V D.

I sell and buy on Tophatter; as far as me as a buyer, you have to be logical and really read the information on the item, we all know that a real diamond and gold ring with a MSRP of $500.00 isn't going to start bidding at $1.00 with shipping at $3.00, right... Stay away. Now if you see a tube of mascara MRSP of $20.00 and it sounds like something you are interested in and it starts bidding at $1.00 and the shipping is $7 or $8, go for it, the shipping is generally enough to cover the cost of the seller's product, what they pay for shipping & handling to them, the fee's to Tophatter (which are listing and commision), the packaging and the shipping to the buyer. That is how I generally determine what to set the shipping at, then anything that is bid is my profit, which could be only one dollar. Or it may not sell at all and I am out the listing fee. But for me it is the contact with the customer's and the getting to know them and take care of any problems they may have with the order and of course to hear the great feedback. I always "thank my customers by name, I send them a note when I ship, when I see the order was delivered, I send them a note to make sure they are satisfied with their item and that it was received without damage and that it was all they expected. I have refunded for an item that the customer was not happy with, it was a full refund and I did not require her to return it, she thought the mascara she bought was a knock-off, she didn't really have any proof that it was, but then again I didn't have any proof that it was not... so I am still selling the mascara but letting people know that there is a possibility that it may be a knock-off and that it is a high quality mascara and to bid accordingly. You need to find seller's that have integrity and you will be very happy with TH.
Me as a seller, I will only sell items one at a time on tophatter, the fees to run your own auction or patner with someone else are just too steep, you would have to lie about the MSRP in order to make a profit and I will not put an outrageous MSRP on something.