Lets Talk About UNDERCUTTERS!!!!

[CYoung187]

I just lol when I see people try to create "rules" in a free market. If something is getting massively undercut to where you are losing gil, that is your fault for mis-judging the market and demand of the item. Stop blaming others.

[Aeyis]

I just lol when I see people try to create "rules" in a free market. If something is getting massively undercut to where you are losing gil, that is your fault for mis-judging the market and demand of the item. Stop blaming others.

You make it sound like a free market is a good economic system to begin with.

[Lorglath]

I love the assumptions here that everyone else is doing it "the wrong way" and that somehow it's harming that person.

I greatly dislike being undercut by a tiny amount. To me that's saying you want to be first on the list but you're not offering anything real to the market to justify that placement. I'll typically undercut by 5-10k, maybe more depending on the item. If people constantly undercut me by 1 gil, I'll up how much I'm undercutting each time. If that same person thinks he can just buy what I'm selling great....I'll make another and put it up again.

When you have your retainers full selling all the time, playing the long game isn't always the best way to make gil, you can make more by selling bulk fast.

I've also noticed from switching servers from a medium sized (midgardsormr) to a larger (sargatanas) that part of this discussion changes completely. There's just so much more volume selling on larger servers that forcing people out of a market doesn't matter quite as much and whatever you're selling has much higher odds of selling without needing to undercut.

[Ksenia]

This sort of thing bothered me in EVE where manufacturing stacks could take months to sell because you can buy splits but here it's not that big of a deal. Selling here is as much about determining volume requirements as it is price. Many of the items I deal in, I know how long it takes to gather everything, I know how hard they are to make and I price accordingly. I also know when someone needs 99 and when someone needs 9. It's the same when I am buying stuff. Just because it's cheaper, that don't mean I am going to buy it. Inventory war is always an issue. If I see an exact stack size I need, I have paid far more than lowest price.

[FizT]

The only "under-cutters" that bother me are the ones who evidently don't look at the sales history. In 2.x, there was a mat that sold regularly at a price that made it worth my time to go farm it and put it up on the MB; that stuff sold like hot-cakes and there were quite a few of us on Cactuar who were making decent gil on it (but not getting necessary "rich"). Then along comes a couple of under-cutters and, I can only assume, were too impatient or too unaware to know that if they'd just list it at the price all the rest of us were asking, they could sell their wares within 24-36 hours. It soon came to the point I wasn't willing to go farm it. I figured if they didn't mind spending the time getting it, more power to 'em. I have better things to do with my time than waste it on farming and making precious little gil doing it. Maybe there are people who don't find farming yawnsome beyond belief, but I'm not one of 'em.


Then there are the total idiots (?) who sell items for LESS than what they could vendor them. What's worse, they put them up on the board in groups of 1. It's a /smh moment, every time. If they are significantly lower than I can sell it to the vendor, I'll buy them and vendor them. Easy gill is easy gill.

[CrimsonThunder]

RMT is a massive problem in the economy too. A lot of people saying how nothing is worth more than around 100k? Honestly, you're right.

Unfortunately all it took was a handful of people who decided to sell things at insane prices and another handful buying RMT because they wanted the item just that bad. How much bad money do you think has come into the game from people buying Gil and then run-sellers taking them?

[Dante_V]

I mean, come on, we all have done it once in a while, undercutting someone by a few gil, just to get the quicker sale.. i speak of the people who sit there and undercut by hundreds, or thousands of gil, forcing prices to where its not even worth selling an item anymore, and just better off vendoring it off. We ALL want to make money, can't we all work together and come to some agreement?? Lets work together, and find a fair medium to charge at base minimum so that everyone can have a fair share at making some money.

This is called price fixing. And no, I would rather price my items based on demand and quantity. I am not the least bit bothered by under cutters, that is just cheap high yield investment. Buy > Resell/ Under cutters = free profits unless they are consistently dragging down the price market, but this is a matter of the supply/price curve. The greater the supply, the lower the price. These are basic economic principles and once you understand them it is EXTREMELY easy to make money in this game. If you are trying to constantly corner a single market as it drowns in supply excess you are doing it wrong. Remember also single quantity items are higher demand in some cases and therefore can fetch higher prices (per piece) at certain points. Price your products accordingly.

[Dante_V]

You make it sound like a free market is a good economic system to begin with.

It absolutely is. It's working for FFXIV as we speak. Plenty of millionaires and capital for days.

Capitalism +1

[Giantbane]

The market is full contact PvP, wear a helmet.

Helmets, hats and other headware are available for all classes so you shouldn't have trouble finding something to protect your head and remain stylish. They're conveniently listed under the second grouping in the market tab. If you're lucky, your choice of head protection will be listed by multiple people in the middle of a price war and you can get yours for cheap!

When sellers fight, consumers win, yay!

[Amaya-Asha]

I'am both a victim and offender of undercutting (sometimes happy shopper buying that way too low item off the market board.) I hate when item goes crazy low or way too high beyond what it even should cost. However I will sell what the market is willing to buy within reason. If it really bothers me that an item/s is selling too low I will buy all of it or just enough to reset the market. Overpriced item can be reset to by flooding the MB to all time lows. You have to be flexible when dealing with MB.