How do commercial sellers make money out of 99c auctions?

[agent6974]

How do commercial sellers make money out of 99c auctions, you know the ones where you've got absolutly no chance of actually winning it for less that actual value, even though there only 1 other bidder? I see many sellers with multiple items 99c, usually with 1 bid I'm assuming is buy the seller at close to actual value. What I don't understand is how this tactic works. Even if a few people bid on the items at a few dollars, then won't the seller incure selling costs? Does this really work out to be cost effective, or is there some way they're not paying the fees?

As an example I was looking at phones today, seller had 30+ phones all listed at 99c. I could put $50 bids on each and know I would be imeadiatly outbid?

[*tippy*toes*]

Items like phones are always going to get more than 1 bid, so it's safe for sellers to list for 99c because they know there will be lots of bidders. If someone has put a bid on, so the item is saying 99c with 1 bid, then you bid $50 and are immediately outbid, it means the buyer who put that first bid on put a high bid on of higher than $50. You can't see what their high bid is, neither can the seller, but if they placed 1 bid for $150, then anyone who bids lower than that will be outbid.

They will only be outbid when someone bids $151 or higher. If the buyer who outbids at $151 put a high bid on of $250, they will remain the highest bidder until someone bids $251 or more. If you place a high bid, eBay automatically bids for you until you are outbid. If someone's high bid is higher than yours, you will immediately be outbid.

Auctions can go from 99c to $700 in 2 bids. The first bidder has probably put in the highest price they want to pay, say $700, then another bidder comes along and puts in the highest price they want to pay, say $900. When they place their high bed, the auction suddenly jumps from 99c up to $701.

There is nothing underhanded going on. That's how auctions work. When the auction is finished, the seller pays the fees on the final price, plus postage. Anyone who thinks they are going to get a phone for 99c and one bid is deluded. They are always going to reach retail value, sometimes even more when people get carried away. Ebay is not the place to get cheap bargains on high end items. If you do see a high end item being offered really cheaply as a buy it now, then it's probably a scam listing.