Talk:Price check

I know market prices are not fixed but in Guild Wars, for many items supply and demand are often at a pretty constant rate. Sure new items may start out very high before stabalising but say take Bleached Shells, the -50 health Grim Cesta and parchment all have what I'd call stable prices. I wouldn't say it's personal perception what the market price is, the market price should be that price that most people are sucessfully trading at. People may misjudge the that price but market price can be defined. If you were trying to define the monetary worth of an item then yes, personal perception would be a major factor then. Of course some items have fluctuating prices but over time the trend is for that price of most items to stabalise. My minor economics background comes out here Tetris L, you'll notice I haven't even bothered changing the article to reflect my understanding, I find it far more interesting talking about something like this ;) Unfortunately I'm off to bed now but see what you think, you may not be interested is this kinda thing at all in which case I'll just make a few changes to the article. --Xasxas256 08:19, 7 June 2006 (CDT)


 * Sorry, I can only laugh at people who try to pretend that there are item or service prices in GW anywhere near fixed / standard / accurate. I literally LOL when I read something along the lines of "*W*T*S* !!!! NO NEWB OFFERS!!! <##>k MINIMUM! WHISPER ME QUICK". Usually if you read something like that, by rule of thumb the item advertised is worth about half of what the seller is asking for.
 * Even the prices for stuff that is traded numerous times per day, like a Droknar Run, spread widely. Most runners will advertise it for 2.5-3.5k, but if you're patient and negotiate some you can get a run for 1.5k or for tips. That's factor 2 or more for the spread between a bargain price and a rip-off price. Similar for Bleached Shells. Sellers will usually advertise them for 1k, but buyers are rarely willing to pay more than 500g. Again, factor 2. The only thing that has fairly stable prices with little spread are materials, and that's because everybody has the NPC trader prices for comparison. --[[Image:TurningL sml.gif|Tetris L]] 08:57, 7 June 2006 (CDT)


 * Well, the problem with the "going" price is that it's very subjective. If people are buying, they swear to you on their mother's grave that the price is X (low) and if they are selling, they swear on their family's honor that it's Y (high). The -50 Grim Cesta is a good example, I have seen people willing to buy at 7k (needs it badly) and I have seen someone refuse to buy it at 4K (doesn't need it so badly).
 * Another example is Ectos and Shards. When Shards started to rise (before Factions came out), it was obscene. People are ALWAYS looking to make a quick buck. So, the trader raises the sell price to 5k, and you immediately see people trying to sell them for 4500. Meanwhile, the price drops back to 4500 at trader, and they don't know it. So, overall, I think asking people for a Price Check is just a bad idea.
 * I think the best way is Guru. I put that much in the article. Guru takes the guessing and the dated information out of the game. You see that no one is buying that Sword for 75k but everyone is betting on the same sword for 45k, bingo, there is your good price. --Karlos 09:09, 7 June 2006 (CDT)


 * If you ask me for a price check, I'll gladly give you one: There is no item in the whole game that I'd pay more than 20k for. I'm dead serious. --[[Image:TurningL sml.gif|Tetris L]] 09:53, 7 June 2006 (CDT)


 * Ok it can be difficult to analyse the market in Guild Wars the same way that you'd look at the average countries economy, Guild Wars is on a scale so much smaller. Still you can see trends, I'd say that Droknar Runs are normally around 3k and have been for many many months. This of course doesn't mean that both sellers and buyers won't offer to pay both more or less than that.


 * Take something like a used 2002 Ford Focus in average condition and has an average number of ks on the clock etc. (mileage for you Yanks) There is definitely a market value for this car, but that said of course a person in a hurry may sell for much less or much more or buy for much more than that. This doesn't mean there isn't a market value, it just means that people consider a fast transaction to be additional utility. You will pay more for a quick purchase because you're buying a 2002 Ford Focus which also includes a quick handover ie it's worth more to you that one you have to wait a month for. People will always pay more and less than the market value in any economy and it's not always convenience which is a factor, sometimes people will pay more for no reason other than being poorly informed. This of course ties in nicely with this article, people ask for a price check to be better informed of the market price. In essence I don't see any above example illustrating that you can't have market prices in GW, Karlos' -50 Grim Cesta and Tetris L's Droks run examples shows a person in a hurry and a person not in a hurry, there should be a price difference between these two buyers, it is an illustration of a market that is functioning correctly! --Xasxas256 18:01, 7 June 2006 (CDT)