eBay Australia — actually, not just Australia, but in my category, the top sellers are pricing their items at $15 AUD. That’s exactly what I pay just to ship a 0.3kg package (20x10x6cm) via Australia Post (2–6 day delivery).
They list their location as Australia, so they’re shipping locally. I’ve asked multiple 3PLs, and the cheapest I can find is around $8–9 AUD for tracked shipping — and that’s with strict size limits.
How are they pricing at $15 and still making money? What am I missing?
Answers (5)
There’s a whole ecosystem of sellers who buy damaged, returned, or salvaged goods from major retailers and manufacturers — sometimes for pennies on the dollar. A product that costs you $15 to source might cost them $2. They can price at $10, undercut everyone, and still make a profit.
If you’re buying first-run inventory from a supplier, you’ll never beat that price.
Believe it or not, some companies are running at a loss intentionally:
They’re trying to hit revenue targets for investors
They’re clearing inventory to free up cash
They’re new entrants burning cash to gain market share
From the outside, it looks like they’re selling below cost. Sometimes, they actually are.
This is real, especially on cross-border sales. In the US, the $800 de minimis exemption means some sellers can import without paying duties if they structure shipments correctly. Others under-declare customs value — which is risky, but some do it anyway.
If your competitor is playing those games, your landed cost will never match theirs.
If you’re shipping 100+ orders a day, your carrier rates are dramatically lower than what a small seller pays. Some large accounts negotiate flat monthly fees or volume-based discounts that can cut per-order shipping costs by 30–50%.
That’s not even counting the really aggressive ones — off-record carrier deals that regular sellers can’t access.
A lot of those ultra-low prices come from clearance sales. Think:
Imperfect goods (cosmetic damage, returns)
Slow-moving inventory that’s been sitting in a warehouse too long
Bulk liquidation from retailers or manufacturers
Some sellers specialize in buying pallets of returned or overstocked items and reselling them at cost or below. They’re not trying to make money on the product — they’re just trying to recover something before it becomes a total loss.