Shattnerhoff said...
My answer:
This comment on the blog was in response to the Mage Armor 'gouging' I was encouraging auctioneers to participate in with the recently uncraftable Glyph of Mage Armor. I am in no way trying to single out Shattnerhoff in a negative way, but rather I wish to answer his question respectfully and in such a way as to possibly change his opinion on the subject. I'm sure that others feel the same way as he or she does.
Supply and demand determine the price of an item. In this case, Glyph of Mage Armor had just as much demand as any of the other major glyphs for other classes after patch 4.0.1 was released. The supply however was very different from every other major glyph in the game: no one could craft this item after 4.0.1 went live. So if anyone had Glyph of Mage Armor in their bags before the patch, they were sitting on a high demand, super low and getting lower supply item. With each Glyph of Mage Armor that sold after the patch, the supply dwindled while demand stayed high. This incredibly rare situation creates an atmosphere which appears to be sinister in nature but it is actually just a response of the market to the actual value of Glyph of Mage Armor.
What I did was inform the masses of the actual value of the item itself, I did not tell everyone to go gouge the item and make ridiculous amounts of gold off this glyph. Instead, I told them that the value is far more than the other glyphs, in the range of probably 300-500 gold. If a player chooses to post an item for 1000 gold when it is worth 500 gold then he or she will get undercut by players who know the actual value of the item in question and other players will refuse to buy it.
Here's how the pricing should work in a perfect glyph seller's world:
- There are just as many mage armor glyphs as any other glyph with the same demand. Mage armor sells for the same price as its brethren.
- There are half as many mage armor glyphs as any other glyph with the same demand. Mage armor sells for double the price of its brethren.
- There are a third of as many mage armor glyphs as any other glyph with the same demand. Mage armor sells for three times the price of its brethren.
As you can see, the closer we get to having zero mage armor glyphs, the exponentially more expensive this glyph becomes.
What I did was give players the information they needed to understand what this item was worth and how much they should sell it for. This is actually a perfectly fair and honest way to conduct business on the auction house. If prices are insane on your server it's because there just isn't enough competition to bring the price down to a 'fairer' price which is really just your opinion on the matter anyway.
Supply and Demand are what determine the price and allow for the gouging you are experiencing. If I had the last glyph of mage armor I'd have it up for 1000 gold without a second though. That's not gouging, it's economics.
55 comments: on "Markco, You're an Ass"
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 8:09 AM
On my server, Glyph of Mage Armor is going for an insane 1200g MINIMUM. This morning I found one lonely one at 25g. Needless to say I bought it and re-listed at the appropriate server price. : > Nice profit for 0.5 work.
Nigel said... October 26, 2010 at 8:17 AM
My first thought was 'Hee-Haw'. But seriously, it could be with any item. Just look at Primordial Saronite. Was up in the thousands in the beginning and is now under 200gp. The only difference is it started in scarcity and then flooded (btw, this is a good time to get those ICC recipes since the primordial is relatively cheap!).
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 8:19 AM
ppl bought my mage armour for 500g - 1k everyday and best part few ppl thanked me that I am making it available either through my pre-crafted stock or faction transfer
jimmyolsenblues said... October 26, 2010 at 8:22 AM
My first real piece of hate mail came when the cooldown was removed from saronite to titanium bars. I was really the first to flood the market on my server with titanium bars for around 18g.
It cost me less than
(2 * 8 * 14) / 20 = 11.2g for each bar and prior to the patch I think titanium bars were selling for 30g on my server.
Wow is really the only video game I know where the economics of the game has created employment in india, china, and other poorer countries.
I have had classes in accounting and economics so it is truly interesting to me how the ebbs and flows of the economy affects game play.
I don't think I am gouging the market by selling Breastplates of the white knight for 3000g, it is the going rate. If no one buys I lose the deposit fee, no harm no foul.
Hate mail really is just someone's frustration with the free market. Anyone is more than welcome to level enough toons to handle most if not every profession. Once you have about 5 toons with every profession slot filled you really find out what something is worth and you really can be completely financial independent in the game of warcraft. Its not just PVP on the battleground, it truly is PVP on the auction house.
Zim said... October 26, 2010 at 8:34 AM
I guess he should be mad against the price of RL gold, diamonds, emeralds, petro, etc.
How upset could he get discovering this auction: 750-gram white truffle sold for 100,000 euros?
http://www.daylife.com/photo/01ybfs55HRcWv
Rare things are rare and get premmium price. Thats is bid by economy.
Wow has his own economy but some rules are similar to real life.
I can auction on wow AH a 1000 gold a stack of Mulgore Spice Bread.
People won´t buy it.... and you know why.
my 2 cents,
Zim
Raddik said... October 26, 2010 at 8:44 AM
When you get hate mails like this, you know you are in the right path ^^
ikon said... October 26, 2010 at 8:44 AM
I usually don't comment but things like this and stuff about how gold strategies don't work make me want to.
Expanding on the supply and demand and touching on real world things like the op hinted at does anyone think it really costs close to $200k to make a diamond worth that much? Not really. However they are rare and the price will reflect that. In game we can look at the macaw pet that's a rare drop. It goes for 20-50k every time. Then there's invincible's reigns that I've seen sell upward of 100k. That's basic supply. Sadly I didn't make any extra mate armor glyphs before the patch and sold all that I had on patch day. As of last night they were going for 600gea on my server but normal prices are about 300g.
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 8:47 AM
I have the very last, insert whatever here, in the world(real or game) and you want it. The question is how bad do you want it?
Doesn't matter if it's the last 1979 penny or some piece of armor. It's only worth what you "say" it is. The penny is just 1 cent. But it's the LAST one. LOL
How bad do you want it?
Markco, You're not an ass. Keep up the great work! You give us great tips..at no cost. Have a great day.
N.
Fjelljeger said... October 26, 2010 at 8:50 AM
No, Markco is not an ass. As Markco explaines; the market sets the price. If you're "insane" enough to pay thousands of gold for the glyph, then be it, you get the glyph - but not the title :-)
But, you don't have to buy it!
Marcko - keep up the good work. Inform us in such matters.
Evidicus said... October 26, 2010 at 9:01 AM
Supply and demand determine the price of an item.
Amen.
That is why when someone spams trade chat asking what an item is worth, I just reply, "What someone is willing to pay for it."
There is a difference between the price which something sold for recently, and the value of the item. Value is always a subjective variable.
You have the right to post an auction at whatever price you see fit based on your value of the item. A potential buyer either agrees or disagrees with that price based on his/her value of that same item.
It has nothing to do with "being an ass". It has everything to do with understanding the market we play in.
I'm not even flush with 100k gold, and even I get that much at least.
Jorrit said... October 26, 2010 at 9:28 AM
This isn't an entirely typical case of supply and demand though... Usually when supply drops it's because the base materials used to make the item have become more rare or more expensive. In the case of the Mage Armor glyph, it didn't cost you anything extra to make them before the patch, and it was still YOUR decision to suddenly hike up the price on the day patch 4.0.1 was released. That does make you an ass, although a very smart ass!
Elliott said... October 26, 2010 at 9:32 AM
Dear Original Poster,
One thing you should know about Marcko, being the bloodthirsty Gladiator Prot Warrior that he is; he feeds on your tears.
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 9:46 AM
The type of response, crying about gouging, is alot like what I was getting on patch day. You know, people telling me I should die in a fire before I procreate and what not, and that I was "unAmerican" for trying to make a profit (the profit was and still is very pretty, btw).
Sure, WoW economy doesn't exactly mirror real life rules, but the main ideas usually hold pretty true.
Vladpr said... October 26, 2010 at 10:03 AM
He/She's also making the wrong comparison ... hurricane essentials vs better tires for your car(that's a glyph equivalent in real life? Maybe better shoes for runners or gloves for boxers)
Glyphs are not a specially necessary thing to have, you can live with the less better glyph if you don't want to pay a lot for a scarce glyph.
It's not gouging, it's quite simply supply and demand.
And also, prices are in part set by the market and in other part by the sellers, but supported by the buyers. If the glyph wasn't worth 1k ... no one would buy them and no one would post it for long.
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 10:29 AM
Imagine what will happen if there was only 100 gas station in the world ;)
what will really happen to gas prices.
Unknown said... October 26, 2010 at 10:38 AM
When it comes down to it, a Mage Armor Glyph is a luxury, not a necessity. Someone wants it right now and can't wait for the patch that will restore the recipe. If you want a rare luxury item and you don't want to wait for it, why shouldn't you pay through the nose? If the glyph were required to play (i.e. can't cast spells without it, can't move) that would be a different story.
I grew up in South Florida and a number of hurricanes hit over the years, messing up one city or another. The very worst people during those times were the guys who had truckloads of ice (in a city with no power!) and charged 5 or 10 dollars a bag. The guys running gas stations who'd quadruple the price of gas the day before the storm hit. You want to talk about "price gouging," they are taking a basic necessity and screwing people just because they can. There is a world of difference.
Jebby Boy said... October 26, 2010 at 10:40 AM
Shattnerhoff...UMADBRO?
Zamboni said... October 26, 2010 at 10:57 AM
They can't have it both ways. The players complaining about the price of glyphs are the same ones who are now demanding 50g for a stack of herbs, the same ones who charged us 1000g for each Book of Glyph Mastery. They're perfectly happy with supply and demand when it's in their favor.
They're perfectly capable of making their own scribe, buying their own books, milling their own inks for their own research...but they don't. Every time someone complains the price of glyphs, I refer them to an Inscription leveling guide and I never hear from them again.
Brandon Johnson said... October 26, 2010 at 10:57 AM
And the world was begging for their Glyph of Mage Armor. Atlas looked at his stock of over 200 glyphs he had had the foresight to create before the patch.
Atlas Shrugged, as he deleted the glyphs and laughed as the second handers went without.
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 11:08 AM
Now come on, you HAVE to be a complete ignorant or just an idiot to not know that those prices are pure economy, not gouge or beeing an ass...
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 11:13 AM
Did he really compare a glyph in a game to gas and food prices in real life? Seriously? In real life, everyday, rare items are sold for astronomical prices in auctions, because there is a limited quantity of items and several people with money that want them. hmmm.
Drogg said... October 26, 2010 at 11:24 AM
lol I love when people rage on forums/trade about the price of things... Given that the wow economy is a capitalist basis, centered around supply and demand, I tell them to go play another MMORPG that offers a socialist style of play and in game gold creation, where everyone works hard to be equal in gear and gold...
Plus i'm an antagonist and if i'm listing something and someone complains, i'll intentionally raise the price further, just to wind them up lol
EconGeek said... October 26, 2010 at 11:25 AM
Pretty much without exception, the haters fail to understand that price is an important signal. A high price tells the buyer "short supply, skip this unless you really need it", and tells the producers "crank out more, we need it!" Without this signal, you'll quickly have none available at any price, which is why communism led to empty shelves in the stores. This is also why I don't think you should hate gougers even in the hurricane example above.
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 11:41 AM
I'm of the mind that being gouged is a choice. I'm waiting out the glyph market. It's not like I'm a raider or plan on needing everything NOW NOW NOW.
I remember when I saw a Razz Pet (right before they said they would be gone). A guy had it on their for 6K I put mine on for 1500K (which is the usual rate I think but don't ask me why). I truly believed that Blizz wouldn't remove such wonderful worshiped mounts and by extension the pets. I WAS WRONG. But I wouldn't have gouged a fellow pet lover anyway. It's just not something I'm willing to do.
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 11:43 AM
I'm of the mind that being gouged is a choice. I'm waiting out the glyph market. It's not like I'm a raider or plan on needing everything NOW NOW NOW.
I remember when I saw a Razz Pet (right before they said they would be gone). A guy had it on their for 6K I put mine on for 1500K (which is the usual rate I think but don't ask me why). I truly believed that Blizz wouldn't remove such wonderful worshiped mounts and by extension the pets. I WAS WRONG. But I wouldn't have gouged a fellow pet lover anyway. It's just not something I'm willing to do.
Ohken said... October 26, 2010 at 12:04 PM
Nobody has commented on the "ass" part of the argument. Regardless of supply and demand, is it morally okay to sell at a high price?
I think it's morally better to sell at the market price. Consider the two scenarios more carefully:
Scenario 1. You sell at the market price. The item will linger around on the AH, possibly for days. Eventually, someone who really really really really wants it will part with the gold and buy it. Lots of other people will see the item but, instead of buying it, cry in despair about how expensive it is.
Scenario 2. You sell way below the market place. The item will instantly sells to the first mage that scans the AH for it. Still juts one person gets it, and this time it's someone who has more luck than anything else. Nobody else even sees the item, including the guy who would happily have bid 1k gold for it if given the chance.
If I trace through all the implications of each scenario, scenario 1 looks better. In scenario 1, the item goes to someone who wants it the most, whereas in scenario 2, it goes to whoever was lucky enough to scan the AH at the right time. If I could pick who should get the item, it's the buyer from scenario 1.
John Galt said... October 26, 2010 at 12:48 PM
He is obviously uninformed on how capitalism works. WoW is a free market. Should Marcko honestly lower his price on a high demand low supply item just cause because some might not afford it. Look out everyone WoW is going communist. Oh I know, lets lower the price of the Feraris because only 1% of the population can afford one. Sorry bro doesn't work like that. If you want to afford this glyph use Marcko's tips and makes some gold to buy it. *passes him a copy of Atlas Shrugged* read that and you will understand what happens when gouging rules are put in place.
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 12:50 PM
Sounds like this guy should have bought his glyphs the Monday before the patch.
pagb666 said... October 26, 2010 at 1:24 PM
In fact, the ass is the person that posted his 15+ mage armor glyphs at 40g each. He afforded me having to bring them from the alliance.
Gossamer said... October 26, 2010 at 1:32 PM
I honestly find this attitude (the person being addressed, not Markco's) to be completely silly. He's answered his own complaint right in the text. If you don't like the prices, don't pay them. Things are only ever worth what people are willing to pay for them. Markco's comments on how much he see the glyphs as being worth works for everyone. When he says 300-500 gold the writer sees "I have to pay 300-500 gold for this?!". I see "I shouldn't pay more than 300-500 gold for this right now." Maybe I'm just an optimistic gal. :)
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 1:34 PM
@Ohken
Scenario 2.5
Post the glyph at normal price. Two minutes later your local auction house bot camper scans the auction, scoops it up and reposts it for 1k.
Sparks said... October 26, 2010 at 1:49 PM
I find the letter writer's example of generators during a hurricane a bit off. You might need the electricity those bring, but you certainly don't "need" any given glyph to play the game. If you want to be uber-l337 or whatever, sure, but that's a luxury.
And consider this. Marco might be selling his glyphs CHEAP. I've had rare shirt (as in no stats) patterns drop once or twice. I've posted them on weekend with no buyout, bids only, and they've sold for over 1,000g.
So, Marco. Why not try that and see what the "true" price is? Your hate mail person might be surprised.
Kathari said... October 26, 2010 at 2:25 PM
I think what people sometimes forget about the AH is that, with a (very) few exceptions, there isn't a thing for sale on there that you can't get through some other means. So for the most part you aren't buying items so much as convenience and another player's time. It's the same philosophy behind vendor good flipping: the items are out there for anyone to buy, but some players would rather not go all the way to Netherstorm to get a Red Moth or whatever and choose to pay extra to save the time and effort.
In the case of the Mage Armor glyph that was an unintended bug, there is at least a possibility that it will become craftable again. So if the idea of paying the high going rate for one offends you, you do have the option of waiting for the recipe to be restored.
Uriul said... October 26, 2010 at 3:14 PM
OK, while I disagree with Shattnerhoff, I think very nearly every post here, including Markco's (Ohken is the one exception) is completely missing the point of what Shattner was saying. All the comments here are talking about what you CAN charge in a given situation; he was talking about what you SHOULD charge.
This isn't a case of someone being ignorant of supply and demand - while completely out of scale, his analogy shows an understanding of the concept.
He's saying that you should ignore supply and demand, and post the glyphs more cheaply, because "it's the right thing to do". Essentially, that because you have gold you're obligated to share it rather than get more.
I worry about that line of thinking, because I'm sitting on 500k and growing, and my guild knows this. At some point, am I going to be expected to bankroll the guild, just because I can? Pay for all repairs, all flasks, all gems, all enchants, etc?
I'm fairly sure it won't happen in my guild, but I can definitely see this "you have more, I have less, therefore you should give some to me" attitude being an issue for auctioneers. I'm sure I read an article, I think on wow.com, about someone who made flasks having to donate all of them to his guild, and wondering how he could make some gold of his own given that. That's the sort of thing that happens as a result of Shattnerhoff's way of thinking...
I'm not sure there's much point arguing it with him, either, since ultimately it comes down to him not respecting your reasons for playing the game. People who don't care about making/having gold view it just as a way to get things, and so in their mind why wouldn't you give them a bunch, aside from respecting that you play for a reason they don't share? The "you can't even spend all the gold you have" line is telling, IMO...
Anyway, tl;dr: What Shattnerhoff was saying wasn't a lack of understanding of capitalism, but a rejection of it as immoral, and a lack of respect for pursuing gold in-game for its own sake. Doesn't make him any more right, but he's wrong for a whole different set of reasons.
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 3:23 PM
I woke up when patch 4.0.1 came out and logged on to hear myself scream at the prices, as a couple of weeks before I decided to stop doing as much auction work I did and decided to only do Mage/Warlock Glyphs as it would be easier. So when I went to put up my auctions I notice the increase in price on my sever (600g) then looked at the supply I had about 70-80 of these beauty's just sitting on one of my alts, I couldn't believe my luck. Playing a cleaver tactic I waited for a while for people to sell these and for the price to slowly rise (I was surprised to find out they didn't rise by much) However I think I've made a decent sum of money from this (40-50k and counting roughly)
Raimondas the Insane said... October 26, 2010 at 3:51 PM
Uriul hit exactly the point I was about to make, so I'll advise you to reread his comment, and come at it from a slightly different angle.
"Price gouging" is the market's (and the market is merely everybody freely interacting) way of distributing an extremely rare item to those who need it most.
I can tell that Shattnerhoff does not need a Glyph of Mage Armor, because he is not willing to pay for it. The mages who DO need it ARE willing to pay for it, even up to 1k gold. Listing them at 30 gold would prevent the mages who REALLY need them from being able to acquire them because the mages who DON'T need them would buy them.
Calling this price gouging is a deadly insult; it is an absolutely necessary function to ensure that whoever needs the item most gets it.
For the real world analog, and response to Shattnerhoff's disaster example, see Price Gouging Saves Lives.
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 4:05 PM
I like how some of you compare real life to WoW. This might not be obvious to the majority who frequent this site but you spend more time making fake money than real money. There's something really really wrong with that. And if your first response is that you have a real job then you likely need to re-think the way you spend your time. And honestly, you can call it hate mail all you want, but Markco isn't someone you want to be or should aspire to be. The faster you come to that realization the better off you will be in life.
Faid said... October 26, 2010 at 4:10 PM
Markco's an ass. He didn't come to my birthday party. =[
If anyone's at fault here it's the people willing to pay so much; if there was no market to handle such high prices the prices would drop.
The Gnome of Zurich said... October 26, 2010 at 4:36 PM
Markco,
You actually have made a mistake in this post in the detail.
You have assumed a particular price elasticity of demand for mage armor in determining what the price would be at various levels of supply with the same level of demand.
In practice, your demand curve isn't necessarily a standard log function.
My experience of WoW markets is that demand is relatively inelastic within a fairly wide range around the standard market price bounded below by the point at which flipping becomes worthwhile, and above by anywhere from 120-150% of market depending on various factors. Then at those boundaries it becomes steeply elastic.
So basically, items posted at less than 60-80% of market are snapped up quickly by knowledgeable market participants for flipping, willingness to pay of normal buyers below this pint is irrelevant -- we assume that anything offered at this price or lower will always sell to somebody.
Normal buyers willing to pay above the flip point are mostly willing to pay anything up to a bit above normal market. At some point, you hit a mark where a fair number of buyers drop out, and that's the spot you normally see prices spike to during a typical supply shock (bot is banned, some big seller takes a vacation). Just below this spot is where monopolists are aiming to set the market.
During a big supply shock, prices can go all kinds of crazy -- the crucial question is "What does the price need to be for demand to equal supply?"
Suppose there are 100 mage armor glyphs on your server that can be used. And you have 1000 arcane mages who might want them. Every mage has some price at which they will say "screw it, I'll live without the extra .6% of mana every 5 seconds. The correct market price, is the price at which exactly 100 mages will pay the price to get the glyph.
Given how few of these glyphs there are out there, and how many mages, and how easy it is to accumulate a pile of gold, I would recommend selling at 4-5000g to start, and drop only if nobody bites. Will I spend 5k on mage armor? Maybe. What's 5k to me? If there are as many mages who think that way as there are mage armor glyphs, then 5000g is the market price.
Perhaps this is too high, as blizzard may fix this glitch before cata, and of course once they do, the gravy train is gone. So it may be prudent, if you are sitting on a decent sized stash of these, to sell them off for 500-1000g so you get plenty of sales before it is fixed.
Kathari said... October 26, 2010 at 4:45 PM
@ Anonymous: I can't speak for everyone here, but I play a couple hours a night just a few nights a week, and it's BECAUSE I have other stuff to do that I like checking out Markco's tips. They help me make gold more efficiently - through activities that don't need as much effort, such as crafting and AH flipping. Sometimes my total WoW activity for the day is logging on, buying some mats, crafting a few scrolls/flasks/gems, posting, and logging off. I'd rather spend my play time questing than worrying about how to make gold, honestly, so if I can accomplish the latter with minimal effort then all the better.
As for comparing the game to real life...WoW is not real life but because it's a medium where thousands of people interact with one another, it's more or less a crude analogue for real life, with some of the same challenges and interactions. For people who like playing the AH and treating it like an alternative form of PvP, it sort of holds the same appeal as playing the stock market. At least WoW is a "sandbox" where you really have nothing to lose.
The Gnome of Zurich said... October 26, 2010 at 4:52 PM
""Price gouging" is the market's (and the market is merely everybody freely interacting) way of distributing an extremely rare item to those who need it most."
Only to the extent that all market participants have the same marginal utility of money. But this is clearly BS.
I don't have to need an item very badly to spend 1000g on it. Somebody who only has 1001g has to need it a lot more than I do before they will spend the 1000g.
The advantage of price gouging comes primarily when supply can be redirected or increased. Water going for a ton of money in a drought area gives a profit motive to those who would do work to increase the supply, such as transport water from non-drought areas, or purify salty or contaminated water in the area.
But the idea that the people who need things the most will get them because the price gets higher is silly.
It's quite possible, in a drought situation, given the incredible disparities of wealth in the world/country, that some billionaire is willing to pay more in $ to avoid the inconvenience of being thirsty or going without a bath for a few days, than some random working stiff has available in dollars to pay for the water they will need to stay alive.
The logical conclusion of "markets uber alles" philosophy is that if a billionaire is willing to pay $100k to take a bath with all the remaining water in the village, that anybody about to die of thirst who doesn't have 100k+ to offer against him deserves to die.
Within reason, of course, I agree that price 'gouging' is usually a good thing.
Hagu said... October 26, 2010 at 5:34 PM
What you don't mention is that every single mage should have purchased their glyphs before Tuesday when it was selling for 5-10g on my server. So no good(in an economic sense) player ever paid much for a mage armor glyph. All we are arguing about in this case is how much they should be charged for their lack of preperation.
If someone lists it for 10000g and it doesn't sell, nobody was gouged; what people list things for are not the selling price. But if there are 5 glyphs on your server and the 5th most person is willing to pay 800g, then that is what the last one should sell for. Why would you list it for 300g so someone who doesn't think it is worth 800g should get it while someone who is willing to pay more does not get it. That is inefficient. And it is impossible to sell it to someone for more than they think it is worth. (Except for Marko memorial arrows of course.)
And people spent 2000g on frozen orbs the first week and might have spent 25000 on crafted legs months ago, so 500g on a glyph is not exactly a lot for a high end raider.
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 6:36 PM
Just wanted to say thanks for buying all of my mage armor glyphs.. i mean all 40 of them for 300-1000g ea.
Raimondas the Insane said... October 26, 2010 at 8:18 PM
Gnome of Zurich brings up a good point about marginal utility of money. I would remind the gnome that outside Azeroth, human nature is in full effect. Remember that when using scenarios to illustrate your points, the scenarios should be realistic. I can't imagine anyone selling their last gallon of water to some billionaire at any price, unless they had a death wish. And for some billionaires... Bill Gates could not pay me enough to not watch him die of thirst, for instance.
Anonymous said... October 26, 2010 at 8:23 PM
Personally, even as a scribe myself (with a millionaire bank alt), I was utterly disgusted with some people over this Glyph of Mage Armor, and other missing glyphs.
*IF* it was taken out of the game, obsolete, fair game to you, milk it. but it wasn't and isn't, it was just another sloppy ommission in a bug riddled patch that was rushed out the door obviously unready.
It was an ommission that blue posts have already said will be fixed.
Yet, certainly on my main server, you have one or too people lying, spamming trade with crap like "my friend the gm said it's gone for good, I have the last few in the game" Then, when they were sold, gloating in /trade over how much they made and how clever they were to cheat people.
As I say, sickened by it.
Geckomayhem said... October 26, 2010 at 8:38 PM
My first comment here. :)
As a casual player I don't spend much time in the game. I've tried turning a profit a few times over the last few years but have failed miserably each time due to constant undercutting and severe market flooding on our server; especially in the last few months.
Gems, enchants, elixirs, glyphs, etc are very often at base material cost or even lower = no profit; enchanting scrolls especially just will not sell these days. I've had the same black magic scrolls sitting in my bank since trying to sell them almost every day for more than five weeks. There is just so little demand for all the enchants I've tried that it looks like we have to wait for Cataclysm and a fresh start there.
Almost all glyphs have normalised to the point of just not being able to sell them (I repost every day and get them back in my mail the next day), even at the base cost of the herbs needed to make them. It's very frustrating because there are hundreds of people trying to play the auction house, with every profession having dozens of savvy players. The wealthy just control prices and get wealthier, and the ones trying to get ahead just get frustrated no matter how much they wait and observe and dip their toes in to try and take part. :/
However, I want to stay positive and intend to keep reading the good articles on here and trying again to get into the market; albeit slowly. There is a lot to catch up on, and I think it is best to possibly choose one thing to focus on and go from there.
I also wanted to say that Marcko is an ass: an Amazing, Savvy Stockbroker. Thanks for your awesome blog and I hope that something will click for me soon. ;)
I'll go back to reading now. Thanks. :)
Jennine said... October 26, 2010 at 9:33 PM
I have been playing WoW since vanilla but only recently have I been interested in the AH and gold making. My first response to that post would be that we all get different things out of the game and that for some of us the fun and challenge of making gold is why we play the game. Making gold can give people the same sense of accomplishment as downing a boss or obtaining a rare pet. The second response would be exactly the same as Markco's, this is economics not gouging and as a consumer he has the choice to buy or not at that price. That glyph isn't essential to the game and he/she could choose to do without.
Thank you Markco, keep up the good work!
Anonymous said... October 27, 2010 at 4:06 AM
It's a terrible glyph anyway, dunno why people are so desperate to get it.
Chako said... October 27, 2010 at 5:17 AM
In the end of the day the auction house works like real life does. When something is rarely about on the AH the price will be high. When the item is common then it's cheap.
I'd like to also say that the day before Blizzard announced Polymorph Turtle will most likely be put in the game again somehow my partner sold the book for 3K gold! I sold mine a week after the announcement for 800g. Sure I didn't make as much but cos it's not common and some people don't read or can't wait you can make a few bob off them. If they are willing to pay the price then that's not our (by our I mean we the Auctioneers of WoW) problem.
Keep up the good work! Your tips on buying the Outland pets from Netherstorm then reselling on AH have made me rich! :D
Anonymous said... October 27, 2010 at 8:23 AM
First time comment, but I had to for this story. I was recently sent a hate mail for "gouging" by selling the engineering quest items:
Advanced Target Dummy
Deadly Blunderbuss
The sender told me to "burn in hell".
Its not like I bought up all the existing ones on the AH either. I was the only supplier at that time and I listed at a price that seemed like a reasonable return on my time.
Never mind the fact that had I chosen not to list them at all that the player wouldn't have even had the option to buy it on the AH. Shock horror, he may have even had to ask in the trade for them!
Evlyxx said... October 27, 2010 at 8:49 AM
If someone is prepared to pay the premium for a rare item how is that gouging?
Buyout price is shown and clearly stated before purchase. Buyers know this and if paying it agree that it is a fair price and get confirmation boxing to check that they are happy to pay that price.
If the buyer thinks he is getting robbed he is free to NOT buy the glyph..
Are buyers of the glyph being forced to pay the price? I don't see any gun to their heads?
Anonymous said... October 31, 2010 at 6:23 PM
An old saying still common is buyer beware. The sellers rarely control the price of any item on the aution house same as a car dealer or Mcdonalds. Price is set by what it can bear. At the end of the day the buyer can choose to buy, not buy, shop around or as above individual decided wait it out for a cheaper option. Excellent shopping skills my kudos to your poster!
The Gnome of Zurich said... November 1, 2010 at 8:38 AM
"It's a terrible glyph anyway, dunno why people are so desperate to get it."
It's one of the three best glyphs for dps for arcane mages.
Even in current content with BiS gear, I don't think you can spam AB indefinitely at 4 stacks without evocating -- unless you can do that (which you for sure will not be able to do at 85), glyph of mage armor is excellent.
Anonymous said... November 8, 2010 at 5:33 PM
I am soooo glad I had 2 full stacks of this glyph made...and I am down to my last 2.
Also, so glad I was snatching up Pristine Black Diamonds listed at 250g or less over the past 3 months, sold my last stack of them last week. Awesome to triple up and now people are actually listing them at 1k g or higher. lol
Hinote of Steamwheedle Cartel said... November 9, 2010 at 9:50 PM
I understand where youre coming from here Markco, but at the end of the day these glyphs are what people need to play with at a decent level.
This glyph is useable at level 68, which means that people will want to level using it.
Will a level 68 have that much gold?
No I dont think so, unless its one of your alts.....
To be honest, with the prices of some things around here, I hope that someday I will have the ability to hold an item over a gold hoarders head that they need for 20k gold, and after they offer this sell it, publically of course, to a leveller for 5g.
Actually, I'd prefer to do it many times over.
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