I could take a day or two to sell 100 shards at 250gil. Or~ I can sell 1,000 shards in an hour for 50gil each. In a literal sense I make more money by the latter method. Why? Because people who are looking to buy in bulk will seek out the cheapest option. A greedier player may simply buy me out while stocking up to make a larger profit with a slower sale, or a one off crafter who just wants a few shards will buy mine because they are a reasonable number of items for a reasonable price. I am going to always pump out more money than price gougers because those same people are in my potential customer demographic.
