So WoW understands how to do crafting materials right.

[Barraind]

If players could list a full stack instead of having to break that stack down into smaller quantities that people are willing to buy, it would open up more listings that could be used to sell other things that are in demand but not getting supplied because the profit is considered too low compared to the profit from other items.

Pretty much this.

I would be really happy if I could list full stacks of jute, cloudsbreath, ect for the price I want to sell them for and let people buy a few at a time than have to use alts to store stuff and split them into stacks of 2-4 and relist as needed. I have to either not make and sell things or I have to not sell accumulated stuff, because I'd need 15 retainers to even come close.

With selling space capped at 20x retainers (I really hate this system), you're locked out of doing a lot of practical things you want to do.

[Terkhev]

That's just GW2 system. Tho GW2 also has it cross-server. Sure, it's easy to use for both sides but tbh I like current FFXIV more. Finding balance between price, stack size and retainer spots adds some fun to trading and allows to play it more - like selling smaller sizes for higher prices instead of undercutting those 99 stacks by 1 gil.

[GojuSuzi]

The issue is that (outside of paying for more retainers) you're locked at 40 sale slots. That is way lower than other games (last time I WoW'd, think it was 400, but it may have changed since?). So the market works differently due to having to be selective about what you list.

If I fill up all 40 slots with 99-stack items, and folk part-buy them, I still have 40 slots held captive by the 1 or 2 remaining items, which have probably been undercut. Also, I can list 10-stack items at a higher price than the sea of 99-stacks other listed and get a sale faster and for more gil. Same from the buyer side: choosing between paying a higher price per item to get the smaller stacks or getting spares that you then have to find space for in storage or within your slots is an integral part of how the market works. Part-buying would wreck that, and instead of people trying to play the market smart, you'd get constant undercutting (like happens in WoW, EvE, any other game where the market allows it), which means you need to babysit your sales to change the price (while all your competition is doing the same) as only the lowest will get sold, no matter what. That also leads to greater market instability, with prices crashing, getting bought out, prices rising again, etc. and again in all the games where that happens, you wind up with crafted items selling for less than the material cost, because one guy is haunting the MB for when prices crash and buying out the lot to craft on the cheap, so crafting becomes a waste of time and gil while gathering is unreliable at best and it'll take days for those slots to open up for you to list more stuff.

Yeah, it annoys me when I need a single piece of ore and cannot be bothered going to get it myself, but everyone has listed 99-stacks only. But at least in this game crafting can be profitable and the market stays relatively stable both for selling and buying. Being honest, I'll always complain about the 99-stackers, but I believe it'd be a mistake to change it.

[Darlantan]

The issue is that (outside of paying for more retainers) you're locked at 40 sale slots. That is way lower than other games (last time I WoW'd, think it was 400, but it may have changed since?). So the market works differently due to having to be selective about what you list.

If I fill up all 40 slots with 99-stack items, and folk part-buy them, I still have 40 slots held captive by the 1 or 2 remaining items, which have probably been undercut. Also, I can list 10-stack items at a higher price than the sea of 99-stacks other listed and get a sale faster and for more gil. Same from the buyer side: choosing between paying a higher price per item to get the smaller stacks or getting spares that you then have to find space for in storage or within your slots is an integral part of how the market works. Part-buying would wreck that, and instead of people trying to play the market smart, you'd get constant undercutting (like happens in WoW, EvE, any other game where the market allows it), which means you need to babysit your sales to change the price (while all your competition is doing the same) as only the lowest will get sold, no matter what. That also leads to greater market instability, with prices crashing, getting bought out, prices rising again, etc. and again in all the games where that happens, you wind up with crafted items selling for less than the material cost, because one guy is haunting the MB for when prices crash and buying out the lot to craft on the cheap, so crafting becomes a waste of time and gil while gathering is unreliable at best and it'll take days for those slots to open up for you to list more stuff.

Yeah, it annoys me when I need a single piece of ore and cannot be bothered going to get it myself, but everyone has listed 99-stacks only. But at least in this game crafting can be profitable and the market stays relatively stable both for selling and buying. Being honest, I'll always complain about the 99-stackers, but I believe it'd be a mistake to change it.

You have to babysit items right now unless you're willing to wait hours or days. Also with the system suggested it'll more than likely create more demand, causing items to sell faster, offsetting the retainer limit somewhat.