Recent Manual Inflation: Buyers Beware!

[VirtualMetal]

Just to add also. Some of us who work on ever changing hours may only have a short time to read anything. I come here for information, with limited time it's easyer to read whenever a post came up. Than wading through a sticky.

This is why I personally don't mind these kinds of threads popping up. I know this forum tends to have a problem with people making similar threads. But to be honest, I don't see the problem apart from making it look pretty.

Either way. I'm sure it will be worked out

[hallucinating]

Since the thread only applies if you're being offered an item you are unsure of in a trade, it would be very easy to glance at what you are offered then come to PPT just to scope out the first post of this thread and check.

[Qanda]

Just to add also. Some of us who work on ever changing hours may only have a short time to read anything. I come here for information, with limited time it's easyer to read whenever a post came up. Than wading through a sticky.

This is why I personally don't mind these kinds of threads popping up. I know this forum tends to have a problem with people making similar threads. But to be honest, I don't see the problem apart from making it look pretty.

Either way. I'm sure it will be worked out

There is a never-ending list of inflated items and many items have asking prices which are far higher than their real value. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide if something is worth it or not.

[Erin]

I have a question. If an item has been artificially inflated to the point where it is barely buyable on the shop wiz (like XenaAndGabrielle posted about the Goldy Backscratcher), wouldn't it be profitable at that point to start marketing it, even if it's not supposed to be worth that much? How fast do these items deflate anyway?

[Knives]

Newest Item: Tyrannian Horn

Was buyable just yesterday. Now people are asking for 4mil.

[XenaAndGabrielle]

There is a never-ending list of inflated items and many items have asking prices which are far higher than their real value. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide if something is worth it or not.

It is ultimately up to you. All we can do is help people to make a better informed decision. Thus, this thread.

I also agree ... many things do have prices much higher than their true value. But if that item is traded "fairly," I have no problem with the price being high. These are not the things I am worried about. They just have an inflated price ... but it is not due to a group of people trying to scam it as such.

What I am worried about, is when something is buyable on the shop wizard for only a few Neopoints one day ... and then the next day it is "magically" unbuyable the next day. The jewel encrusted bowl was the best example so far, I think. Someone (or some group) buys up every buyable bowl on the shop wizard (where prices were around 10,000 Neopoints on the low end). Then they fill the trading post claiming they are worth millions. They get people to trade for them ... and they get loads of high end stuff ... and then the price slowly decreases back to the normal level. This *artifical* inflation is what I aim to combat.

I'm not saying we need to post things that are now 60k when they were only 55k yesterday. I want to post things that were 20k yesterday, but listed as being worth millions now ... and there are no buyable ones on the shop wizard. This is how we can help our community here.

I have a question. If an item has been artificially inflated to the point where it is barely buyable on the shop wiz (like XenaAndGabrielle posted about the Goldy Backscratcher), wouldn't it be profitable at that point to start marketing it, even if it's not supposed to be worth that much? How fast do these items deflate anyway?

That goes against the entire point of this thread. My greatest hope would be if someone actually had that item ... they could put it on the trading post at the "regular price" and just keep it there ... so people could see the actual price.

The "profit" has already been taken by the people who inflated it. If you start buying the barely buyable ones on the shop wizard and start trying to trade it, you are only helping the lame-o's that did it in the first place ... and you are just helping to scam other people. More than likely ... you will end up getting stuck with a "worthless" item.

[Xil]

There is a never-ending list of inflated items and many items have asking prices which are far higher than their real value. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide if something is worth it or not.

It is ultimately up to you. All we can do is help people to make a better informed decision. Thus, this thread.

I also agree ... many things do have prices much higher than their true value. But if that item is traded "fairly," I have no problem with the price being high. These are not the things I am worried about. They just have an inflated price ... but it is not due to a group of people trying to scam it as such.

What I am worried about, is when something is buyable on the shop wizard for only a few Neopoints one day ... and then the next day it is "magically" unbuyable the next day. The jewel encrusted bowl was the best example so far, I think. Someone (or some group) buys up every buyable bowl on the shop wizard (where prices were around 10,000 Neopoints on the low end). Then they fill the trading post claiming they are worth millions. They get people to trade for them ... and they get loads of high end stuff ... and then the price slowly decreases back to the normal level. This *artifical* inflation is what I aim to combat.

I'm not saying we need to post things that are now 60k when they were only 55k yesterday. I want to post things that were 20k yesterday, but listed as being worth millions now ... and there are no buyable ones on the shop wizard. This is how we can help our community here.

I have a question. If an item has been artificially inflated to the point where it is barely buyable on the shop wiz (like XenaAndGabrielle posted about the Goldy Backscratcher), wouldn't it be profitable at that point to start marketing it, even if it's not supposed to be worth that much? How fast do these items deflate anyway?

That goes against the entire point of this thread. My greatest hope would be if someone actually had that item ... they could put it on the trading post at the "regular price" and just keep it there ... so people could see the actual price.

Alas, when someone sees that actual price, and wants to purchase the item, then they will assume that they found a great deal and will continue to inflate the item alongside everyone else. Additionally, It's unfair to say that everyone selling a particular item a "lame-o" there are bystandards here who have had their hopes inflated by someone who wanted to make a quick buck.

It's a natural occurence, inflation happens and when it is manipulated, I do agree that it is not cool, but at the same time, it's another aspect of the game. If you can find a group of people equal or greater to the number of people who are already selling the item that are willing to sell it for a lower price, then I have some land in Maraqua I'd like to sell them as well.

Not to say that venturing for the common good is such a terrible thing and only the absent minded do it, but more to say that your goal is nearly absurd, what has been done so far though is more impressive and easier to manage than finding someone who wants to sacrifice profit. Managing to inform people what not to buy, so as to cause the prices to fall(because no one will buy), in my opinion, is combat enough.

[XenaAndGabrielle]

Alas, when someone sees that actual price, and wants to purchase the item, then they will assume that they found a great deal and will continue to inflate the item alongside everyone else. Additionally, It's unfair to say that everyone selling a particular item a "lame-o" there are bystandards here who have had their hopes inflated by someone who wanted to make a quick buck.

...

Not to say that venturing for the common good is such a terrible thing and only the absent minded do it, but more to say that your goal is nearly absurd, what has been done so far though is more impressive and easier to manage than finding someone who wants to sacrifice profit. Managing to inform people what not to buy, so as to cause the prices to fall (because no one will buy), in my opinion, is combat enough.

You are right ... everyone selling the inflated item is not a "lame-o." Some of them are the people who fell for the inflation scam and are stuck with a highly inflated item. I had no intention of including them in that group.

I agree ... by just getting people not to buy the object in question ... the price will drop because of it. That is the main part of the goal.

But, if I *ever* happen to have the item in question that is being artificially inflated (I am not planning on going out and buying one at some awful price ... just if I happen to have one) ... I will put it up in the trading post for a "normal" price and just leave it there with a nice warning. I have no intention of trading it for that low price ... it will stay there to serve as a warning for unsuspecting traders who might think it is actually worth millions.

Sure, I am losing out and sacrificing some ill-begotten "profit" ... but I will feel good about myself. I was so very happy with the person that put up the "blue yurble sofa" in the trading post for a regular price when it was artificially inflated. The world needs more of those types of people. I'm sure he saved quite a few people from a bad trade.

Is my goal absurd? Probably.

*Should* my goal be absurd? I wish it weren't.

[Xil]

Alas, when someone sees that actual price, and wants to purchase the item, then they will assume that they found a great deal and will continue to inflate the item alongside everyone else. Additionally, It's unfair to say that everyone selling a particular item a "lame-o" there are bystandards here who have had their hopes inflated by someone who wanted to make a quick buck.

...

Not to say that venturing for the common good is such a terrible thing and only the absent minded do it, but more to say that your goal is nearly absurd, what has been done so far though is more impressive and easier to manage than finding someone who wants to sacrifice profit. Managing to inform people what not to buy, so as to cause the prices to fall (because no one will buy), in my opinion, is combat enough.

Sure, I am losing out and sacrificing some ill-begotten "profit" ... but I will feel good about myself. I was so very happy with the person that put up the "blue yurble sofa" in the trading post for a regular price when it was artificially inflated. The world needs more of those types of people. I'm sure he saved quite a few people from a bad trade.

Is my goal absurd? Probably.

*Should* my goal be absurd? I wish it weren't.

I must admit, that is admirable.

Should your goal be absurd? Interestingly enough, the way Neopets is set up has more to do with it being absurd than with the way peoples intentions go. Neopets is a profit driven economy, meaning that it's the user that wants the money, theres no greater good except for the goods what are established for us(i.e. when we all had to adopt grundos(am I the only one who remembers that? *waves cane*)) Onto my point, not to say that there is any reason to help the fellow man in real life, but on the site, the limited interaction does sometimes make it feel like we are playing against other robots.

Did I say other? *shifty eyes*

I suppose it's best to say that the game kind of conditions the user to believe that it's just them, so it becomes a lot easier to do things we would never do in reality(not that many of us can inflate the price of any particular object). It's made to be dog eat dog. or in this case, neopian eat neopian.

must say it again, your attitude is refreshing.

[hiddenneggs]

Latest attempt: Glowing Green Hot Dog

x99x (with or without cronies, I'm not sure) isn't nearly as thorough as some of the earlier scammers, though. Yeah, he put one in the TP for more than 9 million and offered one or more others on items worth a fraction of that, but didn't bother to buy up all the buyables on the Wiz. (Not that I even looked at the Wiz before rejecting -- an item worth 9 + million, and offered on a 725 K bent fork? Yeah, right! Scam.)

[wesoloid]

Someone help me out? I've been about starting an Ixi gallery lately. One of the things I did first was to get a list of items off neoitems.net of all the items with "Ixi" in the name (obviously). Then I went through the shop wiz and searched each one and recorded the lowest price I could find on each one, buying a few.

Item: Ixi A-Z r89

When I did my initial search, I found Ixi A-Z buyable. There weren't *many* but there were enough for me to think it was commonly buyable and I didn't even bother to check trades. The lowest price I found is 80k.

So now that I'm getting into actually buying my gallery items, I get offered an Ixi A-Z for.... 650k. I check the shop wiz and there are no buyable ones left. Is this unnatural inflation, or did I just luck out finding those few for 80-100k on the wiz??

**Edit: Right as I posted this, I found one on the wiz for 99k. Definitely seems like the artificial inflation formula. BUYER BEWARE item: Ixi A-Z

[XenaAndGabrielle]

Yellow Yurble Toothbrush ... latest highly inflated item.

I've been offered it a few times already ... trading post is claiming millions of NPs. It is only R80.

[everconfused]

Obedience Medallion - someone's trying to say they're worth around 9 million. Actually 90k is closer to the truth.

[Zenial]

Someone help me out? I've been about starting an Ixi gallery lately. One of the things I did first was to get a list of items off neoitems.net of all the items with "Ixi" in the name (obviously). Then I went through the shop wiz and searched each one and recorded the lowest price I could find on each one, buying a few.

Item: Ixi A-Z r89

When I did my initial search, I found Ixi A-Z buyable. There weren't *many* but there were enough for me to think it was commonly buyable and I didn't even bother to check trades. The lowest price I found is 80k.

So now that I'm getting into actually buying my gallery items, I get offered an Ixi A-Z for.... 650k. I check the shop wiz and there are no buyable ones left. Is this unnatural inflation, or did I just luck out finding those few for 80-100k on the wiz??

**Edit: Right as I posted this, I found one on the wiz for 99k. Definitely seems like the artificial inflation formula. BUYER BEWARE item: Ixi A-Z

I got an Ixi A-Z from the igloo yesterday. When searching the shopwiz I thought it was an unbuyable, but looking in the trading post quickly showed me it was artificially inflated. So I put it in my store for 99k. Good chance you bought it from me

[XenaAndGabrielle]

Looks like the inflators are back at it.

Usuki Bakery Set ... the trading post is claiming 20 million. There are a couple of people selling them for 99,999 in the trading post ... but I doubt that will last.

Punchbag Sid Backpack ... there is a person in the trading post saying they will buy them at 15 million this time. (but would gladly sell his for 20 million). grr.

Gruslen Rug ... I have been offered it 4 times now. Way overpriced in trades ... a few out there buyable on the shop wizard.

Last edited by XenaAndGabrielle on Mon Apr 04, 2005 9:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.