Undercutting

[NegativeS]

I recently read a thread where someone was denouncing people who undercut on the Market Board, which is something that took me by surprise. I figured that it was something that was normal in every MMO auction house-esque system, or at the very least that's the experience I got since it was prevalent in every MMO I've played up to this point... and in real-life...

But since I'm still relatively new and only just now getting the opportunity to participate in an early expansion economy, I just want to ask, because I've been absolutely vomiting materials onto the Market Board at undercut prices and smiling with greedy glee when they all sell before the person whom I have undercut.

Is this behaviour 'normal' or 'acceptable' in FFXIV?

[Snorky]

Everyone does it, and if they get mad about it there is a reason. I don't feel bad at all doing it. Some of the prices for materials are too outrageous.

[aveyond-dreams]

Yes. At the end of the day, the goal is for *my* stuff to sell. If someone else is selling something like the Cape of Happiness for like 900k, I'm absolutely going to slash those prices down to 300-400k because I know that more average players will be able to afford and buy more at that price.

[MilkieTea]

undercutting by 1 gil is fine

tanking the market because you think itll sell ‘faster’ isn’t.

if something is selling at 80k gil (and i mean selling, not sitting there), either price at 80k or 79,999. you make more money, the market doesn’t tank, everyone wins. people will ALMOST always buy the first one on the list anyways, regardless of if its insanely cheap or priced right at market value. you simply shoot yourself in the foot, as well as everyone else.

[computerquip]

People get upset with undercutting because of the misguided reason. Your stuff isn't going to sell faster because you put it up for 20k less. You're just giving it to the guy with 100,000,000 gil already for cheaper. In reality, all it's done is lowered the price for that item until all items at that price are bought out.

Yes. At the end of the day, the goal is for *my* stuff to sell. If someone else is selling something like the Cape of Happiness for like 900k, I'm absolutely going to slash those prices down to 300-400k because I know that more average players will be able to afford and buy more at that price.

This is probably not how that works. I can almost say with certainty the people who are buying at that price are putting it right back up on the market to make a quick 500k.

[kaynide]

Your average player doesn't care about whether the market tanks or not, nor do they invest time into seeing how fast or regular something sells to make a judgment call about how much cheaper they should go.

Price your items at whatever you want, but there is also no reason not to try to make as much money as you possibly can...so ideally your undercutting isn't that off. Something like 10% / 10,000g max cheaper, see how it sells and adjust.

Or, alternatively like me, don't care about the prices because you're just selling random drops and price it for as whatever you think is fair and get that cash. I absolutely don't care if I'm undercutting in a huge way because frankly I'm just doing quick cash grabs. If someone is really upset about me undercutting so hard, they can buy my item and flip it for profit. Win win.

[Snorky]

undercutting by 1 gil is fine

tanking the market because you think itll sell ‘faster’ isn’t.

if something is selling at 80k gil (and i mean selling, not sitting there), either price at 80k or 79,999. you make more money, the market doesn’t tank, everyone wins. people will ALMOST always buy the first one on the list anyways, regardless of if its insanely cheap or priced right at market value. you simply shoot yourself in the foot, as well as everyone else.

Let's talk about that, tanking the market. There is no difference in under cutting and tanking the market. If I price according to the market price ( who decides this anyway?) And some one comes in and undercuts me I adjust my price lower. Competition good, so this person comes back and under cuts me again now I'm like okay why? So yeah it's gonna tick me off especially the same person doing it. So I lower my price again and the person does it again, yep I'm going to tank the market because now they are wasting my time because I have to watch the market boards. Sorry not sorry

[Shibi]

Is this behaviour 'normal' or 'acceptable' in FFXIV?

Sure. Some people will get annoyed, but it's a standard market economy so meh. 1 gil undercutting btw is what makes them lose their hair, but this can also lessen your profits.

What I find is if the item sells a big quantity and it's early in the expansion undercutting isn't the best way to sell just list it at a good price and let the bottom feeding people be bought out while you sleep, your items will also be sold at the higher price in the morning. More profit, roughly the same time spent.

Use the history button on the MB to see where to price effectively, or use a statistics website that does stuff like this: https://universalis.app/market/36242 to pick one thing randomly showing the 0% price that is selling is 1000-1100 (in the Aether DC at this time) while the cheapest is around 500. See how many are for sale under the 0% mark and decide... will that x many sell while I sleep so mine get bought up? Can I afford to risk doubling my profit while I sleep?

[Misutoraru]

I recently read a thread where someone was denouncing people who undercut on the Market Board, which is something that took me by surprise. I figured that it was something that was normal in every MMO auction house-esque system, or at the very least that's the experience I got since it was prevalent in every MMO I've played up to this point... and in real-life...

But since I'm still relatively new and only just now getting the opportunity to participate in an early expansion economy, I just want to ask, because I've been absolutely vomiting materials onto the Market Board at undercut prices and smiling with greedy glee when they all sell before the person whom I have undercut.

Is this behaviour 'normal' or 'acceptable' in FFXIV?

Free market, price whatever price you want. If anyone get annoyed by your undercut, they are free to buy it and priced at their desired price.

I am evil if getting less profit is the price to pay to see those get mad. I am enjoying it more than you think

[computerquip]

Let's talk about that, tanking the market. There is no difference in under cutting and tanking the market. If I price according to the market price ( who decides this anyway?) And some one comes in and undercuts me I adjust my price lower. Competition good, so this person comes back and under cuts me again now I'm like okay why? So yeah it's gonna tick me off especially the same person doing it. So I lower my price again and the person does it again, yep I'm going to tank the market because now they are wasting my time because I have to watch the market boards. Sorry not sorry

Position in the list doesn't matter that much. Checking once a day is fine. For items that have high demand, you may not have to even care. By undercutting so much that they won't undercut you anymore, you've screwed yourself more than you've screwed them.