Undercut Hell

[Bleakk]

Economics 101

[HakuroDK]

This is what a free market is. If you see someone undercut you by an obscene amount on an item that is in at least a moderate demand, then buy that item, relist it at a more appropriate price, and gather the profits. That's one option, and an option that I personally take advantage of from time to time. There's not a huge amount of integrity in this option, but it's the most efficient method.

Another option would be to ignore the undercut price, acknowledge that it is only one or two items that will get sold quickly, and keep listing at your intended price.

[Krr]

We do not need a blind auction system. Any advocacy for it is just advocacy for supply-end price manipulation.

Markets only function when both buyer and seller have full information on what they are buying and selling, which blind auctions prevent. Blind auctions are part of the equation making FFXI's market economy dysfunctional.

Undercuts are not 'malicious' or 'exploitative'. They're basic supply, demand, and market competition theory. The 'undercutters' are not denying your ability to make a sale - your high price is generating a surplus you need to react to.

All the same tactics used on the FFXIV market board are tactics used in the real world every day and considered legitimate uses of the free market. Including one-gil undercuts. Haven't you ever seen an item for 39.99 instead of $40.00?

[Zephyranthes]

So by the middle of the day, the item I was selling was 375k and I was selling them very regularly.. all of a sudden some moron places one on the market for 200k.. an undercut of 175k..

Bad for sellers but good for buyers. This is beneficial depending you look at it.

[Dyvid]

Supply and demand

[giantslayer]

Supply and demand

+1

You can make much better business decisions as a crafter if you understand some of the basics of economics.

[Thistledown]

I never undercut. I look at the sales history, and mark accordingly. Sure quick sales are nice but the price will always vary once people buy the cheap stuff off and only reasonable prices remain.

'This too shall pass' is my idiom for selling on MB.

Buying is a lot trickier since I don't have a more comprehensive knowledge of the market yet.

[alimdia]

If someone undercuts me by 1 gil repeatedly, I lower the price much more since I dont have time to undercut by 1 gil all day. I only change prices a few times a day

[Aunalise]

If someone undercuts me by 1 gil repeatedly, I lower the price much more since I dont have time to undercut by 1 gil all day. I only change prices a few times a day

This logic is slightly flawed.
The logic of others on this thread that "1g undercutters tick me off and I'll undercut by 1kg to 10kg out of pure spite" is hideously flawed.

All that is happening in these cases is that gil is left on the table, i.e., contributed to the buyer (who might be a flipper if you undercut an item by 10% or more, creating a profit opportunity)

[Catwho]

The trick to never having to deal with undercutters is to only ever craft or selling things that have 0 competition to begin with. Thank you, quantity sort!