the auction house is like an online auction with free instant teleport service.

[Nihilist]

right kaitlyn i wonder around the malls and to all the shops regularly to check prices and look for deals.. if i want to save money i take a long stroll through all the various shops.. if i want it now.. i scroll through the auction house.

but with a "Real Cash Economy" it should be exactly oposite i should be looking for deals on auction and making bids.. then if i want instant gratification i run down to the local shop and pick out what i need.

[Nihilist]

Originally Posted by Jamhot

This isn't real life, in real life you have to wait for items to be delivered and have to pay by weight because they're real items with mass and weight.

Ok one example , itunes , in fact any media now is delivered or can be instantaneously over the internet. So there, thats our real life world delivering stuff in seconds!

Your playing a fcuking game were everything is virtual , no weight , no mass , just some 000111000111 on a server ffs. So why would/should anyone payfor/wait for tne things you mention. Surely that's just one of the convieniences of being in a VR world, that you don't have to wait?

Honestly, it's plain dumb. Other than forcing people to use the shops that are mostly full of crap that gets thrown in TT anyways. Obviously not all shops are like this, there are people who run and maintain theirs properly but, they already are turning over items and making money?

Like i say only an imbicile would want this! It's nutso Nihilist, get real man.

Jamhot

hah no need to indirectly call me me an imbecile there jam.. - ; P we're all entitled to our opinions.

and this virtual universe is saying it has a "Real Cash Economy" my point is that in a "Real Cash Economy" the only instant gratification i can get is by driving down to the local shops and picking out something i want..

[Dorsai]

I know what your getting at.
In RL, you can order it from an on line shop/auction, and (probably) get it cheaper than from a real shop, but you have to wait for it
OR
you can go down to the real shop, and get it (probably) more expensive than on-line, but get it instantly.

You have the choice "quick and expensive" or "slow and cheap".

In EU there is no distinction. The auction may be cheaper than the shops, or it might not. The auction might take a few hours before it ends, or it might take a few hours to find it in a shop.

The one defining difference I think is not the lack of a shipping delay though, I think it's the lack of the ability to check a shops stock without having to physically visit the shop.

In RL it's not just the ability to get it instantly from the shop that makes people pay more for it from the shop, it is also the ability to find out which shop actually has it without having to visit many shops first. If it took 4 hours to find a shop that had what you want because you had to visit every shop in town, and the shop was more expensive, I think many people would opt for "cheap and slow".

In EU:
I go into auction, and buy & get it instantly.
Or I can:
I can spend ages visiting shops before I find it.
Then I have to go into auction to see if there is a cheaper one.
Then I can buy it from wherever.
Most people (or at least me) can't be bothered trying to save 20 peds (£1.00UK) because it might take an hour to save. They (I) will just buy from auction.

In RL:
I can visit an on-line auction/shop, and buy it. But it takes a week to arrive.
or I can
Spend a few minutes visiting the web sites of shops/auction (or phone the shops) to get price/availability.
In a few minutes I will know which shop/auction has it, and who's cheaper.

Then I can make the choice.
Local shop, get it instantly, pay £50.00 more.
Buy on-line, wait a week.

I think shops/booths would do better if there was an in game way to check shop's/booth's stock remotely.

Then ti would be worth visiting an EU shop, as I knew it had what I wanted, at the right price.

This might be a bit rambling, but I had a busy day...

[Nihilist]

right you've got my meaning there Drosai..

well my opinion is a bit different as to the way to solve it.. you're on the same page as to the problem.

I think with the way they are building up this virtual universe adding a shipping delay or the like would make more sense since they already have the auction house why duplicate it for the shops?

i'm just saying if the real world had a auction house distribution system like this no local mom and pop shops would survive.. each and every one of them would shut down.. who wants to compete with walmart/ebay/enterprise??

[Daikiba Old]

Putting limits on auction like that would not help anything, it would just make reselling much worse..
Resellers would still buy from shops, and with limits on auction they could add +50% extra markup (instead of what is now +2-10%) for the crafters who need the items instantly.

I'd feel much more comfortable with a MA auction "monopoly" than a monopoly by a few shopowners due to auction nerfing.
Shopowners bought their shops well knowing that some of their products would be bought by resellers (or it least they should have known). If you put limitations like that on auction, it will for sure af least quadruple the value of the shops - good for shopowners, bad for everyone else.

[Nihilist]

Originally Posted by Daikiba Old

Putting limits on auction like that would not help anything, it would just make reselling much worse..
Resellers would still buy from shops, and with limits on auction they could add +50% extra markup (instead of what is now +2-10%) for the crafters who need the items instantly.

I'd feel much more comfortable with a MA auction "monopoly" than a monopoly by a few shopowners due to auction nerfing.
Shopowners bought their shops well knowing that some of their products would be bought by resellers (or it least they should have known). If you put limitations like that on auction, it will for sure af least quadruple the value of the shops - good for shopowners, bad for everyone else.

not true.. it would reverse the situation.. if you had to wait for each and every item from the auction house you would be less likely to bid on it.. and more likely to look around in the shops.. creating less demand on the market charts.. and lowering the perceived markup over time.. resellers would be unable to buy out the shops and put the product on the auction house cause the shops would be able to charge a bit more of a premium for that instant gratification.. making it a waste of time for a reseller to use the local auc*mart to clear out the crafters shops.

[Jamhot]

I could see it havinga negative effect on both parties, shop and auction.
Shop owners wouldn't be in competition with auction therefore would bump their prices up?

If a shop owner runs, maintains, publicises and stocks their shop well it will do well regardless of what's going on with auction.

If a shop owner simply chucks all the crap they get from their hunts on the shelves, sparadically and more often than not over priced, it won't do well.

It's really that simple.

What you propose imo would just have a negative all round.

Jamhot

[Nihilist]

Originally Posted by Jamhot

I could see it havinga negative effect on both parties, shop and auction.
Shop owners wouldn't be in competition with auction therefore would bump their prices up?

If a shop owner runs, maintains, publicises and stocks their shop well it will do well regardless of what's going on with auction.

If a shop owner simply chucks all the crap they get from their hunts on the shelves, sparadically and more often than not over priced, it won't do well.

It's really that simple.

What you propose imo would just have a negative all round.

Jamhot

well i agree a shop needs to be maintained and publicized in order to do well.. my point is exactly that.. that a shop should be able to charge for that instant gratification just like in the real world economy.

yes there things like itunes and the like where you can pay to download and get instant gratification for music but i don't see any ipods on the auction nor do i think there is any need for me to have an ipod in game?

if a shop owner sets his prices sporadicly and doesn't follow the market average his shop isn't going to do well anyway.. if it is too overpriced people will simply look elsewhere or patiently wait for the auction house to deliver.

[Daikiba Old]

Originally Posted by Nihilist

not true.. it would reverse the situation.. if you had to wait for each and every item from the auction house you would be less likely to bid on it.. and more likely to look around in the shops.. creating less demand on the market charts.. and lowering the perceived markup over time.. resellers would be unable to buy out the shops and put the product on the auction house cause the shops would be able to charge a bit more of a premium for that instant gratification.. making it a waste of time for a reseller to use the local auc*mart to clear out the crafters shops.

I didn't mean they would resell on auction.. they would buy from shops and sell p2p or from their own shops. What you are suggesting is to limit the channels of trade, which will lead to more monopoly + more horrendous markups. The advantage of a free market is that everybody can sell to everybody. That is what keeps prices down and things running efficiently.

[Cron]

I don't use Ebay much, but I do live in farm country, with many farm auctions. The items are at the auction site, and if you win the bid (say on a flatbed truck) you pay the fee at the stand/booth/building whatever and drive it home. From time of winning a bid to driving it from the auction site might be 5 to 10 minutes (I've never had to wait over 1/2 hour). Delivery is my responsibility too.

Generally you can visit the site before the auction, and check out the items to see what you are willing to bid on them. Also you are pre-approved on what amount the auction is willing to take in the form of a check. Entropia auction is VERY much of what I am used to, I would hate a waiting period.

In essence, the way it is now, is the way auctions do behave from my experience.