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 3 of 3)
PeeWee Apr 3rd 2008 7:20AM
If you are stupid enough to pay 75G for a stack of Wool Cloth, you do not deserve to have money.
'nuff said. Next!
kkthxbb
Don Apr 3rd 2008 7:26AM
I fully agree that if you but something off the AH, you are fully aware of how much your paying for that item. There is no excuse to complain about accidentally purchasing something, the price is listed and you receive a confirmation box asking you to confirm the purchase on top of that. You can purchase items online from retailers with less confirmation than in the AH.
I recently began leveling a Mage alt and quickly noticed when I went to the AH on my server that anything named "of Eagle" was going for 30 to 40 gold. After looking around a little more I noticed that a lot of the items listed were being listed by a few players. It became so rampant that I just decided its not worth it and I can level a Mage easily with out any AH greens, instead just using quest rewards.
Now all items on my server that are "of Eagle" are now going for 30 to 40 gold because a few players bought up everything and re listed, way above the actual market value. These players understood that if they did this long enough that everyones auctioneer would start to actual list these items at the prices their asking for. It's smart but at the same time a little annoying, oh well thats a free market for you I guess.
Sara Finn Apr 3rd 2008 7:29AM
While I agree with most of the comments here, I think there is one important type of AH 'scam' that people are forgetting about: putting vendorable recipes/schematics/patterns on the AH at highly inflated prices.
In my opinion, this should be blocked by Blizzard, as most of these items are not dropped by mobs, and therefore only have 1 source of where to get them. If a player decides to buy that item by camping the vendor, he/she is artificially manipulating the 'market' for their own personal gain.
I cannot understand Blizzard's thought process on this particular issue. They hold our collective hands throughtout the gaming process, but allow these types of scams, which can hurt the gaming experience just as much as anything.
Oh yeah, and in RL this type of 'market manipulation' would be illegal. It's called profiteering.
enkafiles Apr 3rd 2008 9:20AM
it's called a service - if you take the time to run out of the way to get the recipe, it may be worth a couple gold it to other players *not* to have to make the trip.
And if they want to make the run themselves, who's stopping them?
Milktub Apr 3rd 2008 9:31AM
Profiteering?
Yet another big word being tossed around with no knowledge of what it means. Profiteering is the act of inflating prices from a supply side during a time of dire need, such as selling gasoline to the military during war at double the price.
By your logic, a rug re-seller would be a profiteer by purchasing fine rugs in the East and returning to sell them at a profit. Or the people who bought XBox 360s at retail and resold them for profit, or people who buy limited edition Nikes for resale. It's all honest, ethical methods of making money.
Angus Apr 3rd 2008 9:32AM
Mageweave bag (or is it runecloth?)
Only available from 1 vendor.
It sells from that Goblin for 1-2 gold.
If that Goblin realized that I turned around and sold it for 50G because someone didn't want to go to Everlook, she'd ask me to join the Goblin Mechent guild for being a shrewd businessman.
Those bags sell like hotcakes for lower level characters or bank alts that don't need a ton of space but want to get more.
Is it wrong for me to make a huge profit?
Nope.
At the same time, I've bought a Potion recipe on the auction house because I couldn't justify the pain involved in getting to a Goblin in Alterac Valley when all those Ogres were elites. Pricey, but the amount in repair bills I probably would have saved and the time sitting around waiting for that recipe to respawn were more than the cost to buy it and get a quest done right then.
chris b Apr 3rd 2008 11:01AM
How is that a scam? We all have equal access to vendor purchasable patterns and recipes. It's well known that white patterns/recipes are vendor recipes. No one forces you to buy them on the AH. You could argue that the player selling that stuff on the AH is doing someone a favor by making the items more conveniently accessible, saving someone the trouble of making the trip to where ever. You're wrong about the single source thing too. If you check wowhead or thottbot you'll see that many recipes/patterns are available from multiple vendors.
Seriously. Given that you state right there in your post that you know these items are vendor purchasable can you please explain how this is a "scam"? You're aware, the seller is clearly aware. The choice to buy is entirely yours.
As with the expensive stacks, I have a hard time labeling anything a scam when you have all the information you need to decide whether the purchase you're contemplating is a good deal.
ORLIC Apr 3rd 2008 7:50AM
Thats not a scam, ive done that, im providing a service, if you cant get to the vendor, dont want to, or cant search for the vendor online (which for a mmOg should never be hard) then my inflated proce on a white mat is fair..
best quote so far "if u dont like it, dont buy it"
you can always go and get it yourself
p.s. i always wondered why people put things on for silly ammounts, never thought it was a scam, thought they were jsut daft haha
William3954 Apr 3rd 2008 9:06AM
LOL..things like this can happen:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=5103830166&postId=52356249848&sid=1#0
You would not believe the amount of money I have made doing this (and the amount of hate mail). People have now caught on and the prices on single shots are starting to go down, I only make 800 per stack vs. the 1300 I used to make....oh well.
And yes, all of my friends ride epics.
FireStar Apr 3rd 2008 9:24AM
I remember back before BC i had 110g to my name (I was rich!) and I accidentally bought a stack of silk cloth for 80g.
guesswho? Apr 3rd 2008 9:34AM
There should be a disclaimer that goes something like this -
Keyboard face-roll at your own risk. All sales are final.
Basically if you can't look before you click then YOU fail, not Blizzard.
Sorry but the game does not need to be dumbed down further.
Silverrealm Apr 3rd 2008 9:44AM
It really is 'buyer beware'... I know that I have sold low quality items on AH for high prices to transfer money over from one of my accounts to another... but it was intended for MY toon, that is why the price was ridiculously high!
I wasn't trying to scam the system... I was just trying to be speedy about getting the cash flow to my other toons on different accounts/factions!!!
So yeah... not fraud!
Avior64 Apr 3rd 2008 9:48AM
These tactics on the AH are exactly why I'm using WoWEcon instead of Auctioneer now. WoWEcon uses Global, and Server pricing from actual purchases which I believe gives a little more accurate picture about how much an item is really worth the the WoW buying public. There has been a rash of motes of "insert type" being posted for up to 100g a stack which I'm sure is throwing Auctioneer all out of wack if you scan the AH often. Whether its a bunch of noobs who believe they actually have something (primals instead of motes since I have met a few players that didn't realize that you combine 10 motes for a primal), or its a scam designed to mess with Auctioneer's database - who knows? It all comes down to you need to be on your toes, and look before you click!
CapnSkillet Apr 3rd 2008 10:31AM
Just to clarify some earlier comments, auctioneer actually uses the median price instead of the average. High numbers, such as 75G for a stack of wool, would drastically skew the average, but the median is always the value in the middle if all the values were arranted in order. So one skewed stat won't affect the median as much as the average. On the other hand, if Auctioneer has very few times shown (5 or less) then an extreme value can still skew the statistics.
Oldbear Apr 3rd 2008 11:46AM
Vote for post of the day...
xhepera Apr 3rd 2008 11:51AM
"These tactics on the AH are exactly why I'm using WoWEcon instead of Auctioneer now."
You realize that Auctioneer has a built-in module for WoWEcon pricing to be taken into consideration when determining pricing, yes? I use them both to quite good advantage. WoWEcon is no better or worse than Auctioneer. Aside from the fact that they both have areas where they shine, they are both nothing more than tools. The real "determiner" should always be your brain.
Frank Apr 3rd 2008 4:10PM
actually, i did NOT know this. thank you!
Zali Apr 3rd 2008 12:47PM
They keep using words like Economy and Free Market too, and I'm pretty sure some of them are clueless about that too.
"Inconthsevable!"
leoeris Apr 3rd 2008 3:19PM
I don't see how that is fraud.
leoeris Apr 3rd 2008 3:20PM
Some things aren't fair!!!!!