Some idea for Auction House system in a Realm Reborn

[Dawiichan]

I enjoyed FFXI's AH system. I never really liked seeing the buy out price since it encourages undercutting.

[Roaran]

I enjoyed FFXI's AH system. I never really liked seeing the buy out price since it encourages undercutting.

Why would you discourage undercutting? Why would it be bad if all things were a little cheaper? I don't post often, and most of my posts have been about the market system, just check my history and you will find a multitude of arguments why undercutting is great (among other market improvements and reforms).

[Wolfie]

I enjoyed FFXI's AH system. I never really liked seeing the buy out price since it encourages undercutting.

Undercutting is caused and encouraged by basic economic rules and human greed, not the method by which players trade items between themselves. Undercutting was just as rampant in FFXI, you just didn't notice it because FFXI let you pay 70,000 gil for an item that was listed at 69,995 gil.

[Dawiichan]

Undercutting is caused and encouraged by basic economic rules and human greed, not the method by which players trade items between themselves. Undercutting was just as rampant in FFXI, you just didn't notice it because FFXI let you pay 70,000 gil for an item that was listed at 69,995 gil.

That's not the point though. Yes, people are undercutting for 69,995 gil yet it shows up for 70,000 so the other sellers don't notice. However the one selling for 69,995 gil doesn't know if someone else is undercutting him. However the lowest price would be really hard to find. I know it's impossible to cut off undercutting, however it is definitely possible to hinder it.

It's not really the problem of who sells their item faster, but more towards the fact that the value of the item is decreased. Take boar leather +1 for example. On my server it can easily sell for 60k each when there is one or two competitors. However, when other sellers see the price they begin to join the market, but in order to take advantage of the current price, they undercut so that theirs will sell the fastest. This in the end triggers a chain reaction, causing boar leather to go down to as low as 30k each in just a single day. That's a 50% price drop. Though you can still see that the demand of the item is high because even if it is a 60k or 30k, the boar leather still sells at an accelerated pace. Now what happens if you add the bidding system? Yes the undercut race will still happen, but the profit made from the item is not as affected as it was before.

I guess a better way of stating it is that it will still let undercutting happen, but the value of the item doesn't decrease as suddenly as it currently does.

[Punainen]

That's not the point though. Yes, people are undercutting for 69,995 gil yet it shows up for 70,000 so the other sellers don't notice. However the one selling for 69,995 gil doesn't know if someone else is undercutting him. However the lowest price would be really hard to find. I know it's impossible to cut off undercutting, however it is definitely possible to hinder it.

It's not really the problem of who sells their item faster, but more towards the fact that the value of the item is decreased. Take boar leather +1 for example. On my server it can easily sell for 60k each when there is one or two competitors. However, when other sellers see the price they begin to join the market, but in order to take advantage of the current price, they undercut so that theirs will sell the fastest. This in the end triggers a chain reaction, causing boar leather to go down to as low as 30k each in just a single day. That's a 50% price drop. Though you can still see that the demand of the item is high because even if it is a 60k or 30k, the boar leather still sells at an accelerated pace. Now what happens if you add the bidding system? Yes the undercut race will still happen, but the profit made from the item is not as affected as it was before.

I guess a better way of stating it is that it will still let undercutting happen, but the value of the item doesn't decrease as suddenly as it currently does.

Yeah, I had this issue when I started selling Electrum Rings. Initially I was one of two people selling them for 40k a pop and they flew out almost as fast as I could make them. Then the undercutting began and the FIRST undercutter dropped the price to 20k. Now the price is typically around 10k. I don't even bother making them anymore.

[Vanguard319]

Undercutting is caused and encouraged by basic economic rules and human greed, not the method by which players trade items between themselves. Undercutting was just as rampant in FFXI, you just didn't notice it because FFXI let you pay 70,000 gil for an item that was listed at 69,995 gil.

true, the auction house in XI encouraged undercutting, as the lowest value items had top selling priority when a bid was made. Ergo you could theoretically bid a rare weapon/armor or items for 1 gil, and sell it for the AH listed value.