Pricing of items in general

[cisco]

Crimson, what do you consider fair?

I mean, as an example, as a rule of thumb, I sell things anywhere from whatever a shop would pay me to 1.5-2x what the shop will give me, depending on how big the person is/can afford.

Is this going to set off any flags or anything?

As an example, I've got an art I'm thinking of selling to another player that a shop will give me around 25k for.  I'm going to sell it to him (or her) for around 50k.  Would this be okay?

The same could be said of, say, stat pots.  If you sell 'em, you get probably around 2k to the shop...so would it be okay to sell 'em around 4k, even though most bigger players charge 8-10k each?

Is there any grey area?  I don't want to get offlined (or get anyone else looked at) by doing this.

[Crimson]

Selling anything at shop price is fine.  Often, you can charge a lot more.   It makes sense from a competative point of view to charge as much as you can get.  This gives you more resources, and deprives the other player of them.

[Berendol]

So, you're saying we can charge more than the shop with no troubles then. That's nice, I think. I hope there isn't a check for unreasonably high prices.

But what about selling items for discounted prices? For example, I think a frequent customer might earn a discount on his purchases after awhile, or maybe get a buy-10-get-1-free deal on certain items (eg. stat pots or whatnot) if I really like him. (I know someone who really does this sometimes but he will remain nameless) And there's always price wars with popular items too, just like in real life - look at your local gas stations, grocery stores, office supply depots, etc.

And what about gifts? Especially in the case of what we used to do, with "town gear" - nice items left for someone to upgrade to. But not to sell.

[Ashi]

It's not about making money...it's about "I have one and you don't!"

[cisco]

I think I should clarify my position.

Let's say, as an example, that I find a long sword, +1 +1.  If I try to sell it to the store, the storekeeper would give me, say, 100 gold for it, but then turn around and sell it in his inventory for 800.

I sell the same sword to people from anywhere from 100 gold (what the shop would give me) to 150-200, depending on the person's size and ability to pay.

Now, clearly, I don't go selling +1 +1 swords, but it's just an example, and it's this which I'd like to clairify.

When you say "it's okay to sell at the shop price", do you mean, using the above example, that it'd be okay to sell the item for 100, or would I have to sell it for 800?  And if the answer is "you must sell the item for around 800", how are we supposed to know these base prices, short of looking through the code?

[Maegdae]

  Theres where AMPFI comes into play.. though it has a vastly superior interface, BAE doesn't implement items/arts as far as I know.

[Domino]

Generally what I personally do is this:  First try to figure out what the shop will pay/sell for.  Second think about how rare the item is..shops don't take into account how often an item shows up and when I say rare I mean rare for your customers..personaly I find speed rings nearly every dive but for the average player they are few and far between.  Then on top of all that remember that you can usually afford to hang on to something for a few days so people can SAVE money for it while shops generaly only have unique items for an extremely short period of time.  Finaly offer your items in a setting where people can give you some competitive offers.  Generaly I'll price items somewhere between what a shop will pay and what the BLACK MARKET will charge.  This is because of me keeping things around for a few days so people can save up for it when they don't have the cash right NOW.  Simply having extremely rare gear avaliable at all is a lot more help than you might think.  I speak as a guy that's made it to level 50 with numerous characters solo and I think Crimson and Xander will both back me up on that.  As far as giving items away at a discount goes think about it like this.  People who know they can obtain gear from you easily usually won't play as carefully as they will when things are harder to get.  I've run that route as well and found myself selling my entire stock of gear to the same guy over and over as he ran the gauntlet and died repeatedly because he just didn't care.  Great gear does NOT make a great player and too much assistance will waste your time and teach others nothing.

[Xander]

Sorry guys, but I have to agree with Domino. It's not easy to find a great gear. It's not easy to complete everything that you need. Some of Domino'a prices may seem high to you, but I think, everything is up to how much it's worth for you. I pay 5k per one *destruction* scroll, though it's far, far cheaper at BM. And I understand why Domino doesn't sell some specific items for money. Money is not a problem for guys who dive deep. So instead of complaining, show some good skills and get money for the stuff you want to buy. It will make your game more exciting and you'll get more skilled.

[cisco]

I'm not complaining in the slightest.  I just want to know what level of prices would be okay to sell items at.  If Crimson says "go get the spoiler program and items must be sold at the base price or higher" then I'll just sell items to the shop and be done with it.

If he says I can sell items for whatever the shop would pay ME for the item or higher, then fine...and THAT'S what I want to clairify.

[Crimson]

The latter would apply.  You're basically free to set your own prices, but should keep shop offers as the base minimum.