Question about selling ores

[Matbar]

I'm very new to the game and was considering taking up mining. From what I've noticed in chat, it seems to be a skill few people want to bother with, and my first character is a dwarf, so he starts out ahead of the game. Since ores cannot be bought, but are needed for blacksmithing I thought about working both skills, but also selling some of the ores along the way to finance my tradeskill addiction.

Are the asking prices for each type of ore fairly standard, or does it fluctuate pretty widely? I've tried watching the auction channel, but I guess I haven't been on long enough to figure out the difference in the economy here, and the crazy inflated one from you-know-where.

Any information is appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Tarutao]

I guess I haven't been on long enough to figure out the difference in the economy here, and the crazy inflated one from

The way I see it, there are 3 key differences:

(1) The Item Pool: kinda obvious, but it's worth mentioning.

(2) There aren't a bunch of people with trillions of platinum from duping here: This, along with certain plat-sinks like charms helps keep the economy from mudflating.

(3) The size of the community: Since the overall population here is a bit lower, prices are much more easily influenced by short-term supply and demand. For example, Balsam and Ice Kobold Fur. Even though the price of balsam was 10pp each for quite a while, seeing people offering 18-20pp each in recent days is common due to increased demand. For Ice Kobold Fur, the price has somewhat recently dropped from 125-150pp each to 75pp each due to increased supply. Additionally, these going rates are subject to change at a moment's notice since even just two people really *can* influence the market for a specific item in a very significant way.

It's really quite fascinating.... oh, and to answer the question you actually asked: yes, ore price fluctuates rather wildly when someone is skilling up smithing, or if two are skilling up through the same skill levels.

 

[Matbar]

Thanks for the pointers. I had noticed bits and pieces of the economy differences you mentioned, the most obvious being there isn't as much plat floating around. I actually like that because it makes what there is more valuable. I also LOVE the fact they've made the tradeskills useful again by having items that are actually wanted by players, i.e. not made obsolete so quickly you thump your head for ever having done them. And mining is great, because it leaves a way for truly new characters to grind out enough to buy what they need.

Actually because of what you said about having less plat floating around, and SoD being a smaller community, I had thought that might mean a bit more stability in terms of prices. But I can see your point, it would actually make it easier for just one or two people to influence the economy.

Guess I'll just keep my eye on it, and when I have some extra I'll try to find a reasonable price. Thanks much.

 

[lynnettell]

Please move this to SoD discussion... and I'll elaborate.

Basically, you're looking at the whole supply & demand. I'll give you ore flucuation pricing.

Iron - 1pp a stack
Copper - 3-5pp a stack
Silver - 5-10pp a stack
Dalium - 20-30pp a stack
Mithril - 40 - OMG! 75pp a stack
Obsidian - 75 to ??? still on Damoeb for 500pp a stack, no one interested.
Ghost/Warp - *shrug* Seen as low as 250 a stack, none for sale lately, but generally around 300, 350 tops
DM - 1k-1.5k a stack (damn glad I sold at 2k a stack before I hit 250 smithing)

Now, here's the supply & demand. You have certain smiths that are selling mithril weapons at the price the were for the last year + I've been playing, and they'll buy at 40pp a stack, and sell their weapons at 25-50pp each. Then you have others that will pay 75pp for a stack.. well, that just bumped the smith's cost up, so their weapons are now 40-75pp each.

What it boils down to is
A. How much is the smith willing to pay for the ore?
B. Will the economy handle the cost that is increased if he up's the price? AKA, will they buy at the increased rate? Obviously, since there's still /auc at that rate, then yeah.

Never been a huge issue for me, since I only buy ore when I'm in a pinch to fill orders. Smithing is a very long, very time consuming, very expensive skill to max. You cut down on the time when you buy ore, but you add to the expense. It's all up to the smith on what they'll buy for.