Originally Posted by
Evolt
There has been many players asking me on how to merchant in CS. The straightforward answer would be to buy low and sell high, because items in CS are set-priced, no bidding or negotiating. It is quite straightforward. The only differences in the “strategies” that different merchants use are their set-prices for each item and their profit margin. I don’t believe I’m any different from Manifette, Aflame, Tankkaar, Hunzzz, or others, but here are my ideas on “merchanting”:
1. Buy more auction slots. It is hard to make any gold with a few auction slots because the turnover time for selling item could be long. As a merchant, you need to buy underpriced items and resell it in auction, will means you need gold to buy and gold to list your items. With just a few auction slots, the turnaround time is too long and it would make more sense if you just go and farm for gold instead. I started out with 17 slots, then increased it to 30, 50, 75, 90, 110, and now with 130 slots. The main reason why I increased my auction slots was not because I wanted to make more gold faster, it was because my purchasing rate was much higher than my selling rate. At one point, I had over 3000+ items on just EVOLT. You have to maintain a balance.
2. Determine what you want to sell. There are so many items in this game and I don’t believe ANYONE would know the market prices for every item in this game. For myself, I usually sell pinks that are below level 50, you can barely find any of my listings that aren’t for pinks. Other players may focus their auctions on certain class, set, level, price, rarity…etc. It is quite hard to figure out right away what you “should” or “shouldn’t” sell, because players would have to learn through their experiences. For starters, here is a simple guide:
- For example, if you want to focus on Pink helms, do a search in CS and sorting the results by level (low level first). Most players would find that the first available INT, STR, or DEX helms should be at level 25. You MAY find listings for level 21 or 23 helms, but those are considered rares, or what I call “odd-level” items. For the “odd-level” items, the prices are usually high and you will not find that many listings. If the first available common Pink helm is at level 25, it means that players who crave for a good helm at low levels would most likely purchase it, resulting for a high demand. Therefore it is a good item to sell.
- Another example is the level 19 STR armor – Chain Mail of Legend. The level 19 STR armor is the first available “common” STR armor, and the next one after it is the level 25 STR Crystal or Earth Armor. This means that for players from level 1 – 24, the level 19 STR armor is the best they can get at a reasonable price. Of course there are pink armors at level 5 and 10-18, but they are at a premium price for low level players.
- Another example is the level 35 armor. The level 35 armors would be considered as “common”. If you take a look at the next available “common” armor, I would say that it is at level 45. This ten level gap will cause all the “odd-level” armors between level 36 – 44 is sustain a higher market price, while the level 35 armors will maintain a high demand, for players who don’t want to pay a premium for the “odd-level” armors.
- You have to spend some time in CS and figure this for yourself.
3. Understand the supply and demand. In the above examples, there are indiciations on how to figure out demand. Another important factor to demand is desire. There are plenty of collectors out there that would pay premiums for items they desire, not for its stats or appearances, but simply for fulfil their desire. It is quite impossible to measure this demand, but keep this in the back of your head.
Supply is $$$ for merchants. For merchants, supply of items in CS can work for or against you. Before listing an item, see how many of this identical item is available in CS first and at what prices it is selling at. If there aren’t much supply and if you can match or beat the lowest selling price, then list your item. If there are many listings and the supply is high, then there might be a chance for you to stock-up on that item, and do not list your item. Do not try to beat the lowest price just because you want to sell an item. Sell an item to make gold and there should not be any rush in selling any particular item. Try using a systematic approach when listing and make adjustments to your approach if needed. An example for myself, you may find me selling the level 25 JT Dex helm for 12.5k and the Sniper Dex helm for 14.5k. I’ve been selling those at that listed prices forever and 90% of the time it will be sold, therefore I don’t need to make any adjustments to the pricing.
4. Decide on your maximum purchase price. It is easy to say to buy low and sell high. The key is to determine the profit margin you desire for all the items. Using my example above, my desire profit margin is at least 30%. If my selling price for the Sniper Dex helm is 14.5k, my purchasing price for it would never exceed 10k. The reason why you should set a fixed selling price and profit margin is because merchants will be anything anytime they find it underpriced. No merchant will remember the price they bought each item at. Therefore having these figures determined, merchants will know how much room they would have to work with. If the supply for an item suddenly increase, like the case with the level 35 armors, if you know your maximum purchasing price, you may undercut other players to a price that you still wouldn’t take a lost and for quick sale.
5. Setting a fixed selling price. Much is said above…in addition, if you have set selling prices for your items, it would save you lots of time when listing.
6. Don’t be afraid to buy. When you see something underpriced, BUY IT! Don’t worry about the quantity, BUY EM ALL! Sometimes when a supply for an item is high in CS, and the prices drop, some players have the tentancy to list it at an even lower price just because they want to get rig of it (similar to the stock market…). As a merchant, BUY THEM ALL! The most I’ve spent in resell items in CS is over 1 mil a day. I’ve purchased the level 35 Dreamer Witch Toad Tiara for as low as 30k before, and there were 10+ of them in total below 50k, so I bought them all. Within a couple weeks, I’ve sold all my Dreamer at an average price of 65k. $$$.
7. Give back to the community. If you are successful as a merchant and makes lots of gold, give some gold or items out to those in need.
Summary in short:
1. Figure out what is “common” and what is “odd”.
2. Figure out the demand as well as the market price for all the “common” items.
3. Determine what you want to sell.
4. Set you prices and buy anything undervalued, especially the “odd”.
5. Make millions to gold!
One more thing to note though. In the past, when there wasn’t the level restrictions on joing games (the within two level restriction), CS was like a heaven for merchants. In the past, low level players often join high level dungeons like AO1, 2, or 3, the power-level. Not too many new players actually play the game properly. They just wanted to level-up fast. The fact that low level dungeons often get skipped, “odd” items were extremely rare. Some good examples are the level 33 Swampy Shivs and the level 33 Conq’ Hammo. It was so rare before (or what most players thought) that I used to sell the Shivs for as high as 600k and Conq’ Hammo for 1.5 mil. Now, because players have to play the game properly, these used-to-be “odd” became “common”, and the Shivs are now selling for 90k and Conq’ Hammos for 350k. Just keep in mind that what seem to be rare in the past might not be in the future, unless it is discontinued. Do not keep that many “odd” in your inventory because an update might cause the “odd” to become “common”. A good example is the level 50 Vyx helms or the level 25 Gem Lighting staff. Before the Sandcaves, the Gem Staffs were quite rare and the market price were around 30k, and 55k for Dreamer Gem Staff. After the release of Sandcaves, this “odd” became “common” and the price dropped to as low as 1k.
What works for me might not work for others, or what I believe you may not agree. I will try to spend more time on forum from now on and provide more inputs. I haven’t listed for a while but I hope this helps.
P.S. If you need assistance (in gold or items), especially for low-level players, feel free to PM me when you see me online. When you see me near CS and if I don’t reply to your messages, it is because I’m AFK. When I’m actually online, I do try to respond to every PM to me, but I often have like ten players talking to me at once, it is hard for me to keep up.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks