The Overpricers Are Trying to Kill Themselves

Not that I normally personally buy any of these specific things on market (though I do on rare occasion), but since the prices stabilised after the last bout of greed, a new wave of greed has been noticed on market... primarily in the iron, coal, and FE area.

Fortunately the "greed disease" hasn't heavily caught on yet, but there's a few who are trying it.

Now, there's been greed rounds in the past, but this one is taking things to a step of no return. A step that takes the greedy ones into battle with NPC prices, which don't change so it's a definite losing battle.

Let's take a look at what I'm talking about. The current stable prices of these three items are:

iron - 4gc
coal - 2.5gc
FE - 5gc

Not including food, that totals for bars to:

iron bar - 45.5gc
steel bar - 59.5gc

Right, what's the NPC price for these bars?

iron bar - 50gc
steel bar - 70gc

So at those prices for the ings, there's some leeway to make a profit, though not by much once you include mixing food and lost ings while mixing.

NPC Bar Prices

Why do these matter so much? Because the bars are hardly the endgame. Bars -> S2Es -> the holy hydro grail. These bars are just ings, just like the ings used to make them.

Upsetting the price of the lowest ings affects the price of these bars (which have an NPC sell price limit), in turn affecting the price of S2Es, in turn affecting the price of hydro bars (also have an NPC sell price limit).

So there's actually 2 NPC price limits involved with these three primary ings. The second those ing prices go above either NPC sell cost, the entire chain will get wiped out.

And that means that iron, coal, and FEs, currently methods many use to make gc by harving/mixing, will die off. Sure, some will still sell, but nowhere near how they do currently. Which means they'll lose their usefulness in gc making.

How the Overpricers are Ruining Their Own Product

Having shown "the NPC factor" above, any harvester or FE-maker with a bit of common sense should easily grasp that hiking prices at this point is going to hurt their own business. If it's cheaper to just buy something from the NPC, that's what will happen. We see it already with things like spirit essences, health essences, and so on.

Iron and Steel Bars are the primary use of these 3 ingredients. It makes good business sense for the ing providers to keep the cost of those ings below what the NPC will sell the bars for.

But some don't quite grasp that. Names removed to protect the ignorant:

[----- @ 3]: selling 10k coal at 2,75ea , ... , 5k fes at 5,2ea
[------ @ 3]: selling 1.25k iron ore 4.8k pm me
[------- @ 3]: selling 10k iron 4.5 each

Those are just samples of recent ads seen on market. Other pricing by the greed patrol has been about the same.

Let's assume the iron hike is to 4.5gc, and use the coal/FE prices in the first ad.

That would make the bars (without food):

iron bar - 50.15gc
steel bar - 65.35gc

Those prices alone already killed the iron bar. 50.15gc for ings, add to that food cost, and you've made a grand case to just buy the iron bars from the NPC at 50gc.

Steel bars aren't far behind. Combined with food and ing loss during mixing, these prices are starting to make the case for just buying the bars directly from the NPC.

The Basic Gist

Simply put: If more people start buying bars from the NPC, less are buying iron, coal, and FEs from you.

Keep that in mind next time you think you're bright by overpricing basic ings. And yes, your name gets noticed when you show your greed so publicly. For every 1 person you've sold to, 3-4 have probably added you to a don't-buy-from list.

I know I have. I trust noone who so blatantly shows their greed, especially when it's to their own detriment in a case like this.