Idea against Undercutting at the Marketboard (The next.. )

[dspguy]

What PopeHat does .... best method ever :P

Too bad for some items, such as the ones that sell once per day, the market changes enough that what is YOUR break even price (with materials bought 5 days ago) isn't another player's break even point (materials bought today). I had what looks like a player like you buying up my stuff at what they thought was a loss for me. While I was getting a consistent stream of 500k-1M gil from a set of artisan or forager's just from quick sales to these guys. They were probably all smug about it. I'd just make another set of gear in a few minutes, put it back up for sale again.

They eventually stopped buying up my stuff and sold at my price instead (and then of course undercut by 1gil each, since even you 100k undercutters can only go so far).

IMO, that system only works if your competition doesn't actually create a new item again.

[Sibyll]

I deal with people like you all the time (and win) so I'll share my own perspective. You undercut by 100k at a time? I will still undercut back. You destroy my profit? Guess what? You're destroying your own profit too.

Two crafters don't necessarily have the same profit margins for an item at a given price. You don't know what your competition invested into that item. If you bought your battlecraft 3s and he desynth'd all of his from dungeon loot then that's about 500k-1mil of wiggle room he has. It's possible for him to sell his product at a price you simply can't compete with and still make a solid profit.

Honestly, I'd like to see more ways to differentiate products. When everyone is selling identical items then undercutting is the only way we can compete. Sure you have HQing, but everyone knows that NQ is desynth fodder or vendor trash.

[Lyrinn]

Two crafters don't necessarily have the same profit margins for an item at a given price. You don't know what your competition invested into that item. If you bought your battlecraft 3s and he desynth'd all of his from dungeon loot then that's about 500k-1mil of wiggle room he has. It's possible for him to sell his product at a price you simply can't compete with and still make a solid profit.

Your example is still a net loss because you simply could have sold the battlecrafts instead and made more gil that way. I farm most of my mats but still include their market value in profit calculations. Again, why? Because the end product better sell for more than the mats were worth. If it's not, sell the mats instead.

[papichulo123]

undercut but not so much unless the price for the item is ridiculous.

[papichulo123]

im broke i need to farm everything i need. i dont like crafting i am doomed i will be broke forever

[Lycelle]

Or just be like Martha Stewart and pull your money out before the MB crashes. Ahahaha.

But no seriously, you're better off just selling goods out of pocket, via PF. This way you avoid tax and you have a set static price. To people who come to you to buy it. You can say no and just move onto the next. I don't play the MB due to people undercutting. It's a schmuck thing to do, but that's the gist of it. Be lucky it's not RMT.

[Kathyj1508]

I can see getting frustrated by people who undercut a product by a wide margin, it drives me nuts too (ofcourse its a short drive for me ;p) But I can not get a handle on someone selling something for 1gil on an item that is vendor priced lets say anywhere between 2gil on up. Don't they understand that with the percentage the market takes they are giving away gil that they could have got selling to a vendor? Just to say "I won that auction?" Sorry ....just had to vent ....shakes her head and wonders off..........

[Wintersandman]

Your example is still a net loss because you simply could have sold the battlecrafts instead and made more gil that way. I farm most of my mats but still include their market value in profit calculations. Again, why? Because the end product better sell for more than the mats were worth. If it's not, sell the mats instead.

Depends on the time value of gathering said items. Time is money too. Some people don't value their time as high. Also if your short on inventory space. Space is money. Sometimes you want something to move quick so you can sell more or get more things out the door. In order to get things to move you drop the price.

[Nicobo]

...But I can not get a handle on someone selling something for 1gil on an item that is vendor priced lets say anywhere between 2gil on up...

I think these players are just very kind and donate those 1G item to who needed.
It is charity! ^^;

[chidarake]

kinda late to this discussion and cant be bothered to read most the posts arguing it all.

from my time as a crafter and selling things on the mb I can happily say I will undercut everyone, why you ask.? well simple I want the sale, and so long as im making gil on what I sell that is fine by me. if it gets so low that the profit is not there then ill bow out or let others sell there stuff, the benefit to me and anyone else doing it is that I then control the market for awhile ad can lists things at a more fair price, as in I make profit but not so much the things don't sell.

if your goal is to get 1mil from each sale then your doing something wrong.. not the making the gil, thats fine, but what is going to happen is they don't sell so fast and then the mats you need to make those items become scarcer because they too don't sell so fast, which in turn drives prices up. now eventually this will be corrected because people see the high value and its mass farmed for quick gil, but it would be better if the prices stayed somewhat stable.. they never will though.

as for the whole subject of massive undercuts, well if its being listed at 1mil and you make it for 20k then guess what its getting undercut massively, if its made for 800k and your selling at 1mil its just because someone got some cheaper or potentially free mats and so can go much lower than you, if you don't like the newer price point sell off move on and come back when the price is back to what you thing the price should be.

a good example is that awhile ago levin barding was selling at its normal value on my server at 500k each, this price had been steady for quite awhile, average profit on it was 150k, then for some reason people started farming ramuh a lot more this allowed me to make them at 150k each, so I made 10.. adding so many to the market is going to cause ripples so what I did was list all 10 at 250k each.. they all sold in a matter of hours, I made 1mil gil in the venture and the market stayed relatively stable, yeah some people undercut me but I had my price and knew they would sell, so sometimes when you see those massive undercuts its just because people now have the means to do it.. best to let them sell of quickly and wait it out.

lessen about the mb that any long term crafter has learned is that if you price fair you'll sell more and hence make more, you'll also maintain the mb in other ways by being more fair rather than gouging every last gil you can. you have to remember most people don't even have 500k never mind 1mil or 100mil