I agree with you that ebay usually does get you the best price. And I always start my auctions at 99 cents no reserve and free shipping. I do sell a lot of stuff on ebay and make decent money.
Having said all that I still feel like ebay fees are a total rip off! And they really do nothing at all to help sellers. If someone buys an item from you and decides for any reason they want their money back you're screwed. It doesn't matter if you say no refunds or returns. Ebay will give the buyer their money back no questions asked, and then they will get the money from you one way or another.