#1. No, the fee is not what you think it is. It is a gil sink fee and removes gil from the market. In any mmo, the amount of gil that enters the market must also be removed from the market to keep the game healthy. If gil is not removed from the game you get a pile up of gil and inflation of prices. Anyone new and entering the game would never be able to afford anything in the game. We eliminate players into the community thus hurting the game. This scenario has been seen thousands of times over countless MMOs. This is why the term gold-sink came into existence.

At the same time, gil must enter the community at the same rate it is being destroyed or there will be no gil eventually over time. Adding a fee to any item sold is a great way to remove gil. If you've seen MMOs since the dawn of their time, you would know that listing fees of any type is a gil/gold sink feature. Like these FC houses which will be gigantic gil sinks.This should be common knowledge.