What do you think the upcoming update "The Great Exchange" will do to Runescape's economy?

 

 

 

I, personally, believe it will completely destroy merchanting, and cause everything to be sold at a more or less set price. Simply put, since everyone is selling in the same place at the same time, everybody will be able to see the current value of any single item due to the fact that everyone can view every item for sale at once, and so they will know their competition, and unless they're not very bright, nobody's going to attempt to sell something for more than what other people are selling for, based on the fact that nobody will be buying. I think it could possibly lead to a degradation of prices universally, since everyone will know exactly how much to sell for to undercut everyone else's prices, and the prices will slowly but surely be forced downwards due to the fact that people will sell for less than what other people are selling for. Admittedly, we won't see the effects of the update on prices for quite some time, because the price cuts will happen very slowly and very incrementally. However, slowly but surely, prices will be dropped. However, it may actually go slower than the current rate of price drops. After all, most items have been dropping nearly steadily since they came out.

 

 

 

Next is the problem of those who merchant for their money. Really, this will no longer be a viable prospect, since everyone will be buying for the lowest price available, and there will be far more sellers than there ever were in world 2, since people can sell across all servers WITHOUT ACTUALLY DOING ANYTHING. They don't even have to be at the marketplace to sell, so there'll obviously be far more people that simply put up their items for sale as compared to the old method of actually working to make a sale. That means that buyers will be able to compare pricese across the board, so selling high simply because you're the only one available to sell at the moment is basically useless. Therefore, merchanting will become an obsolete, impossible to implement method of making money.

 

 

 

What do you think?

I'll try building a scenario:

 

 

 

A, B, C sell coal for 100 each and all have a stock of 1k,

 

D sells coal for 200 each and has a stock of roughly 20k,

 

 

 

People will EAT UP the cheap 3k coal, leaving D as the only seller left which people will buy from and eventually run him out of stock.

 

 

 

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Think outside the box when it comes to global trade: People buy and sell things continuously, and buying the cheapest items will result in their stock running out very very quickly, raising the price of the lowest cost item.

I could see it driveing down prices, but at a certain point they will level off. I mean your not going to see rune platebodies for sale in large quantities below their alching cost for example. realy lower prices if thats what we are going to see may help the economy more than hurt it. true merchents may suffer a little, on the other hand they may just start buying up stuff at the exchange the same way they do in game and turn around to make a profit.

 

 

 

and their may be some sort of exchange fee for all we know like 15% that would keep prices from dropping too low.

I'll try building a scenario:

 

 

 

A, B, C sell coal for 100 each and all have a stock of 1k,

 

D sells coal for 200 each and has a stock of roughly 20k,

 

 

 

People will EAT UP the cheap 3k coal, leaving D as the only seller left which people will buy from and eventually run him out of stock.

 

 

 

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Think outside the box when it comes to global trade: People buy and sell things continuously, and buying the cheapest items will result in their stock running out very very quickly, raising the price of the lowest cost item.

 

 

 

This to me seems like a very logical scenario. I myself make nature runes for my income and usually only sell when I have over 10k in my bank. If I go to the exchange and sell 20k nature runes for 315ea, there is a good chance that someone will buy them because of the convenience of getting such a large amount. People will pay extra for convenience at the GE, just like they do in real life.

gosh i'm blown away with this new Grand Exchange thing.

 

 

 

I think merchanting will go down, BUT still exist with some people but it won't be as popular

I totally disagree, I think Merchanting will be just as strong if not stronger than ever..... it will just be very different.

 

 

 

Merchants will adapt in the new environment, but will be able to buy and sell in a much larger spectrum. I think it will abolish the aspect of merchanting often looked down as low and even scamming.

Yeah I agree with bobbington2. It won't be the same merchanting as now but different. Only the good merchants will be able to adapt to this new system but will still prosper. It may eliminate amateur merchants.

A, B, C sell coal for 100 each and all have a stock of 1k,

 

D sells coal for 200 each and has a stock of roughly 20k,

 

 

 

People will EAT UP the cheap 3k coal, leaving D as the only seller left which people will buy from and eventually run him out of stock.

 

 

 

I hope quote works its my first time using.

 

 

 

ANYWAYS, merchents can now do this, buy from A, B, and C for 100 Each and then sell him/herself for higher. Merchanting won't die it will just change as other people have said.

I'll try building a scenario:

 

 

 

A, B, C sell coal for 100 each and all have a stock of 1k,

 

D sells coal for 200 each and has a stock of roughly 20k,

 

 

 

People will EAT UP the cheap 3k coal, leaving D as the only seller left which people will buy from and eventually run him out of stock.

 

 

 

-----------------

 

Think outside the box when it comes to global trade: People buy and sell things continuously, and buying the cheapest items will result in their stock running out very very quickly, raising the price of the lowest cost item.

 

 

 

Okay, this is possible, but I think the Great Exchange will still result in price drops over time, especially if you can sell while offline. If that's possible, then there will simply be so many people selling each item at once that it's impossible to sell for higher than the minimum price. However, even if we're only allowed online selling, there still MAY be a huge amount of sellers simply due to the fact that it's possible to sell without doing anything. For that, we'll really just have to wait and see how many people actually want to sell a certain item at a time, but don't have the patience. It's never been seen before, so it's an anomaly in any equation we try to perform.

 

I totally disagree, I think Merchanting will be just as strong if not stronger than ever..... it will just be very different.

 

 

 

Merchants will adapt in the new environment, but will be able to buy and sell in a much larger spectrum. I think it will abolish the aspect of merchanting often looked down as low and even scamming.

 

How will it be possible to merchant? I suppose buying low quantities, low price and selling high quantities, high price might work, but other than that, there's nothing much you can do. And even there, there's not honestly much profit to be made. If you can think of a better way to merchant, give me an example.

In my opinion, we are going to have to just wait and see, as there are so many speculations.

 

 

 

I'm excited TBH :D

I've never really approved of some "middleman" buying my items en masse for a low price, then selling for a higher price. Besides, I like the idea of being able to trade without wasting so many hours in World 2.

 

 

 

I also don't really believe that merchanting will be dead. As with many other things in RuneScape, merchanters either learn to adapt or go extinct.

How would merchanting die? I believe the grand exchange(ge) will work like the general store we have. People who are oblivious to prices of the item would sell for lower prices than street prices, what a merchant looks forward to.

 

 

 

The merchant can later just sell it for the street price and still make a profit, or he could make use of the scenario stated by Sharane. However, since such a situation doesn't happen commonly, merchanting may decline due to intense competition.

...merchanting may decline due to intense competition.

 

 

 

Okay, that's fair enough. I'd believe that merchants would survive, but they'd certainly have a much harder time of it than they do now, because they likely won't be able to manipulate the market so much. Again, it will probably all depend on whether we're allowed to sell while offline or not. If we are, there'll be so much market that it'll be hard to find someone stupid enough to not check the market price simply in the rest of the GE. However, if it's limited to online players, then there'll be more opportunity for screwups like that.

Merchanting won't be dead, but in f2p at least, people selling amulets/scimitars etc. will lose cash.

 

 

 

Consumables- things like food, runes, logs etc. will be unchanged and it will be far, far easier for people to sell their goods.

Will this wreck Runescape's community? Will this cause a complete drop in everything that is worth something?

 

Well I believe that it will. Think about it someone selling Dharoks on world 2 for 2.4M, however the Barrows merchanter that sells them for 2.6 on world 6 is going to lose ALOT of money because the guy that was selling his for 2.4 puts them up in Grand Central, and everyone will now go there.

 

This, in the long run, is good. However, I believe that catastrophic results are to come of this, and as a word of warning, I think you should sell everything you have that is worth something. Sell your whip now for 1.35M, Buy it in a few weeks for probably around 1M.

 

All I can say is to be prepared. There is GOING to be a price drop in EVERYTHING, whether you like it or not.

 

This will also re-write many other skills that you can't physically level, but mentally. Merchanting is my prime example. People have tactics like walking away from a keen seller who comes running back to them with a cheaper price. Well, that ain't gonna happen anymore because of the fact that they can quickly put their item up for sale, Run off and get do a round or two of PC and then, having sold it, continue with their daily lives.

 

Id also like to talk about skills. Expect to see people having more 99 skills than you can comprehend, image the people as they overtake you in your best skill, in a matter of days. Why? Again, prices. There are people out there who are determined, but just don't have money, and now, with the money that they DO have, they will get all the more out of it with the cheaper runes, logs and other supplies.

 

another the major discussion point, Is Runescape beginning to become like all other MMOPRG's? Is it entwining itself into the general role of all other MMORPGS? We play Runescape because its different ; something that has completely different ideas such as Pest Control or P-King. This is why I say NO to this idea of "Grand Central". It ruins the fact that we play Runescape because it is DIFFERENT.

 

 

 

These are my views on the whole situation

Albal, I hope you realize that we're not stupid, and that was taken DIRECTLY from the post you made on General about ten seconds ago. I posted on that thread, and we don't need to hear the same thing twice.

Yea, Im about to get rid of my other post and just leave my stuff on here. Sorry

becoming a cheap version of wow, AH ftw!

 

one thing this does do is leave it open for large scale market manipulation.

 

if a large guild pools gold then buys all of one item that shows up lower then they were selling it it could drive it up, well still have to see i guess.

This will NOT end merchanting, If you read this you'll know why...

 

 

Later in the month, we bring you the 'Grand Exchange'. This new building will be located in the north-west of Varrock and will house a huge new addition to the game: the ability to offer items to buy and sell across ALL servers and to ALL players! You might, for example, go to the Exchange and put a full Barrows set up for sale - then, playing Skullball in Canifis, you might get a message telling you that they have sold and that you can go to the nearest bank to receive payment! The Grand Exchange will allow you to spend more time on the things you enjoy, providing a less time-consuming alternative to selling your items on the Forums or amongst the crowds of Varrock Marketplace.

 

 

 

This will make it stronger by actually have the Forums literally in-game. Although so items will have more demand merchanting will continue to grow...

I think we need to see exactly how this grand exchange works before we get set on how it will kill everything and whatnot

 

 

 

but I think for sure it will drop prices, because if it works by putting an item in and set it for a specific amount, and if people decide they want it lower, than they'll find another person selling it for a lower amount and the sellers will have to conform to the buyers prices. that's pretty muc already happens now, but I think it'll happen faster with this grand exchange

IMO, threads about the "Great Exchange" should be against the rules until it's released.

I totally disagree, I think Merchanting will be just as strong if not stronger than ever..... it will just be very different.

 

 

 

Merchants will adapt in the new environment, but will be able to buy and sell in a much larger spectrum. I think it will abolish the aspect of merchanting often looked down as low and even scamming.

 

 

 

The service that merchants provide is that of convenience. They buys good quickly and sell them quickly so you don't have to wait around, but some of your money goes to the merchant.

 

 

 

First of all, it's so incredibly stupid to call merchants scammers because they are actually helping you, and second of all you may notice that this is the EXACT same service that the varrock trading thing offers, in fact it does it almsot even better than merchants. How could the trade not have an effect on merchants when it's virtually replacing their job? The severity of the effect will be determined by how popular the trading thing is.

 

 

 

The only exception I see (and this is a HUGE exception) is if they play an active role in the varrock trading system. This is something that could very will happen (and this means that we could get our goods almost instantaneously :shock: ). I'm only evaluating the theory because I very little practical experience but this exception could very well happen and it is perfectly possible that merchants adapt to this new job.

 

 

 

I, personally, believe it will completely destroy merchanting, and cause everything to be sold at a more or less set price.

 

 

 

Most items already do have a set guideline of price. Such as how full rune is always 180k, give or take a few.

 

 

 

Simply put, since everyone is selling in the same place at the same time, everybody will be able to see the current value of any single item due to the fact that everyone can view every item for sale at once, and so they will know their competition, and unless they're not very bright, nobody's going to attempt to sell something for more than what other people are selling for, based on the fact that nobody will be buying.

 

 

 

You're right. People won't sell for more than the competition. This is why you sell less. Jagex has been leaning towards player-made-exchanges rather than shop buying. So in order to get lower prices from players, the players have to either make it themselves or buy it low and sell it for a profit (merchanting.) Jagex is probably more interested in the players doing things independently and creating the product.

I think it could possibly lead to a degradation of prices universally, since everyone will know exactly how much to sell for to undercut everyone else's prices, and the prices will slowly but surely be forced downwards due to the fact that people will sell for less than what other people are selling for.

 

I think that that is a good thing. It creates competition.

 

 

 

Admittedly, we won't see the effects of the update on prices for quite some time, because the price cuts will happen very slowly and very incrementally. However, slowly but surely, prices will be dropped. However, it may actually go slower than the current rate of price drops. After all, most items have been dropping nearly steadily since they came out.

 

 

 

There's a limit to what prices will drop to, though. Using full rune as an example again, it will never drop below the price that it costs to buy the bars or ores to make full rune. The ores won't drop in prices because they're still hard to get.

 

 

 

Next is the problem of those who merchant for their money. Really, this will no longer be a viable prospect, since everyone will be buying for the lowest price available, and there will be far more sellers than there ever were in world 2, since people can sell across all servers WITHOUT ACTUALLY DOING ANYTHING. They don't even have to be at the marketplace to sell, so there'll obviously be far more people that simply put up their items for sale as compared to the old method of actually working to make a sale. That means that buyers will be able to compare pricese across the board, so selling high simply because you're the only one available to sell at the moment is basically useless. Therefore, merchanting will become an obsolete, impossible to implement method of making money.

 

 

 

People have been asking for player owned houses and shops for a long time. They got their houses, now their getting their shops. But like I said, I think Jagex wants players to be more active in creating what they're selling.

I'm just waiting to see what happens, but I don't think it'll be put into the game until the end of the month, seeing as how it's a huge update.

This will be good for all, full-time merchants, part-time merchants, and skillers.

 

For full-time merchants (who don't auto), they don't have stand around yelling- "Selling 20k coal 200ea. over and over" While browsing the exchange, they will be able to buy items people are selling at a cheaper price to obtain some cash.

 

For part-time merchants who skill, we don't have to waste our time at banks yelling out "Selling 20k coal 200ea" We can leave it there, go skill, then in the middle, come to find out that our wares were sold and we can buy stuff again.

 

For skillers, its pretty much the same as part-timers. Say you cut logs and your not a mem. You can't post on the forums but you don't want to stand in the bank. You put up your stuff in the exchange and go back to wc. That way you don't waste time.

 

 

 

SO to sum up...

 

THis will save us time.

 

THere will be much less (still some) spam in the bank.

 

 

 

And to those who think that people will sell coal at 100ea well.... do you think new players will know about this place, much less use it? Only experienced players will know about this, therefore there is a possibilty that the prices could be higher.