[Request] Add ability to choose how many items we want to purchase

In the marketplace, you have to buy the full stack of whatever item someone is selling. If you just want 1 of a particular item but the only person selling it put 40 of them up, you have to buy all 40.
That isn't necessary. The technology to take/buy a custom number of items away from a stack already exists in the game. Why isn't it applied to buying at the marketplace?
Please fix this.

Thank you.

Nope. Terrible idea. People need to just stop asking for this. It misses the whole point of the market being a free system and supply and demand. That is one of the factors that determines an items value and sale price. This would screw up markets and cause a rise in overall prices.

It works just fine in every other mmo with an auction house/marketplace.
Nobody who only needs 1 apple wants to pay for an entire apple trees worth of them. It's such an avoidable issue and has been done hundreds of times before.

Not to mention the fact that an actual transaction between players needs to benefit both sides, not just sway towards the dealer/seller getting the best deal. If the transaction FORCES the buyer to pay for and receive more than they actually want then it's not a fair deal.

You are not forced to buy anything. There’s a great market in providing smaller stacks on certain items, it’s up to someone to fill that demand. If someone is trying to gouge you on prices then the market demands that someone increase supply and lower prices, thereby undercutting the gouger. Those that invest the time to craft and gather items set the price they feel reflects their investment of time. If they try to take advantage of a shortage, that’s their right. However, they risk the items not selling and being undercut and by the time they adjust their price they have lost the money they would have made if they had just priced it well in the first place. That’s how markets work. You can also invest in an item and take what you need and resell the rest. You also take a risk, but that’s how it works. That’s what makes it work. That’s what makes it interesting and challenging.

I also really missed this feature at first. Then I learned I can put smaller stacks or single items at considerably higher price and people will buy them. It's actually pretty nice system that makes MB a bit deeper than more QoL versions of "AH".

You mean one of the most basic rules in the MB that allow prices to vary?

Be careful what you ask for when it comes to economics. Funny thing in economics that is unique to all other system is it fixes itself - it means if something were to adjust in the economy, you can expect every single required adjustment is made in prices, supply, and demand to accommodate that change. To succeed in the MB, you have to be the reason for price changes. If you arent, all you are doing is indirectly paying people like me who are manipulating the MB.

Want your items at a reasonable price? Buy in bulk, identify trends with low demand/high supply (HINT: Usually always after a high demand/low supply period because sellers always overcompensate), and understand the items you buy: how they are obtained, all applications they are used for.

Bottom line? Be smart with your gil and do the research on your buys - or you will be paying someone like me inadvertently to do it for you.

This is a horrible suggestion.

If you want to negotiate prices/quantities then stand near the summoning bell and shout for someone to negotiate with you.

But that would be inconvenient and tedious........EXACTLY.

The MB is a convenience for the Buyer and a risk for the Seller. The way it operates reflects that. If I want to unload a stack of something quickly, I put a full stack up cheap. I do this because I want to unload the WHOLE stack, not sit around while people pick it off 1 by 1 in 99 transactions. If I want to sell in "perfect sized stacks" i.e. 4 logs (exactly the requirement to make lumber) then I put up logs in lots of 4 each and jack up the price for the CONVENIENCE of the buyer being able to get exact quantities of what they need and the RISK that a) Someone may buy a larger stack at cheaper anyways and b) the fact that I can sell less items simultaneously thus reducing my potential income in between checking retainers.

In example: (Numbers random and arbitrary) Say Market on Pine Logs is 600gil each at the moment. If I want to unload a full stack of Pine Logs quickly, I will put them up as a full stack for well below market, say 450 each to incentive-ize either a) Someone who only wants 40 - 50 to buy the full stack and do want they want with the extras or b) Someone who plays the MB to buy the stack and re-sell at profit. However, if I want to maximize my profits, I will find what the lowest cost of a "perfect" stack (4) is and sell at or below that price, so maybe in this case the lowest price of someone selling a stack of 4 is 1,000gil each; I'd sell my stack of 99 in many sets of 4 for 998 each.

In other words, if you let people start to pick and choose quantities to buy from a posting, I and everybody else involved in the Marketboard would start to default to premium prices and EVERYTHING would skyrocket in price, which hurts you even more because now you are paying a premium for everything with no opportunity to buy in bulk cheap and turn it around for profit.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NathanZ

In the marketplace, you have to buy the full stack of whatever item someone is selling. If you just want 1 of a particular item but the only person selling it put 40 of them up, you have to buy all 40.
That isn't necessary. The technology to take/buy a custom number of items away from a stack already exists in the game. Why isn't it applied to buying at the marketplace?
Please fix this.

Thank you.

---

If you don't want to pay the price for goods someone else has made available at the fee they feel is acceptable, buy the amount they wish to sell at said price, you can also gather or craft it yourself:)

MB is for players, to sell to players, as a sale made available by someone for others at a fee they choose and the amount of said item they want to sell at said pricing.:D

I get where you are coming from, the request is forcing others to conform to your ideal price and amount, that's commerce though, this isn't a NPC transaction, its a rl player transaction. if you really want to barter with them, try and find out who made it (if need be check the crafter sig. if one is available) and /tell them to see if maybe they'll make an exception for you in a private sale.

If I want to sell 40 stacks of an item, I don't want only sell one.
If I want to sell only one, I'll do.

Depends on how well that items is selling, what are market preference, how many stacks players like to buy in general, has the item has a low or high price...

Anyways, we adjust.

I remember in 1.0 you could do this.
What we have now is much better.

It's all well and good saying that the choice to buy in bulk or individually is there, and that demand will cause sellers to list items in smaller quantities at higher prices for the convenience.
However that relies on the sellers recognizing that demand and catering to it.

If no one is selling these things individually and everyone who wants them individually is being forced to buy in bulk (and get screwed over for it) then that demand is never going to be recognized.

The option to negotiate these things and inform the sellers of a certain demand simply isn't there, so this system doesn't work.

I mean, imagine going to a videogame store to buy FFXIV and being told "sorry, we only have stacks of 10 for $300 available", and the store clerk has no authority to change this set up and upper management have no contact details. It's insane.


What would work better is some kind of adjustable system, whereby you can list multiple items at an individual price, then set your own discount price for a bulk buy.
E.g.
Individual Price: 1,000g
Multi-buy discount: 5g/unit
Resulting in....
Stack of 10: 9,950g
Stack of 99: 98,550g
(although in this example 5g per unit is probably too little to work)

Then people can purchase your items individually if they wish, or in bulk for a discount, and everyone is happy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Seraphor

I mean, imagine going to a videogame store to buy FFXIV and being told "sorry, we only have stacks of 10 for $300 available", and the store clerk has no authority to change this set up and upper management have no contact details. It's insane.

---

To correct your example; It's more synonymous to going to a game store and saying "I want to buy FFXIV, but I only want the MSQ, I don't want all the other stuff" and the clerk says "I'm sorry, that isn't being offered".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Remyogic

To correct your example; It's more synonymous to going to a game store and saying "I want to buy FFXIV, but I only want the MSQ, I don't want all the other stuff" and the clerk says "I'm sorry, that isn't being offered".

---

what kind of an example is that? That's irrational.
What does that have to do with the request to buy 1 copy of a game and not get forced to buy 100 copies?

Lets try sticking to reality ok?

Seraphor is talking about quantity of the item in question...not the materials contained in the product. Why in the world you would say such a thing is beyond even my understanding.

His example needs no correction....its all about materials/items...individualistic....and any relation to each other is pure coincidence/per need basis...not required..nor forced.

If anything his example is real world accurate....that's a common industry practice in wholesale/warehouse buying and selling of goods. While not common in consumer markets (only because consumers don't buy in bulk very often)

more often than not I do not need bulk items...I need ONE.....single...individual...item. But nope..have to buy 100 of the damn things. there's a time and place to buy in bulk...and a time where we buy individually. The market board makes individual purchases ridiculously stupid when it comes to this situation.

Like it or not the Market will fluctuate regardless with or without the request.
Take a look at EVE Online for an example...they've been at it far longer...and have a free flowing economy.

Will SE do anything about it? Doubtful...but no reason to get insane in "correcting" each other.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NathanZ

In the marketplace, you have to buy the full stack of whatever item someone is selling. If you just want 1 of a particular item but the only person selling it put 40 of them up, you have to buy all 40.
That isn't necessary. The technology to take/buy a custom number of items away from a stack already exists in the game. Why isn't it applied to buying at the marketplace?
Please fix this.

Thank you.

---

If you only need one of a particular item, and if it is something that isn’t particularly difficult to get, there is always the option of you going out and getting it yourself. For example, you need 1 Birch Log for something, but all the MB listings only have them in stacks of 10, 25, 50, 75, or 99. Well, you can always have your gatherers leveled to go and gather the item yourself. Maybe this isn’t a good example, because this is just the way I think about things (meaning, if I want something and it’s not available via the MB, I just go out and get it myself), but it certainly is an option that you already have at your disposal.

Another option is you could ask around in your FC or any LS that you may be in to see if someone in there is a gatherer, and tell them that you will pay them for their time to gather the 1 Birch Log that you want. If you’re asking for just 1, they may even have a spare and just give it to you free of charge. Especially if they have gatherers/crafters leveled and keep a stock of certain mats. If they choose to charge, however, you get what you pay for: you get your 1 Birch Log, nothing more and nothing less.

A third option is to just buy the stack of 10 Birch Logs, and sell the remaining ones you do not need. Maybe you can even list them in stacks of 1 or 3 to try and appeal to buyers that only need a few of the item rather than a larger stack. You can also benefit from this option in that people will generally pay more for less on the MB, so you could maybe rake in a profit from your investment of those 9 unneeded Birch Logs.

Maybe I’m just not understanding the big deal if you only need 1 of something unless it’s something tricky to get? What are the things that you typically want that you do not want to buy in bulk, but just 1 of? Are they just things that can be gathered relatively easy, or something else? If you come back to the thread, some clarification on the types of items you seek may help me understand your position.

In FF11 SE allowed people to set up there own personal bizaars and go afk. People could buy 1, or all of your items. Was a novel concept for a game. Have your retainers sell stuff on MB, then, instead of logging off for the night, have your character afk while selling stuff from the inventory.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BeautifulNerf

In FF11 SE allowed people to set up there own personal bizaars and go afk. People could buy 1, or all of your items. Was a novel concept for a game. Have your retainers sell stuff on MB, then, instead of logging off for the night, have your character afk while selling stuff from the inventory.

---

It's bad enough on crowded servers with folks going afk (and dodging the logout timer) as it is. Or did you want folks sitting in a log in queue for hours, or possibly days?

Man... And for some reason, people still dont understand how people make billions of gil...

I can tell you its not by going out and farming materials for countless hours. Its by understanding the MB and taking advantage of a myriad of trends/updates/changes as well as understanding how quantities sell.

Perhaps rather than experience only 1 side of a problem and calling for it to be fixed, try experiencing things from the other side... You may even realize the problem you are looking at is actually not a problem at all, but even a convenience...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Falling

Man... And for some reason, people still dont understand how people make billions of gil...

I can tell you its not by going out and farming materials for countless hours. Its by understanding the MB and taking advantage of a myriad of trends/updates/changes as well as understanding how quantities sell.

Perhaps rather than experience only 1 side of a problem and calling for it to be fixed, try experiencing things from the other side... You may even realize the problem you are looking at is actually not a problem at all, but even a convenience...

---

I understand how the other side works too. I've sold plenty, and listing large stacks as a seller is often out of convenience, just as buying large stacks is an INconvenience.

My suggestion would eliminate this convenience 'tug-of-war' between buyers and sellers.
It might eliminate the nuances of listing items in certain stacks for maximum profit, but that would only serve to even the playing field for those who don't want to be compiling notes day after day on marketplace trends just so they can actually get their items to sell.

Perhaps rather then burying your head in the sand and claiming their isn't a problem, perhaps try to realise that the system is not perfect just because it's 'good enough' for you.

You list an item for X gil per unit, or set the 'Unit Price'.
People can select how many they want to buy.
People receive a discount based on how many they buy, you could even set this discount yourself, the 'Discount Price'. (-5g per unit or -100g per unit, etc.)

If you want to clear a large stack of items quickly: set an enticing Discount.
If you want to maximise profits and don't care how long it takes: set a lower Discount. (or even no discount)
In either scenario: you 'play the market' by setting a reasonable and informed Unit Price.

It still allows for career vendors to read the market and play it by setting appropriate prices, for both unit and discount. But it doesn't inconvenience people who only want 1 of an item for a quest and not 99 because they're not a bulk crafter.

This would be a QoL improvement for buyers and sellers alike.
Who likes filling up their retainer with a dozen stacks of 10 units?

That sounds like a very convoluted system that puts alot of extra burden on the seller for the convenience of the relatively few people who are too lazy to go get their quest item(s) themselves. Nobody wants to spend an hour of game time just setting up their lots.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Remyogic

That sounds like a very convoluted system that puts alot of extra burden on the seller for the convenience of the relatively few people who are too lazy to go get their quest item(s) themselves. Nobody wants to spend an hour of game time just setting up their lots.

---

More convoluted than individually pricing and listing stacks of 10?

The system I just posted is far simpler, for buyer and seller, you just list an item once, with two fields to fill in.
We already have two fields to complete, but one of those is quantity and results in you posting multiple listings.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Remyogic

That sounds like a very convoluted system that puts alot of extra burden on the seller for the convenience of the relatively few people who are too lazy to go get their quest item(s) themselves. Nobody wants to spend an hour of game time just setting up their lots.

---

It wouldn't be more convoluted. Right now there's nothing more annoying than having to break down the 200 items I have into stacks of 10 and list each stack one by one because I know the stacks of 10 will sell while no one needs a stack of 99.

So I list two stacks of 99 and players buy however much they want. Eventually the stack size is reduced to zero or small enough that I cancel the listing to relist a higher quantity if I've got more of the same item to sell.

In the meantime instead of my retainer having 20 listings of the same item, my retainer has 2 listings of that item along with 18 other items for sale. I've got more selection on the market overall and that means more appeal to more buyers instead of relying on a specific type of buyer for my profit. If something doesn't sell, then I know I need to reconsider what I'm listing or the prices I'm listing at.

As for the earlier comment about everyone listing the premium price per item if partial stacks could be bought so buyers end up paying more, it will never happen. If everyone is listing at the same price, you have no guarantee your stack will be the one the buyer is choosing. People will turn around and start undercutting each other to get their stack moved to the top of the list so it's picked first. That will drive prices down until they reach existing market rates because those are the prices people are comfortable with for that item.

Flippers will still be able to make gil by picking up the stacks listed low to get dumped faster though if the system did put them out of business, the majority of the player base wouldn't mourn it. A lot of flippers aren't even making their money off reselling stacks. They're making their money off the items that don't stack and such a change wouldn't affect those items.

I've played games where players could buy partial stacks and my profits were doing just fine because my inventory turnover was faster. Few players are going to buy huge stacks when they only need a small quantity but they won't hesitate to buy when they can get just the amount they're looking for. It also gave me a much clearer picture of where the real demand was so I could focus on those areas instead of trying to guess what players really wanted to buy.