Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Trading in Entropia Universe - Trading at the Auction

The market in Entropia, although dealing solely with virtual goods, still operates like a market, with its own particular idiosyncrasies, just like markets in real life. The key to profitable trading, to be able to buy and sell at a good price, would be a familiarity with the market's behavior, items and resources, so as to have a good idea of the market's future movement.

So, going straight to the point, the sections below will focus on specific characteristics of the market or media. Knowing these characteristics will help you to establish the fair price of an item, and aid you in buying or selling faster or more profitably.



Trading at the Auction

The auction is probably the most popular way of selling in Entropia. As such, if you are doing any kind of buying and selling, familiarity with the auction is a must. Do also remember to take note of the auction commission when you are selling.


Auction Buyout

Entropians are an impatient bunch. When they bid in the auction, they want their auction item or resource not 1 day later, or even 1 hour later, but they want it there and then. And they are willing to pay a little extra for it.

So, if you are selling at the auction, always include a buyout price. And if you are buying, a strategy would be to bid at a slightly lower price than the lowest buyout price for that item. There is a good chance that you will not be outbid as the bidders will buy at a higher buyout price to get their item or resource immediately.


Auction Bids are in Whole Numbers

In other words, you can bid at 10 PEDs or 11 PEDs but not at 10.5 PEDs or 10.2 PEDs. This actually opens up a good opportunity for you to buy small quantities of resources at a highly discounted price.

Take a look at the auction listing below:


Auction Bids are in Whole Numbers


The item is Animal Muscle Oil and lowest buyout at the auction is 104.61%. The first auction in the listing has a TT value of 4.92 PED. Someone has already bid 5 PED, which is 101.63%. Since bids can only be in whole numbers, the next highest bid is 6 PED, which is 121.95%!

It is quite obvious that the guy who bid 5 PED would probably win the auction at the discounted price. So, do be mindful of this possibility when buying or selling so that you might just buy at a great price or not have your item sell at a heavy discount.

Larger Quantities Sell at Lower Markups at the Auction

Select a commonly traded ore or enMatter on the auction and sort the listing by “buyout” with the lowest buyout at the top of the listing. An example of such a listing is shown below:


Larger Quantities Sell at Lower Markups


In the auction listing above, the lowest buyout for oil is at a markup of 101.06% for a quantity of 18652 units. If you are looking for a lower quantity of, say, 2204 units, you will have to pay a higher markup of 104.38%.

This creates an opportunity in which you can simply buy a large quantity for a low buyout, and split it up into several batches to sell at a higher buyout.

Note that this should generally be true for the more commonly traded resources in Planet Calypso's auction. Please do your homework as this might not be always true, especially for the less commonly traded resources, and for auctions not based on Planet Calypso.


Flooding the Auction...Don't

Know the item or resource that you are trading, and know also their typical volumes. There are many reasons that you might want to sell your item fast, but flooding the auction market, even if you are selling at a great price, usually does not help the item sell faster. Many buyers are users and not traders, so they will simply buy what they need but not much more.

In fact, many a time I have seen auctions expire with no buyers when crafters just fill the auction listings with their crafts, with no regard for the market demand.  Or, another avatar can simply list at a slightly better price, leaving the "auction flooder" twiddling his thumbs as he watches his competitor sell while his own auctions remain open.

If you want to sell items fast and you know that the auction does not have the demand for it, your best bet is to find a buyer through the Chat or Messaging System.

If you really want to try to sell through the auction, start by just listing just a few auctions, and wait for those to sell before starting a few more. Rinse and repeat. That way, you can be sure that you will not be stuck with tons of auctions with no buyers.


Lower TT Values of Unlimited Items sell for Higher Markup

I can tell you from experience that unlimited items with lower TT values sell for higher markup. For example, take Alekz Precision Scope. The full TT value is 34.00 PED and the weekly auction markup is +3.20 PED. A scope with a TT of 5 PED might be able to fetch up to TT + 5.00 PED while you you be lucky to sell a full TT scope at TT + 3.00 PED.

I think the reason for this is that the buyer would have more PED left after buying the lower TT value scope and so have more to spend on other items, so she doesn't mind getting less value for her PED.

Another reason could be that she can't afford the full TT scope and so is willing to pay a higher premium for the lower TT scope.

Note that this happens only for unlimited items and limited items would usually sell at their fair value.


Unrefined Ores and EnMatters

Most trades for ores and enMatters are for the refined version. As such, unrefined ores and enMatters tend to go for a lower price than their refined versions, even after taking into account the refining cost. And many listings of unrefined ores and enMatters tend to have low TT values, possibly allowing you the chance to win the auction at a heavily discounted price, as described in the section above.

Tip: If you are regularly refining ores and enMatters, it is advisable to get a top of the line refiner. They cost a little more than the TT or lower end refiners, but they do pay for themselves over the long run.


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