Guild Wars 2

I recently discovered the sell-anywhere feature of the BLTC and I’m confused by the market.

I kill some random centaur and loot a white (not even Fine) pair of boots with an NPC sale price of 33c. I check the BLTC and see A) about fifty instant-buy offers of 60c, and B) some sale offers starting at around 1s40c.

1. Why do other players want this item?
2. If I do instant-sell my random not-junk-but-not-wortwhile items via TC, is this considered griefing (because I’m enabling flippers, or maybe undercutting crafting characters who can’t sell that low because construction costs are too high)?

you can salvage that white item with a salvage kit to get some crafting materials you can use to make other things.
if you want to get more coin, I recommend placing a sell listing instead of instant sale (just match the lowest sell listing, or do 1c below it). for like 90% of the stuff out there, that sell listing will sell within a minute/day
it is not griefing. it’s you wanting instant coin instead of having to wait. some people make a living by accommodating to people who want everything now (flippers). if you want more coin, be patient. if you want things now, you’d pay more or get less from sales. both are perfectly acceptable.

What mystic said. Furthermore, if you want to craft end game (“ascended”) armor and weapons in this game you’ll need items of nearly all levels. Hence the relatively stable and decent prices on them. Although the lowest tier is not used to craft them (jute, copper), there are mystic forge recipes through which you can bump those into items of the next tier, like jute—->wool (which is used for ascensed crafting). That’s why even the lowest tier items sell relatively well.

quarrel.1689:

2. If I do instant-sell my random not-junk-but-not-wortwhile items via TC, is this considered griefing (because I’m enabling flippers, or maybe undercutting crafting characters who can’t sell that low because construction costs are too high)?

It’s an open market- you’re not griefing by selling at the price people are willing to pay.