Confused about cheap items for sale.

[Kelly441]

I don't understand how a seller that can sell an item for $1.50. Even if they are paying nothing for the item I calculate they are losing 42 cents on each order. $1 for Amazon commission and minimum 92 cents for First class mail. I tracked the seller and they are selling about 100 a day. I highly doubt that they are paying $42 a day just to generate orders to keep their ODR rate down.

What is going on here? Is this the cheapest way to ship small items. Something is gong on here that I do not understand.

Ideas?

[TonyAlmeida]

How do you track how many item seller sold??????

[Kelly441]

Originally Posted by TonyAlmeida

How do you track how many item seller sold??????

add them to the basket and then check how many they have for sale in 24 hrs

[HunterStudios]

That is a good system for tracking items, never really thought of that.

And I think it could be very likely they are paying $42 a day to keep feedback high and ODR low. Some of my items generate more than $42 profit from a single sale so in a business sense $42 a day to keep your account going steady and keep money flowing is a great deal.

[rsot]

Lose on the small orders to generate feedback - win BIG on the large orders...volume vs. profit margins

[homerz]

Huh, c'mon folks,

there is also the shipping credit, which you all ignored. that makes the item profitable.

is everyone getting sloppy here or am I missing something ?

and the commission isnt $1 an item if you pay the $40 dolllar a month fee

[Kelly441]

Originally Posted by homerz

Huh, c'mon folks,

there is also the shipping credit, which you all ignored. that makes the item profitable.

is everyone getting sloppy here or am I missing something ?

It's free shipping

[Sandy D]

The guy I know who does 300k a month sells a ton of 0.99 items to build feedback only.

He says he dont lose money but he does not make money but like to see those 1000s of feedbacks showing on his account.

Also, some of the crappy sellers you see with 100 negatives do this to keep their scores up, they sell at below cost to get a positive to cover up the negatives they get.

[Kelly441]

Originally Posted by Speeder33

and the commission isnt $1 an item if you pay the $40 dolllar a month fee

It is $1, it's the Amazon referral fee and I have a Pro account and checked my orders, it's not the one that gets waived for paying $40 a month

[Kelly441]

and what is weird is that some items that are $1.50 they charge $1 for and other $1.50 items only charge 20 cents.

[Sandy D]

I wonder why Amazon allows these sellers with bad histories to still sell.

[n8zzz]

Every now and then I see a seller with like an 83% feedback score. I then proceed to cutting myself to deal with the pain .

[Kelly441]

I see many of the Chinese sellers with low feedback percentage. The reason they are still on Amazon is that their ODR rate is very low. They are selling items for $1.50- $2 just to keep orders up and ODR low.

[Wes]

Kelly,

I see these too. A lot on Ebay but Amazon the same.. No profit, they are turning product for whatver reason (Maybe they have tons of it, but I doubt it very seriously).. They look like newer electronic accessories that were purchased just to re-sale.. And from what I can see these are American Sellers.. It doesn't make any sense to me either.. If they are looking for just feedback, there are 100's of items they could use for that , cheaper ones.
Even a small profit on small ticket item, doesn't justify..

I do have some items that I am stockpiled on, that I sell at cost, sometimes below, for feedback. I at least try to get my shipping costs back.

[MICKY H]

You can buy deletions, end of line cd's dvd etc for 10cents or less. Sell these for 1cent and you make profit on your postage. So selling for 1 cent can actually make you 50cents. Don't fotget the guy who buys your cd for 1 cent has to pay amazon postage charges

[rsot]

Amazon Postage charges dont always reflect the true postal cost...here in North America at least :(

[falken]

Originally Posted by Kelly441

I don't understand how a seller that can sell an item for $1.50. Even if they are paying nothing for the item I calculate they are losing 42 cents on each order. $1 for Amazon commission and minimum 92 cents for First class mail. I tracked the seller and they are selling about 100 a day. I highly doubt that they are paying $42 a day just to generate orders to keep their ODR rate down.

What is going on here? Is this the cheapest way to ship small items. Something is gong on here that I do not understand.

Ideas?

Some sellers are idiots and don't realize the difference between cash flow and profit. It usually catches up with them quickly. eBay is plagued with this type of seller.

[falken]

Originally Posted by Kelly441

and what is weird is that some items that are $1.50 they charge $1 for and other $1.50 items only charge 20 cents.

Different catagories have different commissions.

[falken]

Originally Posted by rsot

Amazon Postage charges dont always reflect the true postal cost...here in North America at least :(

You're right, Amazon gives more than is necessary for most CDs and DVDs to be shipped via 1st class mail, and some sellers still insist on media mail accross the board even though it costs more for up to the first 9 oz or so.

[Kelly441]

Had to share this. Look at this Chinese seller. Over 800 feedbacks and he is at 69 percent. Just proves my point that they are selling items below cost just to build up orders and drive their ODR down.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aag/main/re...A12RK53ABII4OJ

[rsot]

This seller is really operating on the low end....wow still standing up on Az though