Guild Wars 2

Is there any way to tell the difference between unsalvageable vendor-supplied whites (at every 5 levels) and the salvageable loot versions on the TP?

I am fairly certain whites you get from vendors are account bound. So there should be a problem.

Nope, this is another one of those strange GW2 inconsistencies.. There are whites you can buy from TP that can not be salvaged.

Someone else would have to give you the exact figures, but the NPC-sold white items are only at certain levels (every 5?) so if you get one that is marked a different level from those you’ll know it’s going to salvage.

One way to tell is to compare the buy order prices. The lowest—often much lower—value will indicate the one that’s not salvageable. Ostensibly, buy-to-salvage players (and, unfortunately, bots) know which is which and ignore the unsalvageable versions, thus creating a typically marked disparity in the two prices.

It’s a pretty reliable indicator, but of course, not an absolute guarantee.