How safe it is to buy/ sell items with the price tag of “1C or 1 CENT” on eBay?

And you thought how easy it is to generate huge amount of positive feedbacks in less time with 1 Cent items. Think again.

Facts:

1: Paypal charges minimum fee of $0.30 on each transaction. So if someone buys 1 Cent item, it actually cost the seller $0.29

2: eBay listing fees. Even if it is small, it is still there.

Then why they are selling product for 1 Cent?

A: Simply to generate positive feedbacks! They want to generate huge amount of positive feedback in less time. If you check you will find most sellers selling items for 1 Cent are having 100% positive feedback. 

B: Sellers want to attract users to their store and want to have a look at the other items they are selling. To be true to you, there are only few sellers’ fits in this category.

Who are these people and why they are selling items for 1 CENT?

Category 1: Sellers who wants to generate huge amount of positive feedbacks in less time and ready to afford a loss of $0.30 on each 1 Cent item they sell on eBay.

Category 2: Robots

“Fortinet” describes the scam in relation with the 1-cent items sold on eBay. Fake accounts were set up by bots power scam auctioning accounts through automated e-mails on purchase that end up in positive feedback ranking on the profile. "Once they have 15 or 20 feedback items, they can use that account to set up bogus auctions," said Guillaume Lovet, the leader of Fortinet's virus research team in Europe and the discoverer of the scam. "They can set up an auction for an MP3 player, start the bidding at $35 or so, and run a short auction so that it's less likely buyers will look at the details of the account's feedback."

This is a good example of a "cyber" symbiotic phenomenon (aka a win-win situation): sellers are making cash without doing anything, and scammers owning the fake accounts are building positive feedback, again, while sleeping, watching porn, or chatting on IRC - and only for a fistful of bucks. Indeed, with that 1 cent rate, building 100 accounts with 15 positive feedbacks each cost $15. And 100 accounts are a reasonably solid base to set up a good deal of bogus auctions... Ironically, most popular items among the 1- cent-buy-it-now-with-no-delivery-cost are e-Books.

What will happen if I list an item with 1 Cent price tag?

A: Most likely your account will get suspended, now or letter. eBay is seriously hunting down the sellers who are violating their Feedback Manipulation policy. It is always better to avoid selling items for 1 Cent.

If you are a new seller and worried that "No one will buy my items if I have no feedbacks", don’t worry. Trust in yourself. You don’t need feedbacks in order to start your new eBay business. If your heart is true, you are a good seller and selling your items at a resonable price and care for your customers, people will buy stuff from you! No need to go for 1 Cent items to get positive feedbacks.

What will happen if I keep on buying 1 Cent items to generate positive feedback?

A: Again the answer is same. Most likely your account will get suspended, now or letter. Keep in mind, by doing so you are violating eBay’s Feedback Manipulation policy. Your account may get suspended under the "Abusing eBay" section of the eBay User Agreement. This section states that eBay may suspend a user's account if we think that the user is creating problems (legal or otherwise) or acting inconsistently with the letter or spirit of our policies.

Can I report such listing?

Sure you can. eBay spokesperson Catherine England told AuctionBytes in concern with 1 Cent listings, “We encourage members to report any listing that may be suspicious to us via the "report this item link" located at the bottom of every listing"

I loved the item; unfortunately it has a price tag of 1 Cent. I still want to buy it, what to do?

A: Check the seller’s registration date and compare it with the amount of feedbacks they have received so far.

If the seller is new to eBay and have received a large amount of positive feedbacks in less time by selling 1 cent items, DON”T BUY FROM THEM. It is very likely that their account will get suspended in near future and along with their suspension it is also very much possible that your account too get suspended (if you are buying such items for the sole purpose of getting positive feedbacks)

I still want to list my items for 1 Cent as I desperately need positive feedbacks. What to do?

Just do it and see what happens.

My advice to you is not to sell or buy items with the price tag of 1 cent!

You know why you want to sell items for 1 Cent
You know why you want to buy items for 1 Cent

They know what you know….