GW2: Going for 1000 gold – Don’t be a dick.

Don’t be a dick.

No, seriously, don’t be a dick. Unlike real life, where being a dick seems to be a successful strategy for making cash, being a dick in MMOs doesn’t work that well. If you’re a dick in dungeons, people don’t invite you back. If you’re a dick in your guild, you get kicked out. And if you’re a dick on the trading post, it will cost you gold.

The Black Lion Trading Company allows you to be a dick and undercut your competition by a copper. Don’t do it. You can see what happens when you undercut someone by a copper in the screenshot I used for rags, yesterday:

Someone put in an order for 100 rags at 3 silver 0 copper. Then someone offered a little more at 3s 4c. That’s fine. If you’re impatient and want your rags, first, by all means up the offer price. But then the dicks showed up. The next person offered one copper more, then the next person, then the next person, and there was a small jump at 3s 10c, but it started, again, after that.

Upping a bid price buy a copper is not only a dick move, it’s also stupid. In most cases, all it succeeds in doing is driving the price up. One copper is not much of a psychological impediment, so everyone thinks, “Well, I’ll just bump the price by a copper and get my stuff first.” The operational word here is everyone. One copper doesn’t stop the next person from coming along and driving the price up.

A better strategy is to create a psychological and financial barrier. Rather than bumping the price by a copper or simply 4 copper as the person did at 3s 4c, bump it by 10 or maybe 15. 3 silver 15 copper is going to cost you money, but you’ll make everyone think twice about bumping your offer even by a copper. They’ll see that gap between 3s 0c and yours at 3s 15c and they’ll probably just fill in the gaps below your offer. You’ll get your rags, sooner, and you’ll still save almost 40c on the ask price of 3s 54c.

So don’t be a dick. It just works against you. You don’t get your stuff and you just drive up the price. If you’re going to make an offer, make one that’s more likely to get filled and not just outbid.*

A small rise in my gold total. I’m buying stuff as investments. I’ll talk more about that in the next post.

*If you’re patient, almost all offers get filled. It might take days or weeks, but eventually they’ll get filled. Waiting days or weeks isn’t a good option when you need silk, today, to make your damask, though.