Auction house reactions
by Jennie Lees 
Dec 15th 2005 at 10:00AM
Academic weblog Terra Nova has a piece up today musing on player reactions to other players who are selling goods via auction house or directly, and how they differ from similar reactions in real life. Being called an "auctionbitch" or having a player fume and rant because the price you want to sell isn't what a particular website says it should be is an example of how different players view the AH system. Perhaps they'd detected that the character selling goods was a mule, perhaps they see the AH as a NPC market with fluctuating prices, maybe anything that isn't player-killing is an inferior activity in their minds. It's interesting to think about how we see the AH ourselves, and the opinions we have on those who play the system for maximum profit.
When saving for my first mount, I farmed some high-price herbs and ores, and had a mule sitting in the AH for about a week in real-time buying low and selling high. That character still has a bank full of stuff I didn't manage to sell at the prices they "should" be sold for, but I got my mount money quickly and easily. Is that an ethical way to play? I can do the same on eBay, so why not in-game? Perhaps knowing when to stop makes a difference.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Economy, WoW Social Conventions
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dr.Funbags Dec 15th 2005 10:15AM
Heh, I too enjoy the buy low, sell high Auction House game - and if I am trying to sell an item (Light Leather for example) and I see someone hase 10 auctions of it, and is selling it extremely cheap - I will usually send them a tell, informing them that they *could* be selling it for way more.
On this new server I am on, I took skinning/mining on my main - the ore/bars sell well, but the leather market is flooded - 10 Light Leathers for 3s!! So I bought alot of them up, and created an alt that had leatherworking/enchanting - and am now disenchanting green leather items for Enchanting Materials and selling them for big profits.
High prices, benifit everyone. ;) Especially if you are a seller.
Stimps Dec 15th 2005 10:34AM
I've had an alt stationed in IF for about 10 days now just for "playing the market" at the AH. I typically log in twice a day to run a scan using Auctioneer and to buy what appear to be bargains, and list new items (or those which have expired).
So far, I've made about 40-50g profit and have somewhere between 20 and 40g of "stock" that is listed for sale (going on the suggested prices of Auctioneer, that is).
It's obvious that several other people are doing exactly the same thing, as many bargains I bid on are instantly outbid. With this in mind, I've started adding items to the AH at massively inflated prices, hoping that the other matching items I have listed (at a lower price) will pop up on somebody else's "percentless" scan.
Oh - and if I saw people selling such a lot cheaper than I thought it was worth, I'd buyout their auctions and relist at a higher price... :D
Cort Dec 15th 2005 10:52AM
I've been playing the AH game since mid January, and have heard all sorts of frustrations vented towards prices, AH mules, and the like. The funniest thing to me is how the general consensus on the server is that if you have a lot of gold, you most like ebay'ed it instead of actually earning it.
I consider myself somewhat of a student of AH economics. I find it funny when people complain that the price of something is too high, that an item isn't "worth" that much on the AH. It's simple supply and demand, though. Take Copper Bars. They go conistently on my server for 85s-1g per stack. People complain about that all the time, saying they're not worth that much. But if they're not "worth" that much, why do they sell consistently at that price?
The truth of the matter is that the worth of the item is the value at which the majority of folks are willing to buy said item. You might see Copper prices spike to 1.5g or fall to 60s per stack, but they always even back out at around 80s-1g. Equilibrium.
Is it ethical to aggressively price items? Sure. If someone is willing to pay that much, they'll purchase the item. If no one is willing, you'll have your item back in your mailbox in 24 hours (or 8 or 12).
Dr.Funbags Dec 15th 2005 11:13AM
Yah, I rerolled on a new server recently cuz of a friend - and am not liking the whole "new economy" stack of copper goes for about 20s, I try jacking them up to 80, and there is another persone putting them up there as well. They sell sometimes, I might just start taking names of others who "ah alt" and set up a trading bloc between us. I am still relativly low - 27, with about 15g, so I dont have a lot of sway yet. 10 Light Leathers for 3 silver??? pffft I did sell a couple stacks for 50 and was pretty suprised, must have been the only ones on there.
syco Dec 15th 2005 1:36PM
I'm actually in the data gathering phase of a little research into commodity prices in World of Warcraft and how real-life events like weekends and holidays effect this. I'm still pinning down my methodology, but when I am finished I'll put it up somewhere.