A cornerstone of virtual items’ secondary market is the fact that none of the items are perishable. If instead of Helix you had a thousand pounds of beef, you’d need to freeze it to maintain its value and then sell it before it spoiled. If the Helix never returns you don’t need to sell it, you can just assume that you have the equivalent of its gold value so long as its in your stash. On the other hand, if Helix does return and you’re holding it thinking that it’s worth billions you “lose gold” because the market doesn’t support your asking price. Here is the kicker tho: in every case where the item is not selling it doesn’t have any actual value (unless you’re selling for real money on the black market - but that’s a whole other can of worms that we are not discussing here).
You should assume that items will return. You’re here on the forums so you are aware that a growing majority of players are asking for the return of Helix in particular. I’ve resisted this because I still see a difference between event items and level cap items, but it is probably just a matter of time before everything old comes back and there are only new items in collectors stashes.
When collectors sit on items for years at a stretch it doesn’t help the economy, it makes new players and less monied older players feel desperately inadequate and it leads to widespread community initiatives to “bring back” items of value that only a few active players still possess. My advice is to sell stuff when you have a buyer that offers a reasonable price.
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