How do people afford to put those items as FBA?

There’s a lot of cheap prime items $3-4. It seems like it would be negative profit.

Some sellers use these low-cost items strategically, like bundling them with others to create unique listings or using them as loss leaders to drive traffic. Others might be sourcing directly from manufacturers at even lower prices. It’s all about finding the right balance in your strategy. Have you come across any specific items you’re curious about?

They are either trying to clear out slow-selling merchandise, or they want to boost sales (maybe the buyers will order more items from their store).

I also sell some items as break-even prices if I have too much stock and they aren’t selling. Once the sales improve, I raise the price back.

Or, it could be a part of a virtual bundle.

Many sellers offering low-priced Prime items, like those in the $3-4 range, are likely leveraging strategies such as sourcing extremely cheaply (e.g., from liquidation, wholesale, or bulk deals), minimizing costs through Amazon’s Small and Light program, or using these products as loss leaders to boost sales velocity and rankings for higher-margin items. They may also reduce costs by shipping large quantities to Amazon, thus spreading inbound shipping fees across many units. While it may seem unprofitable, these tactics can make such pricing strategies sustainable in specific cases.