Has a price guide system been attempted?

[skyjuice]

Hi.

It struck me as a newbie, that one of the first few things that dont come apparent is how much something can land me. How much an item can actually sell or be purchased for so to speak.

I've been selling quite abit on the AH, its been several months since the FTP concept (yes i started when the FTP campaign was launched) and i've been systematically copying down notes for price ranges. Again, if the feasibility for a price guide type thread exists, it is only used as a rough guide line, and not to be a "set in stone fact". It is certain that,supply and demand influences the part in determining the value of such items.

I'll like to see some reaction/feedback as this will be a WIP, taking inputs from others.

LMK what yall think.

[Shishizaru]

Hi.

It struck me as a newbie, that one of the first few things that dont come apparent is how much something can land me. How much an item can actually sell or be purchased for so to speak.

I've been selling quite abit on the AH, its been several months since the FTP concept (yes i started when the FTP campaign was launched) and i've been systematically copying down notes for price ranges. Again, if the feasibility for a price guide type thread exists, it is only used as a rough guide line, and not to be a "set in stone fact". It is certain that,supply and demand influences the part in determining the value of such items.

I'll like to see some reaction/feedback as this will be a WIP, taking inputs from others.

LMK what yall think.

I think it's an excellent idea in theory, but I'm not sure how feasible it is in reality.

While everyone is spouting off something or the other about "free market" prices and what not, I don't consider these "free market" prices. It's simply a really bad snapshot of what one buyer is willing to sell at and possibly what one (or more) buyers are willing to buy at. Then you have to account for player resources and the whole thing gets really convoluted. It'd really be a lot easier if players owned stores and the likes, but I'm neither complaining nor demanding (or even asking) for that. Just saying that stores would be a much better model of a free market economy, and consequently a bit easier to apply this kind of analysis to.

A lot of people post things at ridiculous prices because they hope some plat-endowed veteran will buy it (because they want it and can afford it).

There's also the problem with being unable to see exactly which auctions sold and for how much they sold for.

I'm sure if you were able to take a huge sample size and analyze it, you might come out with something meaningful, but I'm not sure. Perhaps a better "guide" you could work on would be compiling what kinds of items are valuable (i.e. what collectibles, what effects like Pure Good or Elemental Bursts, what weapon types, etc). Many players already know this, many are still learning it themselves, but I think compiling this kind of guide would be immensely helpful for newer players. It may even save them from vendoring/brokering a valuable twink weapon or turning in those Vials of Pure Water.

So uh...I dunno. XD

[Angelus_dead]

It is certain that,supply and demand influences the part in determining the value of such items.

Unfortunately, prices in DDO are often more influenced by factors beyond supply and demand. It isn't what an economist could call an efficient market, at least as far as the majority of items are concerned. That is, the actual money for the item is often a smaller part of the cost than the time spent doing the shopping.

LMK what yall think.

What level are you? How close are you to the plat cap? Are you aware of the alternate currencies?

[Harncw]

I don't think it can be done.

Nerfs (see wounding of puncturing) (these are likes acts of god)
Builds of the month (see weighted)
AH manipulations (see GH dragon relics, funk, pebbles here on Khyber)

The fact that there is no central exchange, that transactions are not recorded and made public...

All these things add up to make it one big **** shoot.

If it is any consolation Large Scales have consistently traded on Khyber for 250kpp-300kpp for about a year now.

[justagame]

One of my guildmates did this about a year or so ago for collectables, trying to watch the AH as closely as possible. Of course, even that is limited, because it's often tough to tell what sells and what doesn't. The main problem is that perceived values shift quite a bit, and the time to compile such a list would probably dwarf the amount of time such a list would be valid.

Consider just two examples: Back when he did this, you could sell 5 pure water for 500k gold -- today, you can't a fifth of that (on argo, at least). The same goes for equipment. In the past, I have actually purchased a sunblade from the broker in house D, but would have to pay over a million gold for one today on the AH.

I think part of it has to do with the shifting player population. Before FtP, there were lots of capped toons with the equipment they wanted. There was much less activity in the low level quests (where things such as pure water drop, for example.) An item such a sunblade, great for low and even mid-level characters, was not terribly useful compared to weapons available at higher levels. Today, with many newer players, the relative value of these two examples has shifted. People are running low level quests much more (including ftp favor runs), and picking up tons of pure water in the process. Likewise, with a bulging population of low and mid-level characters, a weapon such as a sunblade is in much higher demand.

[ddoplayer064]

I have to agree with above people. Prices fluctuate far too much to get an accurate reading. Consider what I've bought:
1. +2 flaming rapier of pure good for less than 3kpp
2. +1 metalline scimitar of pure good for 12kpp
3. +4 mith BP for around 10kpp

Don't know if those are "good" prices or not, but from what I've seen on the AH and in the trade channels, those are extremely low.

[Psyk0sisS]

Another major factor now is...Epic upgrades. Named loot a few months ago that you could buy for 5-10kpp, now selling in the 50-100kpp range..or more, because A) its a good upgrade, or B) the pack will go epic in the future and they hope the upgrade will be awesome.

I like the idea, it might be doable with compiling a tiered list of random generated loot. Say, in columns, you have basic weapon price, then prefix price, then suffix price. So you pulled an Acid Burst Heavy Mace of Pure Good...Not bad, but tack on an extra 100kpp if it was a Rapier. A basic guide. It'll never be fully accurate however.

[tomfar72]

I have to agree with above people. Prices fluctuate far too much to get an accurate reading. Consider what I've bought:
1. +2 flaming rapier of pure good for less than 3kpp
2. +1 metalline scimitar of pure good for 12kpp
3. +4 mith BP for around 10kpp

Don't know if those are "good" prices or not, but from what I've seen on the AH and in the trade channels, those are extremely low.

Yeah, I would say those are outstanding deals. On Argo, prices have skyrocketed over the past cpl months to rediculous lvls. I was looking through the auctioneer yesterday and things like +1 metaline rapiers of PG were going for 1.5 million gold. Well, I can't believe they are SELLING at that price, but they are listed at it.