Endless items bug at Trading Post?
It’s possible someone (or some bot) is watching that particular item and selling off 8 at a time, choosing that price because it will show up as a good “snag it/snatch it” flipping choice under various commonly-used algorithms. If they list too many, folks such as yourself wouldn’t be tempted to pick them up 8 at a time.
In the same situation, I don’t bother buying out the undercutting volume — I just list near the next higher value (below or above, depending). In this case, I’d probably choose 7.79 (depending on the greyed out buy values and perhaps the items recent trending history). Someone always buys 8 or 50 or 250 for just about any commodity.
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
I don’t think it’s a bug. It’s just what someone listed them at and someone else lists more.
When you sell you can set any price you want. Just remember the lower ones go first.
Now buying at 5s98 and selling at 6s97 will cause you a loss cause of the 15% tax. You would have to buy at 5s92 to break even.
Now buying at 5s98 and selling at 6s97 will cause you a loss cause of the 15% tax. You would have to buy at 5s92 to break even.
I believe that the OP has a lot more than the 8 or so they were buying. The 1% loss from buying at 5.92 is more than made up in the volume of selling the rest of the inventory at 6.97.
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
It’s possible someone (or some bot) is watching that particular item and selling off 8 at a time
And by saying ‘bot’ do you mean that this is something that can be done automatically? Because judging by the speed of new item appearance after buyout, it can’t be done manually. It all takes maybe 5 seconds or so.
Now buying at 5s98 and selling at 6s97 will cause you a loss cause of the 15% tax. You would have to buy at 5s92 to break even.
I believe that the OP has a lot more than the 8 or so they were buying. The 1% loss from buying at 5.92 is more than made up in the volume of selling the rest of the inventory at 6.97.
Or he could just sell those items he bought for 5s98 at 7s05 and not have a loss on those
It’s possible someone (or some bot) is watching that particular item and selling off 8 at a time
And by saying ‘bot’ do you mean that this is something that can be done automatically? Because judging by the speed of new item appearance after buyout, it can’t be done manually. It all takes maybe 5 seconds or so.
5 seconds is all it takes me to refresh a few orders, as I sometimes do when I’m managing inventory or TP queues. I don’t bother for sell orders, but sometimes, I’ll add a buy order for a single item five to twenty times over a few minutes, replacing each order with a single new one — for certain items, “overcutting” a large quantity buy offer by more than 1-2 results in both parties overcutting each other repeatedly, drying up profits for both. I prefer to get 5 or 10 in a short period of time and leave the niche to the other party, who is patiently fulfilling a lot more offers than I.
That said, there are two sorts of “bots” operating:
- TP observers, using the API to alert the player when it’s time to adjust their offers. The player still puts in the trades and their software just helps them be first in line, with an optimal offer.
- Actual bots, using similar algorithms, but also placing offers for the player. These are against the rules (although for a variety of reasons, they might not cause that much harm to the economy). ANet catches some of these, although probably not all.
tl;dr it can indeed be done manually
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
(edited by Illconceived Was Na.9781)
- TP observers, using the API to alert the player when it’s time to adjust their offers. The player still puts in the trades and their software just helps them be first in line, with an optimal offer.
This is not a bot.
Where are my gem sales? I want gem sales! Nerf EVERYTHING!
- TP observers, using the API to alert the player when it’s time to adjust their offers. The player still puts in the trades and their software just helps them be first in line, with an optimal offer.
This is not a bot.
Which is why I didn’t call it a bot and used “bot” instead. The investment strategy is pre-programmed; any human can execute the trades. That explains why offers might be refreshed more quickly than the OP expects that a person would be able to manage.
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
(edited by Illconceived Was Na.9781)
Thanks for the replies all. Speaking about the API-assisted software – I’m new to TP playing, and I wonder: how big a margin is worth the effort of watching all the listings you make and re-listing the items where you have been undercut.
Thanks for the replies all. Speaking about the API-assisted software – I’m new to TP playing, and I wonder: how big a margin is worth the effort of watching all the listings you make and re-listing the items where you have been undercut.
I don’t think anyone can answer that for you. As always, it’s your own feeling about reward vs effort. Some people like to farm the same routes repeatedly while others would spend the same time relisting offers on the TP. Both are tedious, but one will be tolerable for you and the other won’t be.
In theory, if you think about a diversified portfolio of investments, with a mix of short-, medium-, and long-term plus some low- vs high-risk, it might be worth it to relist a fraction of the shorter-term/higher-risk investments. In theory, the longer-term ones should already be priced (buy and sell) for the long-term and won’t need to be adjusted much.
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”