Overpriced items on the GTN

[TrixxieTriss]

It's even easier to just make alts to use as storage mules. (Except for those who have no available character slots.)

 

So true.

[DarkTergon]

Removed as my contributions appears to be unwanted Edited April 21, 2021 by DarkTergon

[ceryxp]

I had someone buy a crafted dye off me for 500,000,000 credits a few months ago. I saw someone else listing them at that price so I listed one to see what would happen. I nearly fell off my chair when it sold.

At the time I couldn’t guess why someone would buy a crafted dye at that price. But now you mention it, I guess you could be right and someone could have been laundering their credits. Except that means there was some exploit at the time and it’s been kept under pretty tight raps. Even on the discord channels, where someone usually blabs to everyone how much they are making from it.

 

I am going to have to start posting worthless junk to the GTN for millions and billions of credits.

[DarkTergon]

Removed as my contributions appears to be unwanted Edited April 21, 2021 by DarkTergon

[ReveredDead]

Hey there people,

 

I know this has been discussed before but since that one was kinda old, i decided to make a new one.

You see, as i was trying to decorate my Stronghold, i noticed that (and no offense meant) quitte abit of stuff on the GTN are so expensive. Abit too expensive if you ask me. I'll give 2 examples...

* Luxurious Rug (Red) on sale between 10 and 20 million.

* Spacers Kolto tank between 20 and 30 million.

 

Sure, i get the fact that people need / want credits. I really do. But Rome was'nt build in one day.

And don't get me wrong, i don't mind really to spend some money on something i want but alot of items are just way too expensive and much more then i can afford and really... not only is it just expensive but greedy too.

 

This game is on it's death bed man. It's not even worth getting pissed about anymore like I used to be.

[Tychus]

With all due respect,

As i practically already pointed out: I did'nt expect it to be THAT rare,

but since it is, then yeah, i guess 10 to 20 million is a fair price.

 

If you want to get something of almost the same quality you can get a *blue luxurious rug* from a *Universal Fabricator Droid* I know it's not the red one you want but it has the same pattern on it and you can get it far cheaper than the red one.

 

Sorry to say this but anyone who uses *real money* to buy stuff from the cartel market has more than the right to sell their items on the GTN for what ever price they want, if someone has a rare "niche" item on the GTN more then expect high prices for said item/s.

[DarkTergon]

Removed as my contributions appears to be unwanted Edited April 21, 2021 by DarkTergon

[Aeneas_Falco]

A ton of wealth being in the game is nothing new.

 

The real reason why GTN prices have spiked so much this year is the new augments. People are raising prices on their GTN sales with the hopes of making more credits so they can afford to gear up. That has a knock on effect because even people who aren't in the market for augments raise prices as well, both because the cosmetic items they want to buy are more expensive and because the thing they're selling is now listing for more.

[JediQuaker]

For those who didn't see it in the Suggestions forum, the idea of selectively making things Bound to Legacy when sold on the GTN would help to lower prices.

If you list something on the GTN at a low price in order to help the less fortunate, someone is apt to buy it just to resell it. Making it BoL would stop that.

 

Or more specifically:

Have the "option", when you list an item on the GTN, of making it "BoL on pickup". Then people couldn't resell it.

[OlBuzzard]

For those who didn't see it in the Suggestions forum, the idea of selectively making things Bound to Legacy when sold on the GTN would help to lower prices.

If you list something on the GTN at a low price in order to help the less fortunate, someone is apt to buy it just to resell it. Making it BoL would stop that.

 

Or more specifically:

Have the "option", when you list an item on the GTN, of making it "BoL on pickup". Then people couldn't resell it.

 

As long as those items that were initialized as "BOL" were "wrapped" in a unique colored label so they would not to be confused with NON-BOL ... that idea has merit (actually).

[Tsillah]

With all due respect,

As i practically already pointed out: I did'nt expect it to be THAT rare,

but since it is, then yeah, i guess 10 to 20 million is a fair price.

 

The luxurious red rug is just the same as the luxurious blue rug; just a different colour. But the blue one you can craft and the red one you can only get with cartel certificates.

 

So there are options cause the nightlife event happens every summer now where you can easily get those certificates and the new daily log in system also grants cartel certificates as a reward. If you are in tier 4 of the log in rewards you'll see it.

 

This particular piece is therefore a matter of patience. You can avoid the 20M credit price by being patient and being knowledgeable about the game.

 

As a side note, credits are easy to come by in general and this is in part because a certain amount of people have amassed a lot of credits, because they could. I would be careful with suggestions on how to make money easily in this game. The problem is that sure, it works for them, however, the more people do this, the less profitable it becomes. So you need to be flexible and keep an eye out for changes on the market.

 

But inflation has hit this game hard recently and that's because more people (not most people but more people) can afford it. However, inflation means there are more credits on the market than before. So what's true in real life is true here as well and that means most people are below the line and the market focuses on the other people. It's a simple reality. In the end crafting only makes money in game if not too many people do it or prices would drop significantly and it won't make you money anymore.

 

So if you ever wonder why high level crafting has become too prohibitive for a lot of people and CM prices are so high, that's why. Because if too many people would craft or buy CM items then the market would crash in game. And you may think, but wait, don't they want to sell CM items? Yes. But it's better to sell 100 at 20 bucks each than 200 for 5 bucks each. And so people with money to spend can afford it and can sell it on the GTN cause it fills up their credit bank. The reality is that they don't want to entice more people to buy more CM items as such but rather to have people who can afford it to buy more of them.

 

Anyways that's my view on it. Take it for what it's worth.

[DarkTergon]

Removed as my contributions appears to be unwanted Edited April 21, 2021 by DarkTergon

[Drew_Braxton]

For those who didn't see it in the Suggestions forum, the idea of selectively making things Bound to Legacy when sold on the GTN would help to lower prices.

If you list something on the GTN at a low price in order to help the less fortunate, someone is apt to buy it just to resell it. Making it BoL would stop that.

 

Or more specifically:

Have the "option", when you list an item on the GTN, of making it "BoL on pickup". Then people couldn't resell it.

 

Bad idea.

 

It is a market. If you want the prices to go down, go spend $$ and list items on the gtn for less money.

 

There is always complaining about this kinda thing by players who either don't invest real money in the game or real thought or time to get what they want without paying real money. It really isn't hard to make credits in this game. Go do something instead of spending that time complaining.

[Tsillah]

Bad idea.

 

It is a market. If you want the prices to go down, go spend $$ and list items on the gtn for less money.

 

There is always complaining about this kinda thing by players who either don't invest real money in the game or real thought or time to get what they want without paying real money. It really isn't hard to make credits in this game. Go do something instead of spending that time complaining.

 

Except it wouldn't reach your target audience because deal hunters will grab it within minutes of it being listed and resell it for double or triple the price or whatever. The CM prices are quite prohibitive in that sense cause very few people have the real life money to be able to afford as many of these items to make the market prices drop.

 

There is only one answer in that respect and that is that CM items are BoL period... however, not everybody will like that idea.

Edited December 31, 2020 by Tsillah

[OlBuzzard]

Yes, because we know we are going to have people buying stuff, then crying because they couldn't resell it, and didn't know, etc, etc, etc.

 

exactly. I'm not opposed to new ideas for the market. But if those changes are not clearly reflected to someone who is purchasing the item in question ... you KNOW where that is going to lead !

 

OH ... and for the record I personally don't think it would impact the GTN pricing structure that much. While it would provide a small amount of lower priced items as the suggestion would indicate .. IMO the rest of the market would continue as it normally does.

[Drew_Braxton]

exactly. I'm not opposed to new ideas for the market. But if those changes are not clearly reflected to someone who is purchasing the item in question ... you KNOW where that is going to lead !

 

OH ... and for the record I personally don't think it would impact the GTN pricing structure that much. While it would provide a small amount of lower priced items as the suggestion would indicate .. IMO the rest of the market would continue as it normally does.

 

Bad idea. What if I want to buy some from the gtn to gift to someone else? What if I buy it and change my mind? What if I want to gamble on the value raising later?

 

I support whatever it takes to get people to buy crates from the CM. We need to support that part time intern who is keeping this game going.

[Aeneas_Falco]

Bioware is never going to put some kind price controls on items listed on the GTN, because it isn't in their interest. If the credit prices rise for desired items more people are going to buy that item with Cartel Coins, either to sell on the GTN as a kind of credit exchange or because the price spike has put that item out of a player's credit range.

 

CM sales are probably up.

[AlrikFassbauer]

I don't know, why is it so hard for people to understand, that some people play this game for years (!), and every day they made money. Every single day. It adds up to billions. Of course, if you play two weeks story, left the game, came back, to play again story for two weeks, left again, and never did anything to get credits... yes, 20 million are a lot. But boy...i'm at the point, i pay billions for an armour set, if i want to.

 

you basically compare a baby with no money at all, with an adult, who is buying 50 dollars worth of candy. no big deal, if you're an adult. but for a baby...sure it is a lot.

 

tell me what you do for earning credits, and i can tell you, why you don't have any.

 

The problem aren't the credits.

 

The problem is the mindset.

 

That GTN sellers are EXCLUSIVELY aiming at long-time players.

 

To assume that casual Newbies should have the exact amount of billions of credits from day 1 on like those who have played for years.

This way, these GTN sellers lock out anyone who is not a long time player.

 

The GTN prices are like those of upper class luxury outlets now.

Not for worker class casual Newbies.

[Tsillah]

The problem aren't the credits.

 

The problem is the mindset.

 

That GTN sellers are EXCLUSIVELY aiming at long-time players.

 

To assume that casual Newbies should have the exact amount of billions of credits from day 1 on like those who have played for years.

This way, these GTN sellers lock out anyone who is not a long time player.

 

The GTN prices are like those of upper class luxury outlets now.

Not for worker class casual Newbies.

You're wrong actually. GTN sellers are targeting whoever has the credits to buy their items and they are selling them at those prices because there is a market for it.

 

There are many long-term players who don't care about amassing credits and as a consequence don't have many. And equally there are players who've only played a few months and already have 100s of millions or more.

 

The cause of the price points can be directly related to the prices in the CM, since most items on there are CM items. But how can you say that it's the resellers on the GTN that are to blame? BW sets those prices. There are 20-40 euro/dollar skins in the CM and BW keeps those prices high. Why? Because it ensures that the supply is smaller than the demand. If you do not see the CM prices as the real issue then I invite you to buy such items directly from the CM. But no...you find that too expensive (and rightfully so), but then you blame the GTN sellers for doing the same thing. Is their real life money worth less than yours?

 

Now in game, there have been a few moments of massive inflation. But inflation is a reality when you have reliable sources of credits. And just like real life, there are a handful of people who are interested and good at manipulating the market and therefore become rich. And well, that's what an open market means. Of course the fairy tale is that everyone can become rich. This is not actually true because it's anyone not everyone. That difference is vital to understand. So anyone can be rich in this game, but not everyone. Look at all the examples that you see for becoming rich like power trading or crafting - if everyone did that, they would lose their money making potential. Simply because the supply would exceed the demand.

 

And of course there are reliable ways in game to make credits like the daily heroics. But those take time and repetition. And you'll always be at a disadvantage to those who find quicker ways of making credits. So yeah, you're right in the sense that it mimics real life.

 

The credit sellers are also thankful to BW for this because they have business because of this. BW might be saying stuff against credit sellers but they enable them anyway. They create the market for them. Let's just say that if BW had chosen to make all CM items BoL and only have in-game currencies that are also BoL then the credit sellers wouldn't have a market.

 

But then there is that chance that we wouldn't have SWTOR anymore either...

[DarkTergon]

Removed as my contributions appears to be unwanted Edited April 21, 2021 by DarkTergon

[Tsillah]

The is no working class, we're all the same here. All started with nothing, and can all build up to a fortune.

You can build a fortune through clever play, using cm items, or just even spending enough time on it.

 

Anyone can build a fortune but not everyone. If all players were equally clever then all those profitable avenues would stop being profitable. Crafting only works because it's only a few people who do this. If all players would start crafting equally it would stop being profitable. Power trading is the same. If all people would be equally good at power trading and would start doing this, then it would stop being profitable.

 

So there is a working class still and it's those people who are not keyed into these types of activities, either due to lack if interest or ability and just rely on their quests to give them credits. Doing dailies is work in that sense.

 

And not all started with nothing because some people have large amounts of spending money in real life and they can spend it on CM items to get their in-game riches quickly.

[DarkTergon]

Removed as my contributions appears to be unwanted Edited April 21, 2021 by DarkTergon

[Tsillah]

EVERYONE starts the game with nothing, everyone. You have two choices if you want to make money, work your *** off, or spend rl money, that's the same choice EVERYONE has. I haven't spent a RL cent on amassing my fortune. When the CM first came out, I bought cartel coins to get stuff for myself. It was with my free CC's, and a lot of grinding, and playing the gtn, that got me in to the rich list. That is something even a new player can do.

But most don't want to do that, they'd rather complain that everyone who has money in game is greedy, or rich in RL, or worse. And it's even easier now to make credits, so many more avenues. It's not a working class we have, it's a lazy class, who want it all handed to them without doing anything.

 

I have to disagree. Not everyone has the real life money to spend in the CM. So that's not a choice for everyone.

 

And not everyone can do these things like playing the GTN. And you should be lucky because of everybody played the GTN you would not be able to make credits with that activity.

 

Now I don't care for the whining about it either. But it's a simple economics thing where anyone can become filthy rich but not everyone. That is a misunderstanding a lot of people seem to have. Grinding away by itself only makes you rich when you spend a lot of time on it and don't spend a lot. That's not the definition of fun for a lot of people but beyond that, the most profitable activities in game (which is not grinding anyway) only work as long as not too many people do that activity. It would create too much competition and then the supply side becomes too much and the prices go down. It's that simple. If everybody were to become crafters that sell their wares on the GTN, there would not be a demand (because they craft it themselves) and there would be a surplus on the supply side.

 

I can't make it more simple than that. And this is why I say that anyone can be rich but not everybody can, because there is a point where too many people participate on the supply side to make any real profits with it.

[KendraP]

Grinding away by itself only makes you rich when you spend a lot of time on it and don't spend a lot. That's not the definition of fun for a lot of people but beyond that, the most profitable activities in game (which is not grinding anyway) only work as long as not too many people do that activity.

 

I would like to emphasize this. Sure I've spent a decent (probably embarassing) amount on the CM over the years. But don't play the game to play the gtn, and I find crafting both boring and a gigantic time dump. Ergo, both of those are activities I choose to not do.

 

Now im not even complaining I can't afford some things or that I don't have billions of credits. I accepted that with my playstyle and overall the game throws me plenty of credits (now that I'm more or less done gearing). I hold nothing against people that do craft or game the gtn but neither of those activities are for me. My credits have all been gotten via selling the useless stuff you get in the process of cq capping 10- 20 toons per week.

[OlBuzzard]

The is no working class, we're all the same here. All started with nothing, and can all build up to a fortune.

You can build a fortune through clever play, using cm items, or just even spending enough time on it.

 

It simply takes time, patience and even making mistakes (that happens to all of us).

 

It also depends upon how many credits you choose to spend. There are a number of way to earn enough for the basics. Making additional credits for BiS items is not as demanding as it use to be with the new system in place (which works well for alts).

 

YES there are problems with the RNG factor when it comes to rerolling amplifiers or purchasing MK-11 Augs. IMO this is where GTN pricing becomes a bit frustrating.

 

Crafting: that is another matter. There has been and will continue to be PAGES of posts and debates over this subject. I have my own thoughts on this subject. I doubt many will agree. But ... (at the risk of further disagreement) are few:

*** Dyes: I don't care what people charge ... I'm not spending a ridiculous amount of credits on them ESPECIALLY since if I change that color the old one gets destroyed. I don't think I've EVER spent over 100K on one.

*** Mods... same as dyes: I have a "cut-off" price I keep in the back of my head. If I find what I'm looking for at the right price ... then I'll look at purchasing. Other wise I'll wait to see what drops as a result of all of the FP's I run. Sorry ... I'm just not going to spend it !

*** Augments / MK-11 stuff... same thing. It may take me a while to get enough to go around to all of my alts ... but you'd be surprised just how cheap I buy them.

--- other stuff ----

*** Armor. Even some of the new stuff (ie Infamous Bounty Hunter) I watch and buy one part at a time and spend less than 1/2 of what a new "set" is selling for! I just need one more component and I'll have a full set (you'd be surprised as to how little I've spent so far).

*** Decos Same as everything else. I'll watch and wait. Sure I may have to wait 4 - 6 weeks to get what I'm looking for at the price I'm willing to pay BUT ... hey ! It works !! I now have 4 strong holds at 100% completion ! And I'm always looking for new stuff to add / change !

 

Freedom of choice makes things work much better for everyone ! IMO ... leave it as it is!