FFXIV ECONOMICS 101

[ClaireAbigail]

My item. I'll sell it whatever price I want. If I want to undercut I will under cut if I want to overprice I will overprice. Some people want a quick buck to make so they will undercut just so people will buy them and sell them at a higher price. I know that will happen and frankly I don't care. I only do this when it comes to crafting materials because of this one glorious thing se implemented: ventures. Send them out for a hunting venture, get them to hunt the stuff people need like allapaku(misspelled) eggs. Wait for an hour or 4. Get 20-100 (depending on how many ventures you made) of them mixed of high and normal quality. Sell them dirty cheap. Watch the market suddenly collapse because of it. Buy them all at the collapsed price. ?????. Profit. There's more to it but that's the gist of it.

Honestly it gives me sadistic pleasure watching the market collapse especially if the thing I'm gonna collapse is something overpriced in the market board.

[ApolloGenX]

I like how the OP complains about prices dropping, but talks about running macros... when it's clear they are botting.

In fact, I assume most "crafters" in this game bot. It's not a judgement... it's a pretty un-engaging system for lackluster rewards, imo. It's to be expected.

So far EQ and WoW are the only games I haven't really seen crafting bots.... because you can craft multiples easily in either. In EQ you used to have to do individual combines,, but materials were kind of rare, and you had to get them out of inventory, so it wasn't an easily botted process.

[Sonofbaldo]

I'm sorry but thats how a free economy works. You can sell your wares at whatever price you want. I'm sure when supply doesnt meet demands you happily jack your prices up. Perhaps he feels the time and effort it took to acquire those items did not warrant what you think the item is personally worth.

Any player with tons of money could easily dictate the economy in this game buy buying up all of the product and then putting them back up for higher prices. I guarantee you, it happens...ALOT. As it always has in games with a free economy.

To hear someone whine about people undercutting when prices can and are so easily controlled by the in-game rich...You'll get no sympathy here. These games need more Robin Hood types who try to knock prices down.

[Anapingofness]

I, for one, enjoyed reading the OP's post.

I think she made some very valid points.
Often times I see items on the MB worth for less than what NPCs offer for them. Personally, I don't think one should be able to sell for that low... but I digress.

One thing I would like to point out about the OP's post is the bit about the Understacking.
I think most people don't see the value in it because they don't see a big number.

I sell individuals and small "stacks" of 2-10 of an item. I will make the items a bit more expensive but I know they will sell fast.
Why?
People don't want to buy a stack of 90 when all they need is a stack of 10.
People will pay for convenience.

Another thing I don't do is the undercutting game.
I have a minimum price of what I think an item is worth and I won't go below that price, even if the AH/MB price tanks, I will keep it at my 'fixed' price.
It means my stuff won't sell for a while but I know that I will get it when the price goes back up again.

[kidvideo]

The First Core Rule: -Everything- has a value in gil.[/B]

You lost it there, right at the start. Rule one: Everything is subjective.

You're basing your material costs on market board purchases, without taking in to account potential taxes. You haven't factored in labor & repair costs for gathering, let alone the repair costs for the crafting itself.

I will sell my HQ buttons for 100 gil each, just to clear the inventory space.

[Ryuukishi]

"I am entitled to sell my goods at price X because reasons"

"I am the boss of what price other people are allowed to offer their goods for"

[Ehayte]

Value of a good or service (in a free market) is determined by something called supply and demand. Perhaps you have heard.

When the barriers to entry are extremely low, it creates a large amount of competition which in turn shifts the supply curve outward, decreasing price.

The price of a good or service is also determined by the demand of the consumer, and your stacking argument is a derivative of two things called price sensitivity and bundling. When demand is low it would shift the demand curve in, which will also decrease the price.

When people say "it's only worth what people are willing to pay!" that's true, but its also true that, "it's only available if the cost of production is lower than the price people are willing to pay to such a degree that it's producers are willing to spend their time producing it!"

You also have to factor in how much people value their time IN GAME relative to how useful they find gil. I may value each one of my inventory spaces at 400 gil a piece, meaning me taking a 300 gil loss for selling 3 NQ Buttons might be a net gain for my utility.

OP has a basic understanding of a fiat economy that excludes externalizes and utility of its participants, thus overall logic is flawed in a practical sense.

Also, OP, you are assuming people are rational in practical application. That is a gigantic mistake when applying economics to real situations, virtual or not.

[Gramul]

Supply and demand. Let the market live, grow and change in accordance with what the people need, want, and can provide.

[LineageRazor]

Actually read through the whole opening post. And, as is usual with the case of anyone talking about undercutters, it is mostly wrong.

No item in the game has a "true" price, with the possible exception of the NPC sale price (anyone that sells goods for at or less than the NPC sale price is either stupid, forgot to set the price when they clicked the "Sell" button, or is deliberately providing cheap goods to random customers for some reason, possibly generousity).

Price of goods in this game is decided by supply and demand, and the total amount of gil circulating in the server. That price is not static; it fluctuates all the time. You CANNOT expect an item that sells for X gil today to still sell for X gil next month. Or next week. Or even NEXT DAY.

Players that undercut by significant amounts will only affect the market for a brief time before it stablizes again. If demand is high, their goods will be gone before you even notice and your stuff will STILL sell at your desired price. If demand is low, then their undercutting will help to stablize the prices at their new, correct price, and your flinging nasty tells around will not do a thing to change that except spread a lot of unnecessary negativity and hard feelings.

When setting prices for an item, don't get stuck on attitudes like, "this item is worth this much". Look at the history; that is MUCH more important than what prices are currently on display. Watch for trends - if the last dozen HQ items sold for 2000 each, you probably aren't going to have much luck putting them up for 5000, even if the six currently in stock have a 5000 price tag. If the last dozen HQ items have steadily been decreasing in price, then you need to price to match the trend. If you price to match the trend, and you STILL don't sell, then the items are worth even less than you thought - it might be time to try a new market.

Diversify. You should not pin all your hopes on a single product. Even if you control the market now, eventually someone else is going to see you have a good thing going and muscle in for a piece of the action. If a market becomes saturated with sellers, prices will inevitably go down as supply exceeds demand. It's time to find a new product to sell - or better yet, be selling other products all along. Don't be "that seller who makes Buttons in a Blanket". Make other foods, make equipment from other classes if you can.

Accept that players who farm their own materials will be able to sell much cheaper than players who buy materials from the Marketboards. If farming/gathering bores you, that's your perogative, but just because the materials for an item add up to 1700 gil doesn't mean there aren't folks who feel comfortable selling those products at 1300 gil - after all, for them that's 1300 gil profit! Why not just sell the mats for greater profit? Because mats sell slower than food, and take up more market board slots.

Looks like you already have an understanding of the value of selling in smaller stats, so I won't dwell on that.

tl;dr: If you are having trouble selling a good, it is YOUR FAULT, not anyone else's. No one can control a market for any length of time. If you're not selling, you've priced too high for the current market. Don't get angry at other sellers, and for goodness sake don't YELL at other sellers. Instead, reexamine your own selling practices, and determine whether the market can still support you at the level you desire. If not, it's time to move on.

[Ronyx]

Just got one question! How were you able to track the guy down? o.O; Those names there are his retainers name, so there no way you can know who is the person behind the retainer.