What's Fair Price? (Astral Shard/Plat/TP)

[Keybreaker]

I originally posted this in our guild forums last week, but thought I'd share it in the hopes that the Shard Exchange [SE] becomes an actually useful/convenient asset to gameplay. Every server's economy probably has some peculiarities, and I only play on Orien, so I don't claim any of this is universally applicable.
--
It's sometimes tough to tell if something is a bargain or a rip-off because of so many official and unofficial currencies in-game. It might get even more complicated with the Shard Exchange being added in U17.1 on Monday. Here's my (admittedly rough) attempt at rationalizing the system.

Assumptions
(not absolute low/highs, just "reasonable" low/highs)

• 1 Raid Bypass (150tp) has a "fair" price of ~200k
  (150-250k being the "low" and "high" market plat value)
• $1 (USD) is worth between 100-150tp
  (5,000tp/$50 code on store.turbine.com is roughly the same as in-game 6,300tp/$60 but if you buy during "double bonus" sale, it's 8,850tp/$60)

Estimated Equivalencies

• 100 Astral Shards
  (595tp / ~793k pp / $3.97-5.95)
• Raid Timer Bypass
  (~25 Shards / 150tp / ~200k pp / $1.00-1.50)
• Yellow Dopant
  (~66 Shards / 395tp / ~527k pp / $2.63-3.95)
• 100 Major Mana Pots (store ones are a bit better 405-600 vs 105-600 in-game)
  (~251 Shards / 1,495tp / ~1,993k pp / $9.97-14.95)

• Tome (+2)
  (~100 Shards / 595tp / ~793k pp / $3.97-5.95)
• Tome (+3)
  (~150 Shards / 895tp / ~1,193k pp / $5.97-8.95)
• Upgrade Tome (+3)
  (~83 Shards / 495tp / ~660k pp / $3.30-4.95)
• Upgrade Tome (+4)** Seasonal Item
  (~101 Shards / 600tp / ~800k pp / $4.00-6.00)
• Otto's Box** Seasonal Item
  (~840 Shards / 5,000tp / ~6,667k pp / $33.33-50.00)

• LR Heart
  (~150 Shards / 895tp / ~1,193k pp / $5.97-8.95)
• LR+1 Heart
  (~201 Shards / 1,195tp / ~1,593k pp / $7.97-11.95)
• LR+3 Heart
  (~234 Shards / 1,395tp / ~1,860k pp / $9.30-13.95)
• LR+5 Heart
  (~268 Shards / 1,595tp / ~2,127k pp / $10.63-15.95)
• TR Heart
  (~251 Shards / 1,495tp / ~1,993k pp / $9.97-14.95)

• Augment Crystal ML4 (UA, FF)
  (~8 Shards / 50tp / ~67k pp / $0.33-0.50)
• Augment Crystal ML8 (Fear Immunity)
  (~13 Shards / 75tp / ~100k pp / $0.50-0.75)
• Augment Crystal ML12 (Deathblock, Good/Addy Bypass)
  (~16 Shards / 95tp / ~127k pp / $0.63-0.95)
• Augment Crystal ML16 (Silver/Cold Iron Bypass)
  (~25 Shards / 150tp / ~200k pp / $1.00-1.50)
• Augment Crystal ML20 (30% striding)
  (~29 Shards / 175tp / ~233k pp / $1.17-1.75)
• Augment Crystal ML24 (14 PRR, +7 saves, +35hp, +114 spwr, +200 sp)
  (~33 Shards / 195tp / ~260k pp / $1.30-1.95)

MANIAC Prices
You'll recognize these crazy bid/buyout prices on SE. To show how ridiculous these amounts are, I've used the best possible TP purchase rate/price (33,500tp for $199.99 USD at double-bonus sale) and best Astral Shard rate/price (500 Shards for 2,795tp) to calculate the BEST POSSIBLE LOW price. The high price is at the BEST CODE RATE of 23,000tp/$199.99 from store.turbine.com and still using the best Astral Shard rate/price. These are NOT estimates, they are the hard dollar cost of specified Shard amounts I've seen posted on Orien as bid/buyout prices.

• 5,000 Astral Shards
  (27,950tp / $167-243)
• 15,000 Astral Shards
  (83,850tp / $500-729)
• 50,000 Astral Shards
  (279,500tp / $1,669-2,430)
• 2.1 million Astral Shards (max buyout limit)
  (11,739,000tp / $70,084-102,078)