99 cent listings on ebay are NEVER a good idea. . .

With that said, I am listing a lot of stuff for 99 cents today. Why are 99 cent listings never a good idea? Because there is a chance that your item will sell for 99 cents. And since I don't inflate my shipping costs, this means I make next to nothing (listings are 10 cents for the fee and then ebay takes 10% and paypal takes 3% plus a flat fee of 39 cents). In fact, I don't make anything since I had to pay for the item as well. I have a few items I paid $1 for but some I paid $2-$3 for (and some I thankfully got for free).

But I still do them on occasion. 99 cent listings use to do well when ebay was not as well known and everyone & their parent didn't sell on ebay. Now you have to have something very unique & very desirable to start a "bidding war" (when two people bid up the price).

I am clearing out my summer inventory. I leave for vacation in just over 2 weeks and will not be back until October. I don't want to sell summer items in October and since I don't have the space to store too much until next year, I would rather sell them now.

I almost always lose money on these sales and yet I still hope every time I do one that they will sell for more money than I have in them and I make money. And then they usually don't and I tell myself I will not do it again.

So, I put 17 items on ebay. I paid about $30 for all 17 and paid $1.70 in listing fees. I need to bring in about $40 (before ebay fees/paypal fees) to break even. Of course I am hoping for more since it would have been easier to re-donate these to the thrift.

This may be the last time I list on ebay before we go on vacation and a bit of extra spending money is always a good thing.