Please Undercut Wisely

[Kat_Manx]

So you prefer to sell an Item for 3k ( 7k less ) and toss those 7k, if you could also make 10k out of it? .. Not sure if serious..

It's quite simple, I can sell around like, 15 of those 3k items a day when people go "Wow, that's cheap compared to the one that sells for 10k!" And thus I have made 45k while the person who sells the item for 10k has made 0 gil.

[Reiterpallasch]

It's quite simple, I can sell around like, 15 of those 3k items a day when people go "Wow, that's cheap compared to the one that sells for 10k!" And thus I have made 45k while the person who sells the item for 10k has made 0 gil.

Or you could sell for 9,999 instead of 10k, and people will go "wow, that's cheaper than the one that sells for 10k!" And thus you will have made 149985 instead of 45k without completely destroying the market for a particular item.

[Kat_Manx]

Or you could sell for 9,999 instead of 10k, and people will go "wow, that's cheaper than the one that sells for 10k!" And thus you will have made 149985 instead of 45k without completely destroying the market for a particular item.

Right.. and there's nobody around to lower the price of their item to 9,998? It's a quick and drastic cut to completely thwart all opposition unless they are in fact willing to destroy the market of that item. If they are, they will undercut me, and I will move on to a new item and the price will have fixed itself in 1-2 days. Every time, by the way. It has never stayed as low as I have caused it to go. If it does some day, maybe I'll start worrying.

Not to mention any potential shopper seeing an item for 9,999 instead of 10k isn't gonna go super shopping crazy like they do with my prices.

Also, let me point out yet again, it's not all because of profit. If it costs me 300 gil to make an item, you're simply cra-zy for asking 10k for it.

"I can sell it for what I want!" Well, so can I.

So. In the end, here's some pointers. Deal with the economy. Move with the flow. If you get undercut, move on or fight back. Have more than one item you profit on. Cycle them, return to the first one when market stabilizes. Keep breaks.

[Kat_Manx]

Well yeah, because you started to floor the market so nothing will sell that was originally listed. So then when people see your undercut to 3k you then see people sell theirs for 1k and, well hey you just floored the market, congrats.

That's why any smart person stops selling said item for a while after that happens and sell you know..literally any other item.

[Steeled]

The best example I can highlight.

Before the WP myth tomes change, I used to make millions of gil off that place. Most people just didn't care about the chests, so after they'd leave, I'd go tag them. I was selling the sword from the chest in the square room for as high as 60k. The SCH and Bard items also sold really well.

Minutes, literally, before the servers came back online after that update, my PSU fried, and I was offline for two weeks. I came back figuring I could probably still get 5000 gil out of the sword, and a few thousand for the others.

Every one of them was under 100 gil. At that point, the only reason to list them is generosity.

[Molly_Millions]

The best example I can highlight.

Before the WP myth tomes change, I used to make millions of gil off that place. Most people just didn't care about the chests, so after they'd leave, I'd go tag them. I was selling the sword from the chest in the square room for as high as 60k. The SCH and Bard items also sold really well.

Minutes, literally, before the servers came back online after that update, my PSU fried, and I was offline for two weeks. I came back figuring I could probably still get 5000 gil out of the sword, and a few thousand for the others.

Every one of them was under 100 gil. At that point, the only reason to list them is generosity.

There is no demand for those parts. We literally have 37 bloody bardiche heads in our FC chest. It's like the pets. When everyone has one, who's going to buy one?

[Mitski]

The amount of ignorance in this thread is terrifying.

[Steeled]

Nothing is going to prevent me from undercutting. Ensuring that my item is at the top of the list is the only way I have to combat someone of the same minset.

IE, you're selling a sword for 100 gil. I can list mine for 100, but I have to wait for yours to sell. Yours sells and then someone sees mine for 100 and lists theirs for 99. Theirs sells, maybe mine next, maybe another undercutter, maybe someone undercuts us both.

Or, I see yours for 100, list mine for 99, and have the best opportunity to make the sale. Anyone that says they don't undercut is either lying or a fool.

[DenzelTaru]

Or, I see yours for 100, list mine for 99, and have the best opportunity to make the sale. Anyone that says they don't undercut is either lying or a fool.

okay you didnt read my OP.. it wasnt about undercutting in general.. it was about undercutting stupid ammounts and dragging down the market..

an undercut of 1-10gil is fine to ensure your item is at the top of the list and sells first.. but in the past 3 days something i crafted (not what i mentioned in the OP) dropped from 1800 to 1200.. i made 30 thats 18k loss straight off the bat from what i expected..

undercutting is fine.. its how you make a sale.. undercutting by 100s at a time is ridiculous

[amnie]

cted..

undercutting is fine.. its how you make a sale.. undercutting by 100s at a time is ridiculous

again, basic laws of economics tell you it's absolutely not 'ridiculous'. the people who do that often do it for a reason.
sure, some are just 'stupid' and want to get rid of their stuff quickly, but you can usually tell if someone's plan is something entirely different. think about it for a while and you may actually get it, too

you have no choice but to either destroy their plans - or just not play their game and wait until the price rises again. (which may or may not happen)

a lot of people use MMO markets for their own kind of game and literally do nothing else. when I was still in business school one of my coursemates actually did a paper on this very thing and how there's an entire 'culture' of this in EvE for example.