Suggestion for partial sales in the market board

[PunkhAmun]

Hello,

I have recently noticed when I started crafting that when I need a specific amount of an item from the board, I dont have the option to buy the specific amount that I need and instead I have to buy a full stack of 99 just because I need 10 of them.

What I suggest is to give us the option to specify how many of said item I can buy. This would solve the issue for buyers who want to buy a certain amount, and also for sellers who have to divide their stacks of materials to meet markets demand of small stacks which limit their sales by the limited retainers space.

[Krotoan]

while your idea is cool (and already how the market works in guild wars 2) , I don't think it'll ever be a part of FFXIV. Soon anyway. It would require an entire overhaul of the way our marketboard works... again... (go check it out, it used to be this weird room full of retainers with their own stores).
Personally I use this limitation as a way to make a little bit more Gil. People are willing to buy a smaller stack at a more expensive price if it's more manageable. But I am sacrificing retainer space to host those stacks so I need to make sure it's not TOO high so at least the stacks sell.

[Nixxe]

No. It's my stuff and I get to determine how many are purchasable at once. If you don't like it, go get your own or go without.

[Elamys]

While it would be nice it is, as mentioned, unlikely to happen, and also as mentioned it's up to the seller to decide how to sell the items. If it makes you feel any better, people selling in huge stacks are generally hurting themselves too since you're more likely to sell and to sell faster with a smaller stack size.

[ChameleonMS]

Under cutting is bad enough. At least right now we can use a smaller stack size to differentiate ourselves from others. If partial purchases was a thing, undercutting would be even more vicious than it currently is.

[Zetsumei_Tsunarashi]

This topic been addressed in the past by the devs and the answer was that they expect sellers to be conscious of buyers needs and selling items in quantities that are desired by the buyer.

If you can't find items in the quantity you're looking for, blame the players for being lazy and not researching the market before placing those large stacks for sale.

Occasionally you will also have greedy players with a lot of capital who will buy up the market and resell in large stacks to force you to pay for large volume even if the demand is not very high. I don't really see this happen that much though, it's usually just lazy sellers.

Best response to these players is to vote with your wallet and just refuse to buy those large stacks. Eventually they will get the picture when their items never sell. If you buy in quantity you don't need you really have only your self to blame.

[Maeka]

It would be nice if the Market system weren't so anonymous, too.

Right now, the RETAINERS' names are listed, and not the players'. It's impossible to ask someone who's got a whole stack of items up if they are willing to take the item down, and trade you a smaller amount, even if you offer to pay more.

For example, I need *three* of a certain Food to turn into GC. I go to the MB and I see this:

Several stacks of 99 up for 1,000 each.
Several singles up for 5,000 each.
A few HQs up for 10,000 each.

I obviously want the 1,000 but I don't want 99 of them. I wish I could somehow find/ask that player with the 1,000 if he'd be willing to let me have 3 of them for 2,000 each because I'm sure not paying 5,000 per for 3, that to me sounds greedy. But I can't do that, because the names you see are retainer names.

And as far as the "undercutting problem", uh, try being not-so-greedy with your prices? I mean, yeesh some of this stuff is absolutely ridiculous as far as prices go. Food going for 10, 20k per meal ridiculous, and how it is impossible to get a weapon or a piece of armor for anything from Heavensward+ under 100k.

[ChameleonMS]

I obviously want the 1,000 but I don't want 99 of them. I wish I could somehow find/ask that player with the 1,000 if he'd be willing to let me have 3 of them for 2,000 each because I'm sure not paying 5,000 per for 3, that to me sounds greedy. But I can't do that, because the names you see are retainer names.

I could get behind this. The negative would be players messaging each other about undercutting and not being civil about it. But that negative is easily handled by blacklist and/or reporting. I know in the past I have been contacted by other marketeers about a particular item we were undercutting each other like crazy. We then came to an agreed upon price and did not under cut each other any further. We both got our GIL.
Just a little civility and everyone is satisfied.

And as far as the "undercutting problem", uh, try being not-so-greedy with your prices? I mean, yeesh some of this stuff is absolutely ridiculous as far as prices go. Food going for 10, 20k per meal ridiculous, and how it is impossible to get a weapon or a piece of armor for anything from Heavensward+ under 100k.

Free market. Just think about RL, how many items do you purchase for $x when it costs the company $x/50 to make and distribute.

[Nixxe]

This topic been addressed in the past by the devs and the answer was that they expect sellers to be conscious of buyers needs and selling items in quantities that are desired by the buyer.

If you can't find items in the quantity you're looking for, blame the players for being lazy and not researching the market before placing those large stacks for sale.

Occasionally you will also have greedy players with a lot of capital who will buy up the market and resell in large stacks to force you to pay for large volume even if the demand is not very high. I don't really see this happen that much though, it's usually just lazy sellers.

Best response to these players is to vote with your wallet and just refuse to buy those large stacks. Eventually they will get the picture when their items never sell. If you buy in quantity you don't need you really have only your self to blame.

Basically let the free market do its thing because it actually works in MMO economies. It's probably less true on smaller servers in some respects due to decreased competition, but on larger servers where that usually isn't an issue, larger stacks are more efficient for retainer spaces, but are going to keep you from making money if you pick sizes incorrectly. Like if I post a 99 stack of something nobody really wants anything close to 99 of, it's not going to sell. If I try to "force" people to buy it, other people will come in and post smaller stacks and those will get bought while mine goes unsold. Consequently, the desire to actually make money serves as a natural and pretty effective incentive to create reasonable stack sizes.

It would be nice if the Market system weren't so anonymous, too.

Right now, the RETAINERS' names are listed, and not the players'. It's impossible to ask someone who's got a whole stack of items up if they are willing to take the item down, and trade you a smaller amount, even if you offer to pay more.

99% of the time it will just be a way for people to harass sellers, even though they'd probably be offended to hear me label it harassment. Like it will be the type of people who think it's a win-win for them to have mats, usually base mats, and offer a "tip," which will be like -5% of the profit you would have made if you had just made the item yourself. Those people have no sense of value or opportunity cost and often think everyone should be glad to accommodate them. Like there are very, very few situations where I want to hear from anyone looking to buy my stuff. About the only time is if someone wanted to buy like 40 of something expensive instead of 99, at which point I'd be more inclined to break up the stack for them.