Guild Wars 2

I’m just curious as to why anyone even bothers with the TP other than for something ‘rare’. I’ve found, leveling up 4 characters that easily 99% of the time I can sell dropped item to a npc vendor for the same price as the TP. I see people that list 1 copper over the price an npc purchase price since the buy orders can’t be prices lower any longer. Even doing this doesn’t make any sense.. You’re listing at item at a loss why bother?

Cheap extra bank slots, convenient (as in anywhere in the world or instances or dungeons or whatever) vendor substitute, or a willingness to provide those items to other people who might find a use for them as cheaply as possible, all come to mind as possible reasons to make those listings.

The reason to use the TP is to flip items, essentially having the TP poop out free money for you.

I don’t know why YOU would use the TP, but I’m using it because it’s a great place to pick up cheap leveling gear, and there’s a ton of money to be made just playing TP.

By all means, just vendor your random drops.. TP is already flooded with those items, which is why they’re so dirt cheap.

To convert Coin into Gems early (it will likely have a horrible conversion rate several months down the road )

If you want a specific dye now instead of getting lucky

To Sell excess mats or buy needed ones .

thats just a few reasons

AFAIK the TP was never designed to sell everything on, otherwise vendors wouldn’t have a sell tab.

You sell items on the TP when it’s more profitable than selling them to vendors. Simple.

And, as others have said, buy orders combined with sell orders let you flip items for profit.

Nefar.8135:

I see people that list 1 copper over the price an npc purchase price since the buy orders can’t be prices lower any longer. Even doing this doesn’t make any sense.. You’re listing at item at a loss why bother?

Three reasons.

1 – A lot of those orders were placed while ANET was actively hiding information. For example, the 10% sales tax. If you didn’t know about it, then selling items for 1c above vendor price does make sense if the listing fee is less than 1c per item. For example, say an item vendors for 9c each. You 250 to sell. List them for 10c each and the total listing fee is 125, so you’d get a total of 2,375 when it eventually sells. Vendor them and you’d only get 2,250
Sure, the sales tax would wipe out your gains. But only because ANET didn’t tell anyone about it.

2 – There is a PBCAK that caused the order to be listed.

3 – People are far from a vendor with a full inventory, so decide that listing it for a small loss is better than trashing it for a complete loss.

I’m betting that number 2 is the main reason. Especially when number 3 could be argued to be caused by a PBCAK.

Nefar.8135:

I see people that list 1 copper over the price an npc purchase price since the buy orders can’t be prices lower any longer.

Funny, I just went to sell a pistol on the TP that vendors for 63c yet the buy orders were only for 1c…

Yeah, they still haven’t cleared out old unfulfillable orders, but as far as I’ve noticed new orders can no longer be placed at sub-vendor prices.