[Request] Add ability to choose how many items we want to purchase

[Seraphor]

It's all well and good saying that the choice to buy in bulk or individually is there, and that demand will cause sellers to list items in smaller quantities at higher prices for the convenience.
However that relies on the sellers recognizing that demand and catering to it.

If no one is selling these things individually and everyone who wants them individually is being forced to buy in bulk (and get screwed over for it) then that demand is never going to be recognized.

The option to negotiate these things and inform the sellers of a certain demand simply isn't there, so this system doesn't work.

I mean, imagine going to a videogame store to buy FFXIV and being told "sorry, we only have stacks of 10 for $300 available", and the store clerk has no authority to change this set up and upper management have no contact details. It's insane.


What would work better is some kind of adjustable system, whereby you can list multiple items at an individual price, then set your own discount price for a bulk buy.
E.g.
Individual Price: 1,000g
Multi-buy discount: 5g/unit
Resulting in....
Stack of 10: 9,950g
Stack of 99: 98,550g
(although in this example 5g per unit is probably too little to work)

Then people can purchase your items individually if they wish, or in bulk for a discount, and everyone is happy.

[Remyogic]

I mean, imagine going to a videogame store to buy FFXIV and being told "sorry, we only have stacks of 10 for $300 available", and the store clerk has no authority to change this set up and upper management have no contact details. It's insane.

To correct your example; It's more synonymous to going to a game store and saying "I want to buy FFXIV, but I only want the MSQ, I don't want all the other stuff" and the clerk says "I'm sorry, that isn't being offered".

[NephthysVasudan]

To correct your example; It's more synonymous to going to a game store and saying "I want to buy FFXIV, but I only want the MSQ, I don't want all the other stuff" and the clerk says "I'm sorry, that isn't being offered".

what kind of an example is that? That's irrational.
What does that have to do with the request to buy 1 copy of a game and not get forced to buy 100 copies?

Lets try sticking to reality ok?

Seraphor is talking about quantity of the item in question...not the materials contained in the product. Why in the world you would say such a thing is beyond even my understanding.

His example needs no correction....its all about materials/items...individualistic....and any relation to each other is pure coincidence/per need basis...not required..nor forced.

If anything his example is real world accurate....that's a common industry practice in wholesale/warehouse buying and selling of goods. While not common in consumer markets (only because consumers don't buy in bulk very often)

more often than not I do not need bulk items...I need ONE.....single...individual...item. But nope..have to buy 100 of the damn things. there's a time and place to buy in bulk...and a time where we buy individually. The market board makes individual purchases ridiculously stupid when it comes to this situation.

Like it or not the Market will fluctuate regardless with or without the request.
Take a look at EVE Online for an example...they've been at it far longer...and have a free flowing economy.

Will SE do anything about it? Doubtful...but no reason to get insane in "correcting" each other.

[HyoMinPark]

In the marketplace, you have to buy the full stack of whatever item someone is selling. If you just want 1 of a particular item but the only person selling it put 40 of them up, you have to buy all 40.
That isn't necessary. The technology to take/buy a custom number of items away from a stack already exists in the game. Why isn't it applied to buying at the marketplace?
Please fix this.

Thank you.

If you only need one of a particular item, and if it is something that isn’t particularly difficult to get, there is always the option of you going out and getting it yourself. For example, you need 1 Birch Log for something, but all the MB listings only have them in stacks of 10, 25, 50, 75, or 99. Well, you can always have your gatherers leveled to go and gather the item yourself. Maybe this isn’t a good example, because this is just the way I think about things (meaning, if I want something and it’s not available via the MB, I just go out and get it myself), but it certainly is an option that you already have at your disposal.

Another option is you could ask around in your FC or any LS that you may be in to see if someone in there is a gatherer, and tell them that you will pay them for their time to gather the 1 Birch Log that you want. If you’re asking for just 1, they may even have a spare and just give it to you free of charge. Especially if they have gatherers/crafters leveled and keep a stock of certain mats. If they choose to charge, however, you get what you pay for: you get your 1 Birch Log, nothing more and nothing less.

A third option is to just buy the stack of 10 Birch Logs, and sell the remaining ones you do not need. Maybe you can even list them in stacks of 1 or 3 to try and appeal to buyers that only need a few of the item rather than a larger stack. You can also benefit from this option in that people will generally pay more for less on the MB, so you could maybe rake in a profit from your investment of those 9 unneeded Birch Logs.

Maybe I’m just not understanding the big deal if you only need 1 of something unless it’s something tricky to get? What are the things that you typically want that you do not want to buy in bulk, but just 1 of? Are they just things that can be gathered relatively easy, or something else? If you come back to the thread, some clarification on the types of items you seek may help me understand your position.

[BeautifulNerf]

In FF11 SE allowed people to set up there own personal bizaars and go afk. People could buy 1, or all of your items. Was a novel concept for a game. Have your retainers sell stuff on MB, then, instead of logging off for the night, have your character afk while selling stuff from the inventory.

[mariannef]

In FF11 SE allowed people to set up there own personal bizaars and go afk. People could buy 1, or all of your items. Was a novel concept for a game. Have your retainers sell stuff on MB, then, instead of logging off for the night, have your character afk while selling stuff from the inventory.

It's bad enough on crowded servers with folks going afk (and dodging the logout timer) as it is. Or did you want folks sitting in a log in queue for hours, or possibly days?

[Falling]

Man... And for some reason, people still dont understand how people make billions of gil...

I can tell you its not by going out and farming materials for countless hours. Its by understanding the MB and taking advantage of a myriad of trends/updates/changes as well as understanding how quantities sell.

Perhaps rather than experience only 1 side of a problem and calling for it to be fixed, try experiencing things from the other side... You may even realize the problem you are looking at is actually not a problem at all, but even a convenience...

[Seraphor]

Man... And for some reason, people still dont understand how people make billions of gil...

I can tell you its not by going out and farming materials for countless hours. Its by understanding the MB and taking advantage of a myriad of trends/updates/changes as well as understanding how quantities sell.

Perhaps rather than experience only 1 side of a problem and calling for it to be fixed, try experiencing things from the other side... You may even realize the problem you are looking at is actually not a problem at all, but even a convenience...

I understand how the other side works too. I've sold plenty, and listing large stacks as a seller is often out of convenience, just as buying large stacks is an INconvenience.

My suggestion would eliminate this convenience 'tug-of-war' between buyers and sellers.
It might eliminate the nuances of listing items in certain stacks for maximum profit, but that would only serve to even the playing field for those who don't want to be compiling notes day after day on marketplace trends just so they can actually get their items to sell.

Perhaps rather then burying your head in the sand and claiming their isn't a problem, perhaps try to realise that the system is not perfect just because it's 'good enough' for you.

You list an item for X gil per unit, or set the 'Unit Price'.
People can select how many they want to buy.
People receive a discount based on how many they buy, you could even set this discount yourself, the 'Discount Price'. (-5g per unit or -100g per unit, etc.)

If you want to clear a large stack of items quickly: set an enticing Discount.
If you want to maximise profits and don't care how long it takes: set a lower Discount. (or even no discount)
In either scenario: you 'play the market' by setting a reasonable and informed Unit Price.

It still allows for career vendors to read the market and play it by setting appropriate prices, for both unit and discount. But it doesn't inconvenience people who only want 1 of an item for a quest and not 99 because they're not a bulk crafter.

This would be a QoL improvement for buyers and sellers alike.
Who likes filling up their retainer with a dozen stacks of 10 units?

[Remyogic]

That sounds like a very convoluted system that puts alot of extra burden on the seller for the convenience of the relatively few people who are too lazy to go get their quest item(s) themselves. Nobody wants to spend an hour of game time just setting up their lots.

[Jojoya]

That sounds like a very convoluted system that puts alot of extra burden on the seller for the convenience of the relatively few people who are too lazy to go get their quest item(s) themselves. Nobody wants to spend an hour of game time just setting up their lots.

It wouldn't be more convoluted. Right now there's nothing more annoying than having to break down the 200 items I have into stacks of 10 and list each stack one by one because I know the stacks of 10 will sell while no one needs a stack of 99.

So I list two stacks of 99 and players buy however much they want. Eventually the stack size is reduced to zero or small enough that I cancel the listing to relist a higher quantity if I've got more of the same item to sell.

In the meantime instead of my retainer having 20 listings of the same item, my retainer has 2 listings of that item along with 18 other items for sale. I've got more selection on the market overall and that means more appeal to more buyers instead of relying on a specific type of buyer for my profit. If something doesn't sell, then I know I need to reconsider what I'm listing or the prices I'm listing at.

As for the earlier comment about everyone listing the premium price per item if partial stacks could be bought so buyers end up paying more, it will never happen. If everyone is listing at the same price, you have no guarantee your stack will be the one the buyer is choosing. People will turn around and start undercutting each other to get their stack moved to the top of the list so it's picked first. That will drive prices down until they reach existing market rates because those are the prices people are comfortable with for that item.

Flippers will still be able to make gil by picking up the stacks listed low to get dumped faster though if the system did put them out of business, the majority of the player base wouldn't mourn it. A lot of flippers aren't even making their money off reselling stacks. They're making their money off the items that don't stack and such a change wouldn't affect those items.

I've played games where players could buy partial stacks and my profits were doing just fine because my inventory turnover was faster. Few players are going to buy huge stacks when they only need a small quantity but they won't hesitate to buy when they can get just the amount they're looking for. It also gave me a much clearer picture of where the real demand was so I could focus on those areas instead of trying to guess what players really wanted to buy.