starting auctions at .99 and offer free shipping

[aubreyclay56]

ive seen a few listings start at .99 with free shipping and they sell for .99 are people stupid or listening to ebay wow must be painfull

[ricarmic]

When I was starting auction items at 99c with free shipping, anything they sold for below what they should have I considered "advertising" cost.

I was using the auctions to pull people into my store and considered any losses on a given item the cost of attracting people to my store.

May not be the case here, but am mentioning it because sometimes there is an alternate reason....

PS since those days, and certainly if I auction anything these days, I will start with a higher amount simply to get rid of problem buyers. If one sells something that should be worth $5 at auction and one person pays 99c for it while another pays $10.00, inversely to what one expect there is a much higher likelihood of receiving a complaint from the 99c buyer. (at least in my (stamp) world).

[aubreyclay56]

.99 for a starting price on something like a stamp where you can ship for a dollar is one thing but i have seen items that cost at least 10.00  for shipping sell for .99 cents plus free shipping and should have sold for at least 10.00,but i do see your point about advertizing ,i guess one must take a chance sometimes,i have seen silver dollars with a starting price of .99 with reasonable shipping,not sell for whatever reason ,not often that happens but ive kicked myself a few times

[rose-dee]

The "loss leader" explanation that 'ricarmic' mentions is probably the most likely explanation, although as he says when you attract such buyers, you can end up with more problems than it's worth.  

It's also possible such sellers may be desperately trying to make a few easy sales, either in the hope of boosting their TRS transaction numbers, or their FB count.