Quote Originally Posted by Jojoya View Post
Yet supply and demand still have an impact on the marketboard prices.

Why does the Suzusaurus that was selling for 12 million gil 3 weeks ago now go for just over a million? Because supply increased while the number of players who are willing to pay 12 million gil for it has not. Sellers kept undercutting each other trying to stay at the top of the list while buyers continued to pass on the opportunity. The price seems to be stable for the near future but it will soon be taking another dip as the players willing to buy at 1-1.5 million get theirs and move on.
You talk about how sometimes retailers have to slash prices. Of course that happens, and we see that in FFXIV. But it is usually something along the lines of old items becoming obsolete, like the classical gear when rinascita came out. Or if some item becomes available by some other means for less effort. However, you don't see retailers cutting prices if the "sale history" is healthy - lots of sales per day at a certain price. They don't cut it by 50% just out of spite. You will see retailers undercut others - of course they can't do it 1 penny at a time - the effort to relist and advertise those prices just isn't worth it.

As for the items where cutting prices makes sense - there are going to be items that fit that bill - mounts and minions and stuff that sells a few times per week for 7-to-8 digit gil where the lower price does matter. For those items, the decision to buy is made when they punch in the item name and see the price.

The other 99% of the stuff on the marketboard - the decision is made when they walk up to the marketboard. Not when they see the price. It doesn't matter what the price is. If you play the 1 gil game on the rest of the economy, that is the way to win.