Match or undercut?

[Draggar]

So, you've spent the time making 100 (insert popular subcombine). You know you have your set price, and have always had your prices there, usualy the lowest in the bazaar.

You /bazaar to see who else is selling them and how many they have. You see another tradder selling 100 at the same price.

Do you play fair, and take a 50-50 chance of selling them and keep at the same price, do you under cut him by a copper or silver, or under cut him at a noticeable discount (say 10%)?

Edited poll questions to remove the value judgements. Please, for the sake of all that is civil and good, do not turn this into a flame-fest or allow it to descend into personal attacks. ~Lothay

[Zyrtryx Conjureblade]

Depends on the situation and the item.

If I'm selling food, filleting knives, or non-stick frying pans (I rarely stock frying pans), I usually match.

If its HMPs however, I do tend to undercut. I rarely stock more than 2 or 3 stacks at one time, and there are usually others who have several hundred HMPs for sale, so its price vs. volume.

If I'm selling leather padding or skinning knives, I undercut.

Not tradeskill related, but I also go buy stacks of Fuzzlecutter from Ping in West Freeport and sell them on occasion, and I almost always undercut on those.

However, I rarely undercut by more than 5gp on anything.

[Fulminate]

If I dont know what the market is on the item, I tend to match.

If I know the market, and the other guy is considerably under, I set my usual price and figure he will sell out soon enough, leaving the future to me.

If I am consistently undercut for a long period of time, I figure the market value has changed and match the new market.

If I am not being undercut, yet the stuff in my vendor bags is gathering dust (ie, it just isnt selling) I cut the price, regardless of what others may have their price set at, figuring that the market is overpriced.

And I -always- check with a merchant before setting or resetting prices. You'd be suprised how many people sell stuff for less than the NPC merchants will buy it for...

[Serenya]

I rarely change my price if it's a longstanding one, unless it's been long enough that I think the price has changed. If someone is significantly undercutting me, and I know I can consistently sell out at my price, I often will buy them out, leaving my price the same. Occasionally I'll test the waters by raising my price if I'm significantly lower then the rest of what is out there as well.

[Grenoble]

It's a matter of circumstance. When I put something up for the first time, I'll generally match unless I'm hard up for cash or bank room. I'll leave it that way for about a week or so, then periodically recheck prices and adjust.

I never undercut by like 1gp...that's just silly IMO. And on the other side of the coin I won't buy from someone who is undercutting by small change.

I never buy to resell. Just too lazy.

[Angelsyn]

If there's a wide range of prices on something I want to sell (like Tae Ew Shields), then I usually match the second-lowest person.

I'm also a big-time reseller... I'm always on the look-out for people selling good stuff at bargin rates. Spotted a Broken Skull Clan Crest (FT 1 Neck for healers/casters) selling for 25k after I'd bought one for 45k. I picked up the 25k one and sold it within two days for 45k.

[Carmaris]

I just leave the price at my normal asking price. Even with people underselling, my wares (usually Kaladim Constitutionals) sell fairly fast--@ 20pp each, I average 640 or so per week. I also keep a supply of Grobb Liquidised Meat @ 10pp--they don't sell as well (average price is about 5 - 7pp) but that's fine by me, I mainly brew them for a friend who I don't charge. They do sell when no one else is selling though, and usually pretty fast.

[Tweedledea]

If only a few people are selling the item, and I know it's hard to make, I'll match prices... I know they'll sell, then it'll be my turn. And I'd rather not start the downward spiral that means tomorrow the average price for the item is a lot lower

[Balkin]

I generally match prices.

Sometimes I undercut if I just want to get RID of something, however, as someone said above, I check the price with a merchant before I reprice something. If where I was going to sell it is less than the merchant will pay, I'll just sell to the merchant to get rid of it.

However, now there's a new plan in town. I find myself holding on to things to see what the tribute master will give me for 'em.

[Kolotha]

My prices are always the cheapest bar none (principle). If someone undercuts me I will undercut them, if they ask me if I will match their prices I will. If someone undercuts me for one copper or something ridiculous like that on a 10k item, they will no longer be able to sell that item as long as I compete with them as I find it extremely insulting.

(my sig is really out of date now I have a troll, human and ogre gm smith)

[Qutie]

I would say 97% of the time, none of the above would be my answer. I generally keep a trader up 24/7, I know how much I want for the things I sell and I price them accordingly. Now, if they don't sell in a week, I may lower the price, but it's generally based on My feelings about what is selling.... even with lower prices in the bazaar, I usually sell my items for what I priced them at originally.

The other 3% of the time, I'd lower it because it's prolly an item I want to be rid of fast, but rarely do I take into consideration the other bazaar bots... I wouldn't ever sell something at the xpp 9g9s9c because that just irritates me to see....and, Iwouldn't Buy from someone that does.

[Sylphan]

I voted for match. I've been known to raise my prices just to give the other guy a fair shot, and lower my prices again when he's gone. Also I often choose not to match at all... I can leave my trader up both on weekend nights and weekday mornings, and the market is different. If I matched prices on weekends I'd be undercutting all the weekday traders (or vice versa in some markets).

And, really, I don't generally want to have the lowest price anyway. Prices fluctuate naturally in the bazaar. I prefer to be middle-of-the-road, with a few people cheaper and a few people more expensive. Also, for trade supplies especially, it's not all about price. If I'm selling 300 trinkets at 100 pp each and someone else is selling 12 trinkets at 65 pp each, I'll sell out first. Simply because traders like to buy supplies in LARGE lots, hundreds at a time instead of dozens.

But people like Kolotha, who try to be cheapest on 'principle', are the enemy. Lowering prices to compete is one thing but when you are bound and determined to have the lowest cost no matter what, without thinking at all, you are irrational. You are a deflation engine of the worst sort, one of the drivers of mudflation.

First I send them tells and try to get them to behave sanely. Actually talking to people is always better than remaining strangers. But eventually they undercut me after promising not to or lower their price farther than they said was their minimum. Then I send tells to the others to try to get them interested... it's amusing when there are two Kolothas both undercutting on 'principle'.

If that doesn't work, it's time to take them on. We might go back and forth undercutting eachother for a few hours and then I'll put my prices back up... or remove my items from the market without selling them. Or I'll buy up all the supplies, if it's something they're doing for skillups. Sometimes they'll get all heated and reduce their prices to 5pp instead of undercutting me by 5 silver at a time... then I buy them out and resell the stuff at fair prices, or even resell them to a bazaar merchant.

I'm just as likely to lose... sometimes I've been driven out of unprofitable markets by these folks. But they are still the enemy and anything I can do to make their mission more difficult is a pleasure. I can always go back later and buy one item (from them) and start undercutting them. I may have only-one while they have 1000, but their 'principle' won't let them ignore it.

[Lothay]

Let's not start calling people "the enemy," nor discussing price war techniques.

Discusing marketplace dirty-tricks, price-fixing, price-gouging, etc., only serve to inflame people. I'm keeping this thread open for now, but if it gets at all snippy, mean, or heated, not only will I close it, I'll remove it.

Any use of personal attacks will result in banning. No warnings. Play nice, dicuss nicely, but stay within the site rules.

[Dawnlin]

If I'm selling 300 trinkets at 100 pp each and someone else is selling 12 trinkets at 65 pp each, I'll sell out first. Simply because traders like to buy supplies in LARGE lots, hundreds at a time instead of dozens.

I've never played into this. In fact it disgusts me. It's like on Fennin when I would see one person with 380 windstones for 500pp each or a bunch of people with 1-10 for 250pp each. I run around buying the cheaper ones. People with the mindset that "just because I have more means I can charge more" really annoy me. In normal markets, buying in bulk is cheaper. People have more so they'll cut you a deal to sell for less. Why do bazaar people seem to think they're so different? Yes yes I know, EQ isn't normal.. but still.

If someone is selling something in bulk why must they put their prices well above market average just to take advantage of traders they know actually NEED lots and lots (and LOTS) of something. Sometimes people pay it because they have no choice. I've seen traders more than once go buy out everything other people are selling, then jack their prices up just because they have so many and no one else has any. Yes it's good for the bazaar people that don't actually enjoy the "game" (you know EverQUEST, actually playing the game for quests, XP, hunting, adventure, tradeskills, etc etc), but instead would rather sit in bazaar all day thinking they own because they're making so much money off of everyone. But for those of us that play the actual game, the tradeskill community in particular, it just makes things a little more tough to enjoy.

You wanna know why you sell at those prices? Because the people with 1 million + pp in their bank that want to burn through TS's for Grimel earring or whatever buy them just so they can get to 250 fast. The people that do tradeskills because they like them (and not because they just want the end product) are the ones that suffer.

Bleh I'll stop ranting because this comment just made me realize why I hate the bazaar so much and I could go on and on =P

I miss the old days of EC sometimes.
/someone shouts, Selling stack of HQ cat pelts at T1 for 100pp, hail me!
/think WOOHOO!
/run to T1

[Draggar]

This has turned out to be rather interesting.

Every option listed is "fair".

Match their price, give both of you the same chance of selling the item.

Undercut by a few silver / copper - You now have the cheapest item in the bazaar and that's one of the strives of a free market economy.

Undercut significant - chop the price, fair to the buyers since what you're selling may be sold in bulk (say arrows or enchanted items). Whiule undercitting by a few copper will only yeild a few solver savings, undercutting by say 5gold to 1 platinum can save 10-20PP per stack.

Buy out & raise the price - still "fair" - the first person sold all theirs (which was the point of having it on the trader) then you put all the ones you've bought and raise the price. I've had this done to me several times while selling MTPs at 7.5-10PP each and everyone else is at 20-50PP. Trader_01 buys 200-400, doubles his supply, and also ensures himself that much more of a foothold at his price leve, he must be selling them there or he wouldn't have bought them.