FIX the AUCTION HOUSE!!!!

[ValkyrieL]

My retainer found a ilvl 70 bow, I check market, 4 bows were listed for 70k so I set mine for 55k, I came back and hour later and 3 of the 4 bows were listed for 54k, lol. :-)

[Shioban]

My retainer found a ilvl 70 bow, I check market, 4 bows were listed for 70k so I set mine for 55k, I came back and hour later and 3 of the 4 bows were listed for 54k, lol. :-)

Ladies and Gentlemen we have found one of the problems. Hurrah.

[Issac]

Don't jump on me for mentioning XI, but...

Well, XI.

The auction house in XI severely discouraged undercutting. You could only see the sale history, not the actual price because of silent bidding. You would make bids til you got it. Sure, someone could still undercut by thousands, but chances are the buyer didn't want to waste time playing a guessing game and the undercutter would just get the average value when purchased.

The buyer would just check the sale history and bid slightly below it, whatever deal they think they can get. More often than not, they would be lazy and just bid the sale history.

It was ingenious.

[Dyvid]

Supply and demand, look it up.

[Jinko]

There is no real way to solve this besides SE putting floors and ceilings on prices, I doubt many people would be receptive of that.

The only other way is to have a weekly average calculated on server prices and not let anyone undercut or overprice by more than 10% of the average, this would require a lot of work on SE's behalf though and no doubt server space, so don't see this happening.

[Lexia]

FFXI actually AH was much better as you couldn't see what people were selling items for you could guess based on past transcations

[Themis]

FFXI actually AH was much better as you couldn't see what people were selling items for you could guess based on past transcations

Undercutting still happened XI, simply because you can see what the past transactions are.

The only way to really combat it, is to make all current and past prices hidden, and that you simply guess what you could get an item for. The problem here, though, is that no one knows the price of an item they are buying.

They could be lucky and get an item for cheap, or they have to keep guessing for an hour because the lowest price is something like 100k, and you are trying 5k increasing by 1k each time. If you don't know that the price is worth that 100k, you have no idea what you are buying and what its value is. This was the most frustrating part of using the AH on XI. Even though the last transactions showed a constant 10k value, someone could (and did) put it up for 2x that amount. You had to guess until you got it.

The problem is that some people don't understand markets and how to value an item appropriately. They just go by the fact that, selling for less than someone else and being at the top of the list, will let them sell their item quickly. But if you aren't that bothered about selling fast, you can sell at the "normal" price. As long as it doesn't drop too drastically, at least. At the point, you can always cut your losses, and move onto a new market.

[Neoma]

At the point, you can always cut your losses, and move onto a new market.

I agree on what Themis said. If the item price in question is not selling for you, look for something else. It is not worth the hassle and get stressed from it. I've been selling glamours and tries not to undercut. I also don't sell in bulks or in even sell 1pc in the same category. As what others said, supply and demand.

[dragonflie]

The only reason the economy is crap is due to everyone being every craft class, that alone means there are more supplies then demands, not to mention SE upped the drop rate of many of the profitable loot like Diremite web and fleece (due to botters and slow spawning of mobs), which further pushed the price down.

[RygaenYuui]

Uh. It's not an Auction House.

It's a Market

That might be your first issue. The quicker you realize this, the sooner you probably will change your strategies.

But I'm not betting on it...