Guild Wars 2

Just because it doesn’t achieve what you want doesn’t mean it is not a compromise.

Stand back for a second: what is the ‘correct’ price for any given product? Take something simple, like chilli peppers, which are reasonably scarce. Do you really think if the listing fee were removed, the price of such an item would settle at 1c?

A listing fee is completely unnecessary, and exists only because Anet have not thought of a better way of controlling the in-game money supply.

The listing does not:

• Prevent server overload.
• Stop prices collapsing. Goods prices are ultimately related to their in-world scarcity (or the scarcity of component inputs).
• Aid potential sellers in thinking about the value of their goods; it only adds an unnecessary element in the calculation.

All a listing fee does (other than confuse price discovery) is remove a quantum of money from the system, which helps keep a lid on inflation (though is a poor means of doing so).

Anet may have some concerns about market prices collapsing but I bet my last bronze piece that they are infinitely more worried about prices going through the roof because the in-game money supply grows much faster than the volume of desirable goods you can spend it on.

All that said, if you want a compromise why not impose a listing fee, paid the first time a good is listed? Seller can adjust the price as many times as desired without incurring any further fee (which I think is what The Eternal Grace says above). However, if s/he removes the item from the market, the fee is forfeit, and if s/he wants to relist, s/he pays again.