In a world that thrives primarily on the pursuit of the almighty dollar it is understandable why Gaia's Marketplace is such a busy and thriving business metropolis. But as I have been sitting here over the course of three days watching and studying it, I find that ppl are screwing themselves out of gold as they strive to make it to their first Gaia million.
I know most users only care about getting the gold and don't care much for practices that could increase their wealth if only they used their brains a little more. I also know that most ppl could care less about a few hundred gold but if one adds up his losses during this race to achieve financial Gaian greatness, he would find he would have been a lot closer to that goal had he or she done it wisely.
My example and thoughts come from watching the shifting prices of Sealed Envelopes over the course of the last 3 days. I watched it go from a mere 5500 to an outstanding 7100 in value and then back down again. All markets ebb and flow, wax and wane depending on many factors, including its participants (sellers and buyers) and the urgencies with which they need their gold or want that certain item.
The biggest thing I saw was everyones need to "outsell" the person with the lowest selling price. That seemed to be the big thing to do. Someone has a Sealed to sell and they see the lowest "BUY NOW" price is, say, 5200 gold, so they immediately place theirs for sale at 5150, 5100 or maybe even 5000. WooHoo, now they are at the top of the list but if no one is buying at the moment, they won't be at the top of the list for very long because someone will soon come along and undercut them by 50 to 100 gold. Well, sometimes they become incensed and remove their item and replace it in the MP for say 1 gold LESS than the person who just beat their price. In doing that they think "AH Ha! That will teach you to mess with me!" but in all reality, they aren't screwing anyone but themselves. They just decided their letter was worth less than they originally thought and is worth less than the persons that came after them. Is it truly worth less? No, but because they are impatient and can't wait for the sale, or they want the gold too badly, they just devalued their own letters worth.
In the meantime, three more ppl have come along and listed Sealeds at an even lower price so what did they gain?
If there are buyers present, perhaps they managed to sell it at the reduced price, but for less than what they had originally perceived as acceptable all because they wanted to screw the other guy out of a sale.
When the buyers outnumber the sellers everyone is happy because their item is being sold quickly and turnover always makes ppl happy, but things aren't always this way.
What ppl fail to realize is that if sellers encourage a buyer to wait for a lower price by constantly undercutting each other, the market will always move slower because buyers are waiting for a deal. Sellers need to come together and HELP each other for the good of all sellers rather than trying to screw each other just for the sale. Inevitably, the items will all sell in due time and if ppl have the time and patience they could be making a lot more than they are.
All I am really saying is this... isn't your item worth at least as much as the next guys?? YES! YES it IS! So why should you settle for LESS? The answer is, YOU SHOULDN'T!
Of course, this philosophy doesn't hold true for every item, but for the more popular, fast moving items like Sealeds and donation items it most certainly does. Instead of placing your item in at 1, 50, 100 or even a few hundred gold less than the lowest priced sellers, why not place your item in at the SAME price as the lowest??
Why give the buyers a choice... why keep them waiting for something cheaper to come along? If buyers see that no matter how long they wait, the lowest price is going to be consistent for a certain amount of time by ALL sellers of that item, they will buy, regardless. And in most cases, just putting your item in after the person before you will put you in the top position without undercutting their lowest price which makes YOU more gold!!
Granted, no one really cares about ONE gold but I have watched HUNDREDS of gold go to waste by sellers who could have profitted so much more and truth is, a ONE gold loss over the course of 100 sales is 100 gold lost so in the long run, it can make a difference.
I would like to, just once, see sellers being respectful of and helping out their fellow sellers by maintaining a consistent lowest price rather than undercutting their fellow sellers and causing undue stress and anger in the MP. Ppl would find that they are making the gold they deserve without screwing their fellow sellers because in all actuality, that other persons item is going to sell eventually at the price it's set at. Yes, it IS going to sell no matter what because they are willing to wait an hour or so for it to happen, therefore, the only person you are screwing is YOURSELF!
Til next time,
Mysteh
Mysteh Community Member 
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Community Member