Market Board Undercutting

[Eloah]

There are many factors involved, so it's not as easy as it happens on every server, though it does. I know for me, when I try and sell something, I look into several things, lowest current price, for the quality I'm selling, rarity, stacks, and demand. If looked at properly this can help you and other players turn a nice profit quickly. If everything is done "effectively" undercutting doesnt effect the sales all that much, because the prices would all be within a certain range, 500-800, 125,000- 150,000, etc.. I don't know much really, it's just what I've noticed seems to happen on my server.

[Chocolys]

It also depends on how many "free storage" you got. When you have only 2 retainers with their inventory already full, undercutting is the quickest way to get rid of the surplus of items before you reach a point where you can't carry anything anymore.

[LaylaTsarra]

Markets have been pretty slow... so undercutting has been pretty bad. Next week with update there will be a ton of money to be made and things will sell fast. Those who choose to sell as opposed to do content will make a fortune. I can already see the markets picking up pre-update this week.

[Lexia]

Want to see prices act like a rock being dropped in a lake? Then come to balmung.

[Dzian]

Is it just an Ultros thing? Or is undercutting the destiny of all crowded servers? Lich, being a lesser populated server, tends to have prices extremely high (20k glamour prisim) and items you can buy from NPCs be double or triple their worth. But Ultros can have an item worth 20k at the start of the day be reduced to even less than its NPC sell back value at the end of it.

What's the point? There's no profit to be had especially when the cost of selling becomes less than that of making. And this happens on every, single, item possible lest one buys up some additional retainers/alts and holds the MB in a very firm grasp by putting up the max listing, making it impossible for others to undercut you.

It's Impatience and Greed. a case of "must have money and must have it now"

it's crazy though as on a lot of items people don't even take a few seconds to look because there so impatient.
As an example if i'm selling hardsilver ingots at 10k for 1 and have maybe 4 listed at that price. but I hae a stack of 99 listed at a price of 600k (6k each) 9 times out of 10 the next guy to come along and sell a couple of ingot will put them up for 5,999 gil for 1. when if he took just a few seconds to look he would see that he could quite probably still sell his first even if he listed it at 9,999. but again it's just impatience. so he puts his up without looking for 5999 and the next guy comes along and does 5900, and just like that the price is slashed in half.

personally I tend to make a decent bit money off the smaller items with just a little bit of thought it's quite easy. send my retainers out gathering skins and stuff through the week and right about earlier today (few hours before scrips reset) put up loads of leathers cloths inks etc. sell em for a higher price than the rest of the week because of ppl rushing to get there scrips done before reset. and again to people capping there scrips right after the reset. hell even quick synthed nqs.

usually find by time I log on tomorrow theres not much left on my retainers. where if I listed those items every day the prices would be tons lower.

Markets have been pretty slow... so undercutting has been pretty bad. Next week with update there will be a ton of money to be made and things will sell fast. Those who choose to sell as opposed to do content will make a fortune. I can already see the markets picking up pre-update this week.

Don't think they'll do much in 3.5. there wont be new crafted gear, the 250 only came in 3.4. maybe a couple of new glamour looks (no idea though)
Materia will probably go up a bit for a few days when ppl start upgrading there 260 gear to 270

[Gemina]

Ahh, the marketboard. The crafters version of PvP. Undercut competition is fierce, and there are no rules or etiquette. Seeing prices cut to below the NPC value isn't any worse/better than those who sell items obtainable through shops at 3-5x their value. Though I am inclined to believe that those who undercut below NPC value have NO clue what that value is, and hence have no idea how to work the MB.

If an item I want to sell drops this low, my only choices are to sell to the NPC at a loss, or hold on to the item until prices go back up. It just depends on how much an inventory slot is worth to you, and if the item you want to sell is worth more or less than that. Gains AND losses are to be expected when playing the MB. If you're at a point of frustration, take a break from selling high demand items that sell like hot cakes in favor of expensive items that sell slowly. The payout over time can be nearly the same, and you save yourself the trouble of constantly monitoring the boards to adjust your prices.

[CherryCola]

If its a hot item you want to get rid of fast, but don't want to deal will continuous undercutting, you could also try selling it via PF. Sure, I advertise it as less than MB price, but by the time I sell it, the rapid undercutting on the market board has already dropped the price significantly lower than what I sold it for in PF.

[viewtyjoe]

It's Impatience and Greed. a case of "must have money and must have it now"

It's simple economics. The extra 10k is worthless to me if it takes 10 hours to get instead of 1 hour. Sale slots are limited and the faster your items move, the faster you can move more items. People undercutting below vendor sell are pricing people out of markets. They can eat the losses and know newcomers can't. Discourage the weak and control the price of your items.

[Intangir]

I also do the -1gil start for quick sales. May be a dick move but that's the economy for you.

[BHGlobbd]

It's simple economics. The extra 10k is worthless to me if it takes 10 hours to get instead of 1 hour. Sale slots are limited and the faster your items move, the faster you can move more items. People undercutting below vendor sell are pricing people out of markets. They can eat the losses and know newcomers can't. Discourage the weak and control the price of your items.

This 100%, it's no different than real life economics.