for a real low price, they'll watch it and probably bid on it. it makes your item more appealing than someone else's starting at a much higher price. same thing happens at auctions. if a piece of art that is being auctioned off is OBVIOUSLY worth well over a hundred for example, and the auctioneer starts at 100.00, no one will bid on it, start it at 20.00, and the bidding will end at 900.00, probably more than if it would have started at 100.00.
i did this as an experiment, and NOT to avoid fees, and i think i may consider it on many of my other items and see where it goes...:-)
Kat