AH price out of control?

[pMagic]

I've noticed that things have gotten more expensive since the switch from the gold standard.

Has anyone noticed this?

Does anyone know how much prices have changed for certain items?

[FlyingTurtle]

It's just general inflation caused by generation of currency exceeding removal of currency from the system.

[systemstate]

I've noticed that things have gotten more expensive since the switch from the gold standard.

Has anyone noticed this?

Does anyone know how much prices have changed for certain items?

Some things are definitely more expensive than before, while other items have finally leveled out and are back down to where they used to be.

Paralyzers for example are finally back down in the 100k-175k gp range for the most part. Tomes have gotten a bit spendy I think though.

[Pape_27]

The cost of ingredients has gone thru the roof. a mill plat for a large scale? waaaaay too much. 150 to 200 k plat for a funk? again, way too much.

Whats the cause beyond normal inflation? plat farmers? thats the direction i would be leaning towards.


_

[Ratnix]

it has nothing to do with the switch from the gold standard.

It will happen in any game of this type.

Currency is created out of nothing. You loot currency from breakables. You sell junk to vendors who have unlimited amounts of currency.
That is currency created out of nothing. Every single player is able to acquire currency in this way.
The longer the game is out, the more currency is introduced into the system.

The more currency that is in a system, the more currency that is avaliable to the players to spend on items sold by other players.

There are ways to keep this in check, but with the unlimited amount of currency being avaliable from vendors and loot, it is an uphill battle.

Anytime a player with loads of currency quits the game and doesn't give all their stuff to somebody else, that currency leaves the system.
Developers can, and do, put in Money sinks such as taxes, fees, and other things that require players to spend currency at vendors that take currency out of the system.

There really is no way to stop this from happening aside from removing all currency from the game and starting over. Which, as you can imagine, would **** off the players to no end.

What usually ends up happening is developers will eventually start to give away large amounts of currency to newly created characters so as to alleviate the burden of not having the cash to purchase anything on the market. This can be done in a number of ways such as giving them starter items that will sell for decent amount of currency, but is only avaliable to newly created characters once.

The problem with that is it will then get abuse by players who just create new character after character in order to farm the currency created for the True new players.
Of course the economic system of the game is usually totally borked by the time it gets to this stage so that is less of an issue.

[FlyingTurtle]

What usually ends up happening is developers will eventually start to give away large amounts of currency to newly created characters so as to alleviate the burden of not having the cash to purchase anything on the market.

They're already doing this in the form of stone of change collectables (e.g. feverblanch, pure water, tome: prophecies of khyber). It's a good system, causing wealth to redistribute partially from high levels to lowbies without unbalancing the lowbie game too much.

[pMagic]

it has nothing to do with the switch from the gold standard.

It will happen in any game of this type.

Currency is created out of nothing. You loot currency from breakables. You sell junk to vendors who have unlimited amounts of currency.
That is currency created out of nothing. Every single player is able to acquire currency in this way.
The longer the game is out, the more currency is introduced into the system.

The more currency that is in a system, the more currency that is avaliable to the players to spend on items sold by other players.

There are ways to keep this in check, but with the unlimited amount of currency being avaliable from vendors and loot, it is an uphill battle.

Anytime a player with loads of currency quits the game and doesn't give all their stuff to somebody else, that currency leaves the system.
Developers can, and do, put in Money sinks such as taxes, fees, and other things that require players to spend currency at vendors that take currency out of the system.

There really is no way to stop this from happening aside from removing all currency from the game and starting over. Which, as you can imagine, would **** off the players to no end.

What usually ends up happening is developers will eventually start to give away large amounts of currency to newly created characters so as to alleviate the burden of not having the cash to purchase anything on the market. This can be done in a number of ways such as giving them starter items that will sell for decent amount of currency, but is only avaliable to newly created characters once.

The problem with that is it will then get abuse by players who just create new character after character in order to farm the currency created for the True new players.
Of course the economic system of the game is usually totally borked by the time it gets to this stage so that is less of an issue.

I agree with you. Things will get more as more currency is introduced. This is very unfortunate for anyone who is new to the game. I remember I was able to fully equip my toon at level 4 with only 20k plat just awhile ago. I can only get 1 or 2 decent items off the AH now for that price.

I can see the prices for higher end ingredients going for higher and higher as seasoned players get more plats in their coffers and will just purchase a rare ingredient rather then farm for it. But I would think that lowbie stuff like +1 to +3 weapon would become less and less expensive due to the fact that they drop more often.

1 mil plat for large devil scale is really ridiculous but if someone is willing to purchase it then it will continue to be offered.

Is the cap of ~4+ mil plat per toon still there? If that's the case in time you can't buy stuff of the AH anymore.

[Ratnix]

They're already doing this in the form of stone of change collectables (e.g. feverblanch, pure water, tome: prophecies of khyber). It's a good system, causing wealth to redistribute partially from high levels to lowbies without unbalancing the lowbie game too much.

True, not quite what I am talking about, but a very good example of it implemented.

I played one game where they go to the point that at specific levels, new players received an item that was sold for, relatively little by advanced player standards, a decent amount of cash.
It was a one time shot, but it was just given to new players for the express purpose of selling it to a merchant for some starting cash to get them over the hump that was created by the lack of enough money sinks in the game.

[Ratnix]

Is the cap of ~4+ mil plat per toon still there? If that's the case in time you can't buy stuff of the AH anymore.


All that happens in that case is on top of the cash that players ask for items they sell, they also require other specific items that are guaranteed.

I am still too new at this game to know all the items, but I thought I saw something about Red scales or something like that, as being a high value item that people also accept along with the pp they get for trade.

Edit. Sorry my leave for work right now alarm went off right as I started this post and posted an incomplete thought.

Add in there, yes, item that are over the ah limit wont get sold on the ah. They then get sold on trade/forums for cash and items.
Unless they are being sold by somebody who doesn't care about making money anymore.

[Aaxeyu]

Any effect that the change from gold to plat had is only temporary, and depends on people being stupid.

Just like IRL, inflation generally is "too much money chasing too few goods"

Basicly, it's easier to get plat than get the items.

[pMagic]

All that happens in that case is on top of the cash that players ask for items they sell, they also require other specific items that are guaranteed.

I am still too new at this game to know all the items, but I thought I saw something about Red scales or something like that, as being a high value item that people also accept along with the pp they get for trade.

Ratnix - you are correct. After awhile people do not sell stuff for plats anymore. I hardly do it myself. I prefer to trade rare items I have for something I don't have.

The AH should have a section where you can post trades.

[CR-Shadowborn]

The best way to fight outrageous pricing on the AH is to NOT post items for those amounts and NOt to pay them. So what if a player will pay a million plat for a large scale there is no reason other than straight up greed to sell stuff for those prices. If some players started selling these "high end items" at more reasonable prices not only would they sell fast but it would force the greedy players to lower thier prices or not sell the items they post. The Dev's might even add such items to the AH on a regular basis to force prices down.
Personally i will farm for ingredients for a long long time before i will buy them and then only if they are cheap enough.
Just because my toon has X amount of plat does not mean i am willing to spend 90% of it on one large scale and if more players thought that way then prices in the AH would come back down.
Most of those million plat items are sold by players who really don't need them or are trying to cap out thier plat. Let that stuff sit and refuse to pay exorbitant prices and put in the time to farm the stuff yourself and again prices will drop.

[TheDearLeader]

As already said.

Don't but the items posted for so high. Simple fix.

Especially with the "Search" system implemented, I could, for example, look at the AH much like EBay. Search specifically for Large Devil Scales. Sort by price. Buy the cheapest, or buy none at all.

As the auctioneer's price for posting an item is negligible, people will keep putting things up for stupid high prices. Get your chuckle out of it, and move on. After all, there are few unbound items in game that the DDO player base as a majority would agree to be worth the prices they are listed for on the AH.

[Ybbald]

Just because my toon has X amount of plat does not mean i am willing to spend 90% of it on one large scale and if more players thought that way then prices in the AH would come back down.

Why? What else are you going to spend that plat on? There are not enough gold sinks in the game.

[CR-Shadowborn]

Why? What else are you going to spend that plat on? There are not enough gold sinks in the game.

It is that attitude that is the cause of the extreme prices players are asking for stuff. Basically why should i support another plyers greedy streak? Also that arguement goes both ways... why sell so high when you can only have so much plat?

[Thornton]

Look at the lvl4-6 melee weapons, especially 2-handers. Who decided that they were all suddenly worth 70k plat.? Crazy.

[Ybbald]

It is that attitude that is the cause of the extreme prices players are asking for stuff. Basically why should i support another plyers greedy streak? Also that arguement goes both ways... why sell so high when you can only have so much plat?

What else can I sell it for? I already have all the non-bound gear I need.

[Lleren]

Look at the lvl4-6 melee weapons, especially 2-handers. Who decided that they were all suddenly worth 70k plat.? Crazy.

Blame the Half-Orcs.

[FlyingTurtle]

Look at the lvl4-6 melee weapons, especially 2-handers. Who decided that they were all suddenly worth 70k plat.? Crazy.

Hmm, maybe go for the ones with the useless effects that increase ML? I think only the "clean" items with minimum achievable ML are highly desired.

[Talltale-Storyteller]

it has nothing to do with the switch from the gold standard.

It will happen in any game of this type.

Currency is created out of nothing. You loot currency from breakables. You sell junk to vendors who have unlimited amounts of currency.
That is currency created out of nothing. Every single player is able to acquire currency in this way.
The longer the game is out, the more currency is introduced into the system.

The more currency that is in a system, the more currency that is avaliable to the players to spend on items sold by other players.

There are ways to keep this in check, but with the unlimited amount of currency being avaliable from vendors and loot, it is an uphill battle.

.....................

There really is no way to stop this from happening aside from removing all currency from the game and starting over.

I'm sorry, but while I read this for some reason I just kept thinking about the Federal Reserve... :P

[badbob117]

Blame the Half-Orcs.

I can second this. With the introduction of half orc to the game, a ton of players just rolled a new toon or reincarnated. Try finding a a good greataxe on ah right now? All servers are bare. There seems to be the same random tendon slice junk across all servers. a few axiomatic axes, couple of ghost touch ones. anything nice is crazy overpriced. The higher level newly created half orcs are in dire needs of some good weapons. Hence the demand for large scales and shroud/vale ingredients is through the roof right now.

It will go back down eventually, when the Half orc fad dies down a bit. Best to just avoid ah for a little bit unless you got the plat to burn. I used the antique greataxe and carnifex until level 12 when i could use some stuff i had horded away on my battle bard i just rolled up. Both those weps got the job done right up to vale. Sacrificed a bit of dps rather then spend every dime i had on a axe worthy of swinging.

Hopefully stuff starts evening out soon :/

[seobanio]

It isn't immoral or greedy or whatever to sell items for what they are worth, and an item is worth what people are willing to pay for it in a market. Maybe those 1mill plat scales are selling. If you convince the person who is new to shroud to trade their large scale for your large bone, that is immoral. But posting an item in a forum where everyone can see similar items and everyone has a chance to bid or not is hardly so.

This is essentially what you are saying/what you mean:

I can't afford a large scale. There are things I want many large scales for. Only one large scale would take 90% of my plat. Therefore, large scales are overpriced.

My response:
Go do epic Devils Assault. Go farm amrath quests. Work for your scales (or alternatively, farm the plat to buy those scales) just like everyone else does. When you are deeply entrenched in the game, you will have plat and scales to spare and you will be the one selling extra ingredients on the ah.

Cheers
-Xexa

[Ybbald]

I can't afford a large scale. There are things I want many large scales for. Only one large scale would take 90% of my plat. Therefore, large scales are overpriced.


No, therefore you are poor. Just cause you can't buy a lot of it, doesn't mean it should cost less

[Talltale-Storyteller]

No, therefore you are poor. Just cause you can't buy a lot of it, doesn't mean it should cost less

Just going to point out you horribly missed the context and tone of that player's entire post.

[HumanJHawkins]

it has nothing to do with the switch from the gold standard. It will happen in any game of this type.<cut>

I'd be inclined to agree if I hadn't played for 3 years and saw stady inflation the whole time, followed by a HUGE leap right as the AH changed currency.

I think a lot of people put things up with a plat number that matched their old gold number. A few due to error, but most hoping to score on someone who wasn't paying attention. But things haven't leveled off yet.

Also, there is some human nature involved. I know I have a hard time thinking it's worth it to even bother posting something for less than 2,500 plat. But I used to have no trouble posting things for 10,000 gold. I'm sure I''m not the only one.

[aristarchus1000]

I'd be inclined to agree if I hadn't played for 3 years and saw stady inflation the whole time, followed by a HUGE leap right as the AH changed currency.

I think a lot of people put things up with a plat number that matched their old gold number. A few due to error, but most hoping to score on someone who wasn't paying attention. But things haven't leveled off yet.

Also, there is some human nature involved. I know I have a hard time thinking it's worth it to even bother posting something for less than 2,500 plat. But I used to have no trouble posting things for 10,000 gold. I'm sure I''m not the only one.

I have to agree with this. I remember posting things for 10,000 gold, but can't imagine posting anything for 1000 plat now. There is probably some inflation at the low end.

Regarding "overpriced" items... if it is priced too much for you, don't buy it. If enough people agree with you, then it is overpriced and it will come down over time if the person ever wants to sell the item. If an item stays overpriced for a long time, eventually the number of people with excess scale/funk/whatever will drive the price down until people start buying again.

If the price never seems to come down, that's because it's being sold. Just because the price is too high for you doesn't mean it is too high for someone else.

Regarding general inflation... it makes sense in a game like this, because money is "created" in the economy just by anyone playing any quest and selling the stuff to the vendor or broker. The vendors and brokers have unlimited cash to buy things, even if they never sell anything to anybody. It's artificial, but it does artificially inflate the currency. The best way to fight inflation is to collect rare items for sale. If I was new, I'd grab every valuable collectable (stone of change) I can get my hands on and auction them off. In fact, that is what I did when I first joined a server, and still what I do when I'm leveling up a lowbie. Vials of Pure Water, Deadly Feaverblanch, etc, should generally rise in price with inflation, because rich players will rarely want to farm low-level quests. It's a way to quickly "catch" up to the current inflation rate.

That said, for a new player, you really don't need to buy anything at the Auction House until level 10 or so, if that.

[BossOfEarth]

@HumanJHawkins

I think you raise a good point. While I believe in the invisible hand of the market and all that, I also know that people are irrational about numbers. Stores sell things for $29.99 instead of $30.00 because some unevolved lizardy part of the human brain thinks "Hiss! 29.99 is cheap but 30.00 is outrageously expensive! Hiss! Hiss!" And so while economists to treat actors as rational, a savvy businessman is better served by taking advantage of the errors the human brain is prone to. It may well be that the switch from gold to platnum fooled the DDO players into paying the wrong price. Although for what it's worth, I think that the prices were broken before and view the current prices as a price fix.


I think a lot of people put things up with a plat number that matched their old gold number. A few due to error, but most hoping to score on someone who wasn't paying attention. But things haven't leveled off yet. Whaddaya mean I'm making errors and not paying attention? You're the one who's a glassy eyed atomaton, never stoping to look around and THINK!*
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/sheeple.png

*(Meant in good fun. Self depreciating. See attached Xkcd webcomic for details. :) )

[Meowin]

Currency is created out of nothing. You loot currency from breakables. You sell junk to vendors who have unlimited amounts of currency.
That is currency created out of nothing. Every single player is able to acquire currency in this way.
The longer the game is out, the more currency is introduced into the system.

The more currency that is in a system, the more currency that is avaliable to the players to spend on items sold by other players.

That. And those long time players who just got their toons from Europe which are about to burst from plat don´t give a **** about whether the shiny they want for their newly reincarnated character is worth the money being asked for on the AH. Instead of realising they could do almost as well with the random **** they loot themselves.

Meowin

[aurum1]

'Fighting' outrageous prices is just silly. The prices aren't outrageous. The game just has a poor economy. Would I buy a large scale for 1mm plat? No....but at the same time I wouldn't sell one for that much either. It is worth more to me than that.

On the low end...well the problem is what is the point? Lets say I loot a random holy burst weapon. A year ago I would have posted it on the AH. Now I have lots more loot and plat and it just isn't worth the bother. Now I will post it if I happen to be looking at the AH to buy stuff and happen to look at my inventory to post stuff. Otherwise it will get vendored when I repair. I can't be bothered to use brokers or the AH to make more plat since the value of it is so marginal to me. If I post something at all it will be over priced.

[MonkeyMouse]

Its just down to the fact that Stormreach isnt immune to the global recession, I heard two coin lord "hedge fund" bankers moaning the other day, its ok things will get better and prices will level out (the weak dollar doesnt help matters tho ;o) )

[Ybbald]

I think the solution is for vets to post decent vendor trash at reasonable rates

I recently did this and they have been flying off the AH because I posted them very cheap, undercutting all other similar postings cause I wasn't trying to make money, just get out good gear cheaply

[Lleren]

I think the solution is for vets to post decent vendor trash at reasonable rates

I recently did this and they have been flying off the AH because I posted them very cheap, undercutting all other similar postings cause I wasn't trying to make money, just get out good gear cheaply

And possibly flying back on at higher prices. Depending on what yer selling ;)

[FluffyCalico]

Whats the cause beyond normal inflation? plat farmers? thats the direction i would be leaning towards.


_

Nope its people with plat capped toons who would rather pay that price then mess with finding it.

The price will always be what people will pay.

[Delandur]

You people who are condoning the ridiclous AH prices are probably the plat farmers. If I was to start a new toon on this server and be new to the game I'd want to cry, because when I really was new to the server I could buy good equipment off the ah from what I looted and sold at level 7.

I think a lot of you (I have several 20s as well just pointing that out) have had 20s for so long and just don't realize the implications that ridiclous pricing has.

For example, a new player starts and plays to level 5 or so where he discovers the AH. He thinks oh that's cool I can grab an item that I want from there. Only to find out that ALL the plat he's hoarded since being level 1 isn't even a quarter of what he needs to buy some +1 of ele damage weapon.

AH pricing is crazy, it DID get worse when the gold to plat switch went into effect, and for the most part HASN'T leveld back out.

With that being said any item I want I don't trade plat for becuase generally it's too valuable for plat alone (or at all).

The problem is that plat is somewhat useless at high levels yet you have these people who sit behind their computer for hours a day and try to hoard it. I just don't get some people. I mean go play the game or something.

This post is mostly for those plat farmers out there, which is a big pet peeve of mine :)

Sometimes I think they tell themselves "No, I don't want to play the game I want to become a billionaire in an imaginary fantasy game, because that makes me feel better about myself, considering I still live in mothers basement."

[pMagic]

I think the solution is for vets to post decent vendor trash at reasonable rates

I recently did this and they have been flying off the AH because I posted them very cheap, undercutting all other similar postings cause I wasn't trying to make money, just get out good gear cheaply

I think many people are starting to do this. But once you have a lot of plats what are you going to do with it?

I don't think most vets bother with the AH anymore.

[pMagic]

Sometimes I think they tell themselves "No, I don't want to play the game I want to become a billionaire in an imaginary fantasy game, because that makes me feel better about myself, considering I still live in mothers basement."

My mother's basement is very nice. Thank you very much.

[pMagic]

For example, a new player starts and plays to level 5 or so where he discovers the AH. He thinks oh that's cool I can grab an item that I want from there. Only to find out that ALL the plat he's hoarded since being level 1 isn't even a quarter of what he needs to buy some +1 of ele damage weapon.


This is very true. Even low level gear price is ridiculous.

[Aalric]

My experience has actually been the opposite - I think after U7 & it's search function, it's hard to sell anything that isn't top end. & even very nice items are not being bidded on.

Before U7 I would post all sorts of stuff on the AH. I always posted a bit lower than the "going price" & it usually sold. Now, most things won't sell for any price at all. Why? Because of the search function. Most people simply never see them.

What about high value items? devil scales (I tend to watch those - I always need them) sky rocketed immediately after U7 to about 1.5 million plat. They are now going for around 600,000 which is lower than before U7.

I've basicly given up on selling stuff on the AH & just vendor it or give it to a guildie. Even an excellent item won't sell if no one ever sees it.

[Postumus]

It is that attitude that is the cause of the extreme prices players are asking for stuff. Basically why should i support another plyers greedy streak? Also that arguement goes both ways... why sell so high when you can only have so much plat?


What you are experiencing is (on a small scale) is what govts across the world try to manage constantly: how too keep prices in a free market affordable and still avoid pitfalls like inflation, deflation, etc. At least in DDO we all have jobs. :)


Actually Ratnix explained the situation pretty well. The inflation is caused by DDO, not greed.


It would be the same as if the govt kept printing more and more money, the prices of everything would be inflated because the money is being devalued.


The AH is not the problem. 'Greedy' sellers are not the problem. Too much money IS the problem. Vet players are sitting on mountains of platinum but don't have enough high priced items to spend it on, so the prices of lower value items become inflated.


If you're sitting on 4m pp, what is worth more to you, a couple of hours farming feverblanches and pure waters, or simply buying them from other players for ten or twenty times their value? A few people boycotting the AH or 'greedy traders' won't change a thing. If I see an item I want NOW, and I have the pp, of course I'll buy it rather than wait to farm it or find it on sale at a reasonable price.


The cap is clearly ineffective (is it per char or per account?) since people just resort to bartering high valued items.


Taxes are one solution (the AH already has a VAT), but then even more people would complain (as they do in RL) and people would still find a work around by bartering items instead of using platinum.


Tolls would help reduce money supply. Say those free trips to Korthos or 3 Barrel Cove, or Tangle Root Gorge, or the Stormreach teleporters cost you per use. But then tolls are taxes, and taxes make people :(.


DDO just needs more money (platinum) sinks for high end players. The trick is how to do this and not take away from the Turbine Point sinks like airships, etc. If anything, this should be an opportunity to get players to come forward with creative ideas on what they'd like to spend all that high-end platinum on besides loot.


You could sell titles (knight, duke, earl, baron), you could sell land (then tax it), you could sell more cosmetic items at extremely high prices. But then we get back to does this take away revenue from Turbine, since couldn't they make more money selling these items through the DDO store?


There is no easy solution, and certainly none that will make everyone happy.

[Postumus]

You people who are condoning the ridiclous AH prices are probably the plat farmers.


No, no, no. It is not the 'plat farmers.' This is what happens in an unregulated free market with unlimited money supply.


Sellers don't dictate the price, the buyers do. No one can force a buyer to buy anything. The sellers WANT to sell, and since there is generally no overhead for them (unless they are resellers), they will take the highest price they can get. Buyers are flush with virtual cash, so they drive prices up, not sellers.


You are witnessing the same type of phenomenon that occurred in the US housing market. Cheap, easy credit allowed anyone to have access to hundreds of thousands of dollars (through financing). The market got flooded with lots of buyers with money, so prices became inflated to ridiculous levels. Similar thing happened with IPOs in the nineties.


Unlike the real world, DDO won't experience a 'bubble' since, as Ratnix explained, there is no end to the money supply. It just keeps growing. Buyers keep accumulating more and more wealth, and have less and less to spend it on. Now new players with 150pp are competing with TRX3 players with (virtually) unlimited wealth for some of the same items.


If the AH didn't exist, prices would still be sky high and the trade channel would be a nightmare. People would just use the forums to sell things, for the same high prices.


The only way to lower prices in a free market, is to increase the supply of those items. You could try to undercut every seller on the AH and trade channel - but that would be a full time job. Also, savvy AH sellers will simply snap up your lower priced items and resell them at a higher rate to try to keep prices up.


I think a better approach is to educate new players.

1- Steer them toward the pawnshop vendors and encourage people to use pawnshops rather than other in game vendors who don't resell, so items are available to other players at (practically) list price.

2- Teach lowbies which crafting items sell on the AH so they post ALL their crafting items for sale, rather than cash them in to NPCs for dubious rewards. That would dramatically increase the supply of those items and drive the prices down.

[Ybbald]

I think many people are starting to do this. But once you have a lot of plats what are you going to do with it?

I don't think most vets bother with the AH anymore.

Buy a large scale for my LitII

the problem here is for the newnies. Ingredients will continue to rise no matter what and it will become the new norm. Just deal with it. I'm just worried about undergeared newbies.

After starting my first Sarlona toon after running out of Canntih slots, I was struggling to gear myself. Even utilizing tricks to max my coin. Selling ingredient comestibles. Looting a good haggle item, cha clickies, casting heroism on self, etc. not to mention I was making due to sub prime equipment and doing lots of bargain hunting.

[pMagic]

Postumus,

Great post! +1 rep.

[Triepod]

Someone who gets it. +1 to you sir and/or ma'am! ;p


No, no, no. It is not the 'plat farmers.' This is what happens in an unregulated free market with unlimited money supply.


Sellers don't dictate the price, the buyers do. No one can force a buyer to buy anything. The sellers WANT to sell, and since there is generally no overhead for them (unless they are resellers), they will take the highest price they can get. Buyers are flush with virtual cash, so they drive prices up, not sellers.


You are witnessing the same type of phenomenon that occurred in the US housing market. Cheap, easy credit allowed anyone to have access to hundreds of thousands of dollars (through financing). The market got flooded with lots of buyers with money, so prices became inflated to ridiculous levels. Similar thing happened with IPOs in the nineties.


Unlike the real world, DDO won't experience a 'bubble' since, as Ratnix explained, there is no end to the money supply. It just keeps growing. Buyers keep accumulating more and more wealth, and have less and less to spend it on. Now new players with 150pp are competing with TRX3 players with (virtually) unlimited wealth for some of the same items.


If the AH didn't exist, prices would still be sky high and the trade channel would be a nightmare. People would just use the forums to sell things, for the same high prices.


The only way to lower prices in a free market, is to increase the supply of those items. You could try to undercut every seller on the AH and trade channel - but that would be a full time job. Also, savvy AH sellers will simply snap up your lower priced items and resell them at a higher rate to try to keep prices up.


I think a better approach is to educate new players.

1- Steer them toward the pawnshop vendors and encourage people to use pawnshops rather than other in game vendors who don't resell, so items are available to other players at (practically) list price.

2- Teach lowbies which crafting items sell on the AH so they post ALL their crafting items for sale, rather than cash them in to NPCs for dubious rewards. That would dramatically increase the supply of those items and drive the prices down.