Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsBuyer beware in the Auction House
by Mike Schramm 
Apr 2nd 2008 at 7:30PM
After a player complains that they mistakenly paid 75g for wool cloth in the Auction House, Drysc confirms that Blizzard is all about caveat emptor: the auction house market is all about open trade, so if you buy something for the wrong price, it's all on you.This, of course, leaves the system fairly open to rampant fraud -- I know someone on another server who would often buy anything epic on the AH, day in and day out, and inflate the price an extra thousand gold. In many cases, the free market (which I'm pretty sure this is, right economists?) can usually correct itself -- you have to stay on top of a certain market if you plan to dominate it, since if anyone posts a lower price than you, you'll lose out on a sale. But in terms of a fraud -- the original poster in the thread claims that no one would ever have a serious reason to sell wool for 75g -- it's always "be careful what you click." Blizzard isn't completely laissez-faire when it comes to the economy, of course; they control the flow of gold in all kinds of ways. But when it comes to the auction house, you're on your own.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Making money
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
Armath Apr 2nd 2008 9:18PM
WoW is not a totally free market, just like it's not totally wide-open combat, even on a PvP server. WoW is a moderated market - there are tools in place to help people to be careful, and Blizzard has some control over the base money and item supply. Blizzard also sets the vendor prices, but it doesn't set the AH prices.
Blizzard is also fairly forgiving of player goofs - I've gotten back items I'd accidentally vendored, and know people who've gotten back the characters they deleted months ago - but they're less forgiving of goofs between players, like mis-buying at the AH.
The forum QQing warrants barely any response, let alone a blue one. I'm wondering if Blizzard has gotten a bunch of complaints about player stupidity in the AH and finally posted something to clarify the obvious.
Finally, I've heard (and speculated) that putting simple items on the AH for large amounts of gold is one way gold is aquired from gold sellers - give them the money offline, and they buy your over-priced items online. That is about the only argument I can think of for limiting how much items can be offered for on the AH.
Dave Apr 2nd 2008 8:28PM
People need to really stop whining about this.
They put in a confirm dialog ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO BUY THIS FOR 75G? after too many people whined a long time ago.
You have absolutely no excuse at all if this happens to you, ever. Period! There's nothing you can say except "i'm sorry, I'm dumb and I don't read things even after it asks me if I'm really sure".
You get what you deserve and someone else gets your money.
SimpleSurvival Apr 2nd 2008 8:41PM
yah, i was just going to throw away a bit o golds just to make sure that even the most insignificant auction did in fact confirm that you actually meant to spend as much gold as you initially clicked....
its not buyer beware... blizz has more than enough mechanisms in place to help people deal with their auction house blues... those not smart enough to utilize the already (nearly) idiot proof safeguards should really stick to feeding the frauders
chris b Apr 2nd 2008 9:57PM
This topic is one of my biggest pet peeves in this game. The price is clearly listed, you have to click BUYOUT and you have to confirm that you want to make the purchase. Posting a stack of wool at 75G isn't scam but buying it for that price makes you a sucker at worst, stupidly inattentive at best. Blizzard put in a purchase confirmation and a sort by buyout price to help make the obvious purchase price even more obvious. There's only so much they can do to protect people from themselves. If they did much more, they may as well dictate the value of a given item and not give us any choice what to sell it for. The only other alternative would be to eliminate the buyout option all together and only allow bidding on an item with starting price equal to the vendor sell price.
Hood Apr 2nd 2008 9:52PM
That was probably a person transferring money between their Horde and Alliance toons. I've done this pretty regularly, one side puts up a crap item for a ridiculous price then has a friend on the other faction buy it. This is pretty common from what I understand.
Shadowink Apr 2nd 2008 10:56PM
"Are you sure....... ?" YES / NO .. GG
Maybe you should try to use the AH with your eyes open. Thats helps.
Tyy Apr 2nd 2008 10:57PM
Look at it the other way round.
In the old days, I sold a "Hide of the Wild" accidentally for 3g75s instead of 375g. I did not notice until the money arrived in my mailbox. Nobody prevents you from doing that either.
Did I feel like an idiot, Yes. Did I whine about it, No. I congratulated the buyer and after all it's a nice episode to tell and move on.
Milktub Apr 2nd 2008 11:03PM
It's amazing that this even received a blue response.
1. You see the price before even clicking "bid/buyout"
2. You get a confirmation box asking "Do you want to bid/buyout ITEM for Xcost?"
3. You click yes.
Real world financial transactions have fewer checks on purchases.
And WoW is about as perfect a free market as possible. Supply on some items is controlled by Blizz (for example, percent drops of world epics/rares), but things like cloth and leathers can be farmed non-stop. You can skin Clefthoof for hours on end and they won't stop giving you leather. The only "tax" involved is if you sell on the auction house. There is no interest rate to manipulate saving/spending rates. That's pretty free, a system that hasn't existed in Real World terms since pre-governmental hunter-gatherer days.
ScytheNoire Apr 2nd 2008 11:11PM
Use Auctioneer and become a Master at using the Auction House.
my2cents Apr 2nd 2008 11:54PM
I would recommend everyone read the forum thread that this topic came from. The OP is truly hilarious in his complete inability to understand why blizzard won't punish the person who sold him the cloth and refund his money.
wevans Apr 3rd 2008 12:03AM
Princess Bride FTW
Arnie Apr 3rd 2008 12:12AM
Another possible reason why someone would set up wool for 75g is to transfer funds across factions. The character who needs the money puts something totally worthless for a huge amount of money on a neutral auction house(Gadgetzan or Everlook) and then buys it from his other character who has a lot of money(of course this is cross faction stuff).
I cant believe and I am sure the guy who put up the wool also didnt realize someone else bought the stuff.
Thander Apr 3rd 2008 2:30AM
I think that's less likely because you need two or more accounts to do that. You can't buy auctions from other characters on the same account.
AlmtyBob Apr 3rd 2008 4:51AM
Not to mention I doubt the OP went to a neutral AH to buy tons of Wool Cloth.
Ichigo Apr 3rd 2008 1:10AM
If anyone is dumb enough/can't pay attention long enough to realize that they are buying something like a stack of wool for 75g, then they deserve what they get.
Auctioneer is essential for dealing with the AH.
Xoahl Apr 3rd 2008 1:52AM
High pricing isnt fraud, its high prices. If you pay for it you agree that the item is worth that much gold, or you simply werent paying attention.
About players buying everything in the AH and selling it for higher prices, just have a little patience, prices in the AH tend to go down as more people put things in for sale(as there's a tendency to drive prices lower so your items get bought first)
Stuff like wool and silk isnt commonly farmed, so prices tend to go up and stay up. Its up to you to decide wether its worth buying it or farming it.
If something is overpriced, dont buy it, the seller will eventually notice that the price is too high and no one is buying, and will eventually lower the prices.
The real problem in the economy of WoW is inflation, there's too much money being created everyday, this makes prices go up as there's barely any escape valve for money (only mounts and repair bills) so money just keeps building up in the economy.
Lazaria Apr 3rd 2008 4:02AM
After reading the OP's post I do believe he wasnt being attentive while purchasing. As many have already stated there is a confirmation window before buying out. I would like to say though that we all know 75g for a stack of wool is incredibly overpriced.
In my opnion:
1) Buyers should be more attentive when choosing to bid or buyout items. The responsibility falls on buyers to ensure they do not fall into a similar situation.
2) We know its a common practice to post 10 stacks of wool at 75s and slide one in there at 75g and alot of the profession powerlevelers could easily fall into that trap if they are not paying enough attention.
It is a sleazy practice that should not be encouraged by Blizzard or anyone however its not really fraud and I dont see why Blizzard should lift a finger.
I also disagree that Auctioneer "Makes your decisions for you" it is simply a tool to survey the market and gather information about the price of items on AH. It is not always accurate but for goodness sake use some common sense.
Anyone bashing it clearly does not understand the value of information in economy.
Regards
Lazaria
Jcdx Apr 3rd 2008 5:47AM
In EvE worse things are allowed. If someone is a dumbass and doesn't check before he clicks - it's just his problem. I don't use such a sales tactics but I have nothing against it. Anyaay it's a good school. Better loose a pile of silly gold-colored pixels than RL cash (ebay junkies beware) heh.
Buuty Apr 3rd 2008 6:36AM
Everyone does this. Buy low sell high. Not news.
however, wioth regard ot the wool issue, the person posting the auction perhaps was psoting a lot of items and tabbed through the money fields, typing 75 in the gold field, rather than the silver field. I think we've all done this before.
Sarah Apr 8th 2008 11:28AM
I bought some linen cloth for 99g before they stopped the ordering by price being by bid price rather than buyout.
It's a short, sharp lesson in paying attention that people get to go through. You just have to suck it up and move on :)