system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How do those 99c-and-free-shipping items make any profit for the seller?

To clarify: I mean on eBay.

These sellers tend to be Chinese and have very similar layout/designs as each other.

As a five year old - how do the Chinese kids down the road sell their lemonade at a really low price while still making money even though their prices don't seem to cover costs.


Edit- although economies of scale might be one answer, there are some items which are even lower than .99. IIRC PayPal already takes .3 + a certain percentage as fees and just counting eBay and PayPal fees, the user is already selling at cost.
gpt
These items are also often used to gain five star ratings. If they sell a few thousand items for $1 and get a few thousand five star ratings, it makes them a trusted power seller. That way people will be okay with buying their more expensive items.