What is the Deal With This? (About the Auction House)

G_ree_n - Sanctuary
G_ree_n - Sanctuary Posts: 248 Arc User
edited May 2009 in General Discussion
auction.png

Going solely off the conspicuously sequential ID numbers, I can see that all of the "Logs(5)" lots were from the same person. Is this some kind of lame attempt at price manipulation? Why do people do this? Considering that the auction house charges you more for each sale you have up there, what exactly is the point of doing this?
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Post edited by G_ree_n - Sanctuary on

Comments

  • Quetesh - Lost City
    Quetesh - Lost City Posts: 12 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    When you sell items in aution house you cannot choose the numbers you buy... if some1 is selling 100 you have to buy all 100 pieces.

    This guy knows that ppl would rather buy small ammounts then large so they don't wind up with mats that they don't need... So he divided them up into groups of 5. I have no ideea why you think this is price manipulation.
  • scionofchaos
    scionofchaos Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    Better question is why do people put things at prices only someone with a lot of money and/or a hollow skull would pay? They probably wonder why they don't get bids on their stuff.
    Do not walk behind me, I will not lead
    Do not walk in front of me, I will not follow
    Do not walk beside me, This twisted road I must walk alone
  • Tearvalerin - Sanctuary
    Tearvalerin - Sanctuary Posts: 3,787 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    Exactly, they buy at ridiculously low prices, and resell them at prices only a brickhead would buy. Id like to know why they do that :P.
  • chomon
    chomon Posts: 30 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    Or you could just farm mats for yourself, buying is for lazy/rich people. If you don't have the money, just go farm.
  • Oldbear - Sanctuary
    Oldbear - Sanctuary Posts: 486 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    Yes, let's keep cursing the AH but in the end we still end up buying something from there.
  • G_ree_n - Sanctuary
    G_ree_n - Sanctuary Posts: 248 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    This guy knows that ppl would rather buy small ammounts then large so they don't wind up with mats that they don't need... So he divided them up into groups of 5. I have no ideea why you think this is price manipulation.
    The first part of that would make sense if the AH didn't charge more for each sale you have in there. With that many sales, he's practically giving some of those logs away. I doubt his motivation is charitable, especially at such an inflated price. I suspect manipulation because logs (on Sanctuary, where that screenshot was taken) are approximately 600-800 each not 1k. Obviously he can sell for whatever price he wants, but multiple listings at an increased price could make people believe that 1k is the actual price.
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  • Zephyrx - Lost City
    Zephyrx - Lost City Posts: 1,563 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    It's funny to see the AH actually burning all of their profits....

    But of course, it's funnier to see them wasting all their time not even making money and hopefully wasting more teles wanting more people buy their outrageous items.. (Hint: Each tele costs a bit of money...)

    Super Expensive Outrageous Cat Shop for Greedy People selling Low Mats for like 9999999k FTW!
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  • G_ree_n - Sanctuary
    G_ree_n - Sanctuary Posts: 248 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    It's funny to see the AH actually burning all of their profits....

    But of course, it's funnier to see them wasting all their time not even making money and hopefully wasting more teles wanting more people buy their outrageous items.. (Hint: Each tele costs a bit of money...)
    That's exactly why I suspect price manipulation. If I wanted to make noobs believe that logs and other mats and items ... there are tons of similar lots in other catagories ... were a price higher then what they actually were, I would probably be willing to sink a bunch of money into it. Only if I thought this would actually work though, hence calling it lame in my first post.

    And yeah, I LOL at people who use teles for selling any item less then 1m. Although I pretty much silently mock anyone who uses world chat. Perhaps the "Coin(s)" amount in my screenshot may have something to do with it ... b:surrender
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  • Phoenix - Dreamweaver
    Phoenix - Dreamweaver Posts: 237 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    Anything you put into the auction house is a price manipulation.
  • OMGLAZERZ - Heavens Tear
    OMGLAZERZ - Heavens Tear Posts: 2,327 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    First I will say one may set their prices at whatever they want. Second it's probable that they are taking the AH fee into account into account. Third, not everyone wants to buy 25 logs so they can get...2 or 5 so they can finish making something, so, IMHO, it's a good move on his part to put them up in blocks of 5.
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  • jemima
    jemima Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    The first part of that would make sense if the AH didn't charge more for each sale you have in there. With that many sales, he's practically giving some of those logs away.

    You seem to overestimate AH fees. Selling one of the batches more than covers the listing fee on all of them, leaving only the tax, which certainly isn't onerous enough to drop his average profit per log down to next to nothing like you seem to think.
  • OMGLAZERZ - Heavens Tear
    OMGLAZERZ - Heavens Tear Posts: 2,327 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    jemima wrote: »
    You seem to overestimate AH fees. Selling one of the batches more than covers the listing fee on all of them, leaving only the tax, which certainly isn't onerous enough to drop his average profit per log down to next to nothing like you seem to think.

    You seem to over-estimate the logs actually selling the first time they are listed. Just because something gets listed, doesn't mean it will sell which means they lister gets to eat half the deposit. List an item(s) enough times, and there won't be anything to be made. But, let's be logical: they got the goods, and broke them down into smaller pieces so the buyer doesn't have to re-sell what they don't need, and they buyer doesn't have to go farm them now, and no one is telling the buyer that they must buy those logs. It is their choice to make the decision on whether or not the convenience provided by the lister is worth the price.
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  • MentalEdge - Heavens Tear
    MentalEdge - Heavens Tear Posts: 629 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    That's exactly why I suspect price manipulation. If I wanted to make noobs believe that logs and other mats and items ... there are tons of similar lots in other catagories ... were a price higher then what they actually were, I would probably be willing to sink a bunch of money into it. Only if I thought this would actually work though, hence calling it lame in my first post.

    And yeah, I LOL at people who use teles for selling any item less then 1m. Although I pretty much silently mock anyone who uses world chat. Perhaps the "Coin(s)" amount in my screenshot may have something to do with it ... b:surrender

    I mock people like you for crying about items being sold for any price other than what you decide it approximately is worth.
    Quit 100%...and surprised my forum account wasn't banned...yet
  • Solandri - Heavens Tear
    Solandri - Heavens Tear Posts: 2,843 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    I mock people like you for crying about items being sold for any price other than what you decide it approximately is worth.
    I'm grappling with this on my cat shop right now. The price of dull claws seem to have gone through the roof lately. At first I compensated by raising my buy price so I could keep them in stock, but eventually I couldn't buy any faster. I then began raising my sell price. It's currently at 5k and I'm still selling out of them faster than I can stock them. I put a new stack of 20-40 dull claws on the shop from 3-4 hours of buying, and 30-45 min later they're all gone.

    5k is what I consider borderline ridiculous for dull claws. Someone even left me a message "4.7k for dull claws LOL" yesterday. But people keep buying them... The market has a mind of its own.
  • nocturnalbastard
    nocturnalbastard Posts: 267 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    Price manipulation? NO.

    Common sense? YES.

    Imagine going to the grocer and only being able to buy 100 eggs or none. I think you'll find the convenience of having them packaged by the dozen makes them more purchasable to those who would wish to actually buy them :P