999,999

Discussion in 'Gotham City (General Gameplay)' started by Dubb Lantern, May 9, 2021.

  1. Shark Dental Devoted Player

    Everyone shops differently. Your example isn't relevant because you're talking about going through massive hassle to save $1. On the broker, there's no hassle. It's literally easier to organize the list and see the cheapest one first.

    A better example would be buying cereal at the store. If you see 5 boxes of cereal and several are cheaper, would you always buy the most expensive one?

    Some people do, others go for cheapest, others choose the middle option. Undercutting works in many cases, which is exactly why discounts, coupons and price comparisons exist in the first place. "We will MEET or BEAT our competitors LOWEST PRICES!" Sound familiar?
    • Like x 3
  2. Shark Dental Devoted Player

    I never buy from you either, round number boy.
    • Like x 3
  3. Reinheld Devil's Advocate

    For the record I never use round numbers. I generally like to break the prices into sets of 3s so it's easier to ID a mistake when listing and as I'm reviewing a bunch of 'sold' mail I can see the amounts at a glance.
    27000000, 2700000 and 270000000 look a lot the same, but 26777444 and 2677744 do not...at least to me. The listing fee is a good tell, but sometimes I'm knocking out 80 listings and it's easy to clicky-click past one thats a bit too high and you don't notice.

    I also use a specific 3 digit number so I know my listings when on other toons, but that's mine to know and yours to find out.
    • Like x 2
  4. Illumin411 Loyal Player

    Of course everyone shops differently. But that doesn’t prevent us from having an accurate and in depth understanding of consumer purchasing habits and trends. Any Intro to Business freshman college course would cover that in the first few weeks.

    Your example is a false equivalent. You’re talking about different items being sold by the same store. The topic is regarding the same item being sold by different sellers.

    You are correct in that there isn’t really an economic model that completely removes the cost/inconvenience of changing choices in sellers. This is one of several reasons why supply and demand as well as other economic principles don’t function properly to maintain a healthy DCUO economy.
  5. nawanda Loyal Player

    Your real world example is true to life, but isn’t very cogent. You’re comparing apples with oranges - the two vendors in the DCUO broker are using the same marketplace, but in the example you provide there’s an opportunity cost involved.

    A relevant real world example would be Amazon marketplace or eBay, where you can find identical items for sale and vendors undercutting each other by a couple of cents/pence.

    The beauty of the free market is someone is perfectly within their right to list an item for 1,000,000 in game cash and someone else is perfectly entitled to list the same item for 999,999. Even better, people like us are allowed to express our disdain for the tactics of the 999,999 seller by buying the notionally more expensive 1,000,000 item to make a point. Free markets have ways of regulating cynical activity themselves.
    • Like x 2
  6. Illumin411 Loyal Player

    Trustworthiness and reliability of seller as well as shipping times, shipping costs and even other factors create enough variance in purchasing options that you can’t really consider those equal (unless of course, all those factors do happen to be equal). A new seller (one star or whatever) would be smart to consider that when tryi g to sell the same item as an established seller (five star or whatever). And that brings me to my next point.

    You’re absolutely correct that people are within their right to sell for whatever price just like Chiquita Brands Intl. would be well within their right to sell bananas at $1,000 a pound. But it would be F’in stupid. And that was more or less my point, not that $1 undercutters should be stripped of their right to do so.
  7. Drewbolt Greatest Healer of this Generation

    I want to offer encouragement to all sellers in the game: I will always buy the cheapest item I'm looking for, regardless of all factors. Undercut by $1 is a discount I will accept.

    Perhaps there would be more connection between sellers and buyers if there was a "buying" tab. Simply type in an item you are looking for and are willing to spend on it (max 10 items) and let sellers fulfill orders if they want. Let the buyer's name be optionally seen so a seller could contact them about haggling.
  8. Illumin411 Loyal Player

    The more you encourage that idiocy, the more you’ll only get that $1 discount instead of a much larger discount that would be more in line with supply and demand ratios. But to each their own. You’re certainly well within your right to discourage economically healthy competitive pricing.
  9. Lara Committed Player

    To make a point in this pointless thread, the broker is all about money we are no friends or anything else it's all about money so I use the fastest way to get money, which means I undercut.

    Probably you wont buy it cause you kinda childish but other people will buy it anyway so who cares.
    • Like x 1
  10. Qwantum Abyss Loyal Player

    Lmfao, your logic is just epic...... your sayin you will or wont leave an go to a dif broker? Lmfao this is great. Keep going. I wanna hear more about your deep understanding of economics and how this should be hahaha
  11. HurricaneErrl Dedicated Player

    I've seen people go pretty damn for just to save 10 cents lol.

    The only time I've ever done the dollar thing is out of spite lol. Sometimes you can tell who is selling what by the price listed and it is fun to troll friends on the broker.

    Personally I think the ones who undercut markets by 50+% are the worst
    • Like x 1
  12. HurricaneErrl Dedicated Player

    People literally drive across town to save .03 cents a litre on like 30 bucks worth of fuel. They don't even think about them using more fuel than that just to get there. All they see is the lower price. I think you're underestimating just how many cheapskates live in our society lol
  13. KHALONofOGUN 10000 Post Club

    The existence of this thread is pure comedy. The only reason for a $1 undercut is to make sure your listing sits on top when someone sorts by price. It's that basic.
    • Like x 3
  14. Adi Qui New Player

    Well thankfully this is play money. If this was real money no one would leave 20%-30% on the table. That's just bad business.
    • Like x 1
  15. L T Devoted Player

    IS that you, 888 man???
    • Like x 4
  16. Dubb Lantern Well-Known Player

    I didn’t realize so many DC players were economic majors.

    I’m just saying...undercut the lowest price for real, not some $1 just to get yours listed higher.
  17. KHALONofOGUN 10000 Post Club

    What you're failing to understand is that most players aren't interested in giving other players a discount...they want to make that money (nothing wrong with that), and since it's a dog-eat-dog world out there, getting your item seen first is an advantage. Sure, you might retort with the fact that cutting the price substantially would serve that purpose as well, but people want that top dollar. At the end of the day, what you refuse to buy out of spite, someone else will pick up with no hesitation as long as they think the price is ok.
    • Like x 6
  18. Hraesvelg Always Right


    Something is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay. If I sell something for $1 less than the next highest and mine sells...I've extracted as much profit as I can for the item. Hell, I've been known to see someone list an item for 20% less, I grab it put it back up for the higher price and reap the profit for as little work as possible. (Yes, I take into account listing fees, risk of not selling, all that jazz...this ain't my first rodeo).

    I didn't major in Econ, but I did take several courses in college back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. In a nearly free market like this, it's almost too easy to run the tables once you get a little bit of starting capital. (This should really be a life lesson in favor of effective regulation...but that's a whole other kettle of fish).
    • Like x 3
  19. Dubb Lantern Well-Known Player

    Good for you. I don’t care if anyone else buys it. I’m not.
  20. KHALONofOGUN 10000 Post Club

    Well then...don't buy it. No thread was needed for that...since it will do nothing to stop what people do. :)
    • Like x 2