Merchanting...a True Skill?

[12pure34]

merchanting is an out-game skill. You can be good, exelant or very bad at merchanting. It is all about having an eye for the economie. Merchanting does not give in-game skill points and you can't measure merchanting-skills in numbers, except for money, but always think that you must count money made per hour.

 

 

 

In my eyes, merchanting in-game is bad, because you only rip one guy off by buying it very cheap and you rip off the next by asking high! prices.

[Cdub]

I'm about the most biased person one could as to answer this question, but here it goes.

 

 

 

I hate merchants. Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em. But it's not blind, irrational rage- I hate them for plenty of valid reasons.

 

 

 

To explain, recently I was getting my herblore up, therefore spending a lot of time in World 2, "buying unids above ranarr". I spent hours upon hours... Watching my deals slip away to merchants. Well, that's fine; I figured. They have just as much a right to buy those unids as I. But what really got me ticked...

 

 

 

Merchant - "Get off my turf, I buy unids here."

 

Me - "This is supposed to be a common place to buy unids, and I need as quick xp as possible."

 

Merchant - "Oh you're a skiller? Want to be unids?"

 

Me - "That's why I'm here. So how many do you have?"

 

Merchant - "20k"

 

Me - "Wow! That's a lot of unids. How much each?"

 

Merchant - "3k Each."

 

Me - "That's kinda pricey. And I am buying from these other people for 2,000 each. Why do you deserve more money than them?"

 

Merchant - "It's not my fault these noobs don't know prices."

 

 

 

At this point I've removed him, and decided to keep buying from the commoners. But I've drawn a few things from this experience.

 

 

 

a. Merchants believe as a whole they're entitled to sell at a greater price than those who work for their items- and therefore refuse to sell for the NORMAL price.

 

b. Merchants enjoy offering .1K more per unid, because they can afford it- right? I would too if I was still making 700GP+ off of every unid.

 

c. Merchants are OBNOXIOUS. Besides the fact they are frugal (actually NOT a gross over-generalization. They profit from being frugal), they will refuse to sell to anyone who offers a cent less than their selling price- even though that price is still ridiculously high.

 

 

 

Say what you'd like- but these are not generalizations. Even so, generalizations form for a reason- they're true (or have at least a ring of truth). Well that's my 2 cents.

[Rebdragon]

I used to merchant. Boring, lonley and annoying. However its a great way to make money if you know what to do. It does depend on the stupididty of other people. I quit doing it a while ago as it was in no way fun.

[bodder]

It takes "skill" to know where to merchant? No it doesn't, there are guides all over the place of where to do this stuff, it takes no skill.

 

 

 

And Clicking 1000 times at a rock, with guides, takes skill?

 

 

 

If it levels you up then yes, it is a skill.

 

 

 

Merchanting although hard, I believe that it does not take real skill per say. But more time. I mean if you buy somthing (smart not somthing stupid) and wait till price is good, or just look on forums for a good buy, you can make profit. Anyone can do it, meaning its not a skill thing. But yet, takes some skill.

 

 

 

Ian

[CWolf2]

OMG it's a game!

 

You seriously should go kill yourself. I'm sorry if anyone takes this as a "OH EHM G33!!!11one" kind of thing, but if you aren't willing to put any effort in anything, you don't deserve to live. And by saying "it's a game," you're just saying that you don't care about anything at all.

 

 

 

If you have a negative feelings towards merchs then don't use them, go on about your business...

 

Don't use them? It's not something you can say "I want to buy ____ but I don't want to buy from a merchanter." It's pretty much like the autoers, you don't know who you're buying from.

 

 

 

Now, as to the merchanter debate, you guys are thinking that it's a matter of "it takes more skill than the other 'skills' in RuneScape." True, it does, but that's because you're dealing with other PEOPLE, not just yourself or an NPC. You need to think of merchanting as what it is: buy low sell high. Basically, merchanters are no better than insurance salesmen, which is basically legalized scamming/stealing. Yes, you can demand to pay the normal price, but then they just decline and yell "0mgz0rz n0oooob!1" Which, correct me if I'm wrong, but that's pretty low. Not once have I encountered a "nice" merchanter. It's always "you buy for my price, or you don't get anything." As well, most merchanters I run into are full-time merchanters, meaning they don't do much other than merchant, which leads me to believe that they do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for the game. In fact, they are HURTING it by stealing money, and items from not just the players, but the game itself.

[Giordano]

Merchanters=Smart people who take oppotunities

 

 

 

Hey, we're smart people who take oppotunities.

[r2-pleasent]

I used to merchant. Boring, lonley and annoying. However its a great way to make money if you know what to do. It does depend on the stupididty of other people. I quit doing it a while ago as it was in no way fun.

 

 

 

What people seem unable to understand is that many players, myself being one of them, absolutely love Merchanting. It can be a bit dull when you're selling Raw Materials, but it really gets interesting when you're dealing with Party Hats and other Rares. People often overlook the Rare Merchanting community, which is perhaps one of the strongest in the game. There's plenty of information being passed around, such as who sold what during that day, and this information is all relevant to the market. Every trade being made has a direct effect on the prices, so a skilled Merchant keeps track of just about EVERYTHING that takes place in Fally Park World 2.

 

 

 

I have never met a Party Hat Merchant that has said it's boring to buy and sell in Fally Park. There are obviously downtimes, and some people don't have the patience to do it, but those people rarely have enough money to buy a Santa, let alone a Party Hat, so they really can't comment on the subject.

 

 

 

I think the reason many people express such hate towards Merchants is because of isolated experiences that they use to generalize the entire Merchanting community. Just because some random person is rude, or asks for a ridiculously high amount of GP for an item does not mean he is a Merchant, and it definitely does not represent anything about Merchants in general. All these experiences show is that the Runescape community as a whole is one with very little manners, something that everyone usually learned after they hit level 5 combat.

[bubbasider]

^---------- Agreed, I also agree with leetsers on page 1, how it takes skill to do, its not A skill.

 

 

 

Bubba :twisted:

[gonzlar]

I never realized that the basic concepts of supply and demand as well as price gouging are regarded as a skill.

[deangut]

OMG it's a game!

 

You seriously should go kill yourself. I'm sorry if anyone takes this as a "OH EHM G33!!!11one" kind of thing, but if you aren't willing to put any effort in anything, you don't deserve to live. And by saying "it's a game," you're just saying that you don't care about anything at all.

 

 

 

LoL.. I have seen some idiots before but you got to take the cake!

 

 

 

I have played this game for some time now. All skills are above 60. I have 85 slayer. So I would say I have put my time and thought into this game. And for not caring about things.. You can ask plenty people in the Tip.it community...

 

 

 

You simply are posting to hear yourself speak or have no idea what I was tryin to say...and having to explain myself any further to you would simply be more of a waste of time then reading your post(s).

 

 

 

And when buying stuff.. You simply know what you pay and go look for it.. Simple...

 

 

 

Anyway..

 

 

 

Goodluck in your lack of ...

[kingphatguy_2]

i dont see why everybody hates merchants.. i for one have tried and dont do it anymore because its simply the hardest thing ive had to do in runescape.. takes alot of patience and negotiating skillls.. but what i dont understand is if you hate merchants then how can you shop in real life... EVERY store owner in the world is a merchant.. they buy a product at a cheaper price because they can buy it in bulk then they put iit on their shelves after putting a label on it and sell it for more to make money, people support their families off this how is it wrong i dont understand why everybody is getting so worked up

[ChewyShoe]

To everybody who says it doesn't take skill, how about we both start off with 200,000gp or any amount you want, play the same amount of hours per week and see who ends up with the most?

 

 

 

On a side note, I give up. It seems nobody actually reads anything but the first post and if they do they don't borther to re-address points brought up by others.

[Satenza]

I used to merchant. Boring, lonley and annoying. However its a great way to make money if you know what to do. It does depend on the stupididty of other people. I quit doing it a while ago as it was in no way fun.

 

 

 

What people seem unable to understand is that many players, myself being one of them, absolutely love Merchanting. It can be a bit dull when you're selling Raw Materials, but it really gets interesting when you're dealing with Party Hats and other Rares. People often overlook the Rare Merchanting community, which is perhaps one of the strongest in the game. There's plenty of information being passed around, such as who sold what during that day, and this information is all relevant to the market. Every trade being made has a direct effect on the prices, so a skilled Merchant keeps track of just about EVERYTHING that takes place in Fally Park World 2.

 

 

 

I have never met a Party Hat Merchant that has said it's boring to buy and sell in Fally Park. There are obviously downtimes, and some people don't have the patience to do it, but those people rarely have enough money to buy a Santa, let alone a Party Hat, so they really can't comment on the subject.

 

 

 

I think the reason many people express such hate towards Merchants is because of isolated experiences that they use to generalize the entire Merchanting community. Just because some random person is rude, or asks for a ridiculously high amount of GP for an item does not mean he is a Merchant, and it definitely does not represent anything about Merchants in general. All these experiences show is that the Runescape community as a whole is one with very little manners, something that everyone usually learned after they hit level 5 combat.

 

 

 

I used to merchant small rares all the time, as in masks, santas ect While i was making profit pretty much every deal they don't come around that often. I guess its different for the 'Party Hat' Merchant because you really are a small community. I have met many of you and let me tell you some are very, very cocky. No naming names but I'm sure you know who they are.

 

 

 

I guess when you care about the item your working to sell and buy it changes, but unfortunatly i never really cared about what i was doing. Maybe i will go back into it sometime. I am however enjoying doing other activities now. As a pose to looking around the boards and standing in a park.

 

 

 

I don't care about price manipulation or anything like that. If you have the money to do it more power to you.

[Buddy69]

Merchanting is a bit of a skill. I agree that when you only make a 1gp profit, you still did some merchanting, but that makes you unskilled at it.

 

 

 

But people who can make millions of GP in a week are skilled merchanters.

 

 

 

Merchanting is like a lesson. The mroe you do it, the better you get at it and the more you learn from it.

 

 

 

So there are good merchanters, and not so good merchanters. That means the good merchanters (people making millions of Gp) are skilled, while the not so good merchanters are not so skilled.

[Flame_guy3]

Merching is one of the hardest skills to master. Very few master it completely and not all make millions from it.

 

 

 

I am a merchant.... not a very good one... :oops: only got 1 mil but hey i merched all of it from my start of 15k im quite happy. Merching isnt only a skill in Rs it can help you in rl too you know sometimes I think Rs could be used as part of an economic bussiness studies program it lets you learn how an economy fluctuates and you know how to use the flaws to your advantage so dont knock merching til you tried it.

[trebor4312]

Although merchanting may "take skill", it is not "a skill".

Agree'd.

 

i dont agree id have to say its remarkably skill like after all with skills you get better as you do them and its kinda the same with merchanting as you do it more you get a better head for bargains etc

[jessy87]

OMG it's a game!

 

You seriously should go kill yourself. I'm sorry if anyone takes this as a "OH EHM G33!!!11one" kind of thing, but if you aren't willing to put any effort in anything, you don't deserve to live. And by saying "it's a game," you're just saying that you don't care about anything at all.

 

 

 

LoL.. I have seen some idiots before but you got to take the cake!

 

 

 

I have played this game for some time now. All skills are above 60. I have 85 slayer. So I would say I have put my time and thought into this game. And for not caring about things.. You can ask plenty people in the Tip.it community...

 

 

 

You simply are posting to hear yourself speak or have no idea what I was tryin to say...and having to explain myself any further to you would simply be more of a waste of time then reading your post(s).

 

 

 

And when buying stuff.. You simply know what you pay and go look for it.. Simple...

 

 

 

Anyway..

 

 

 

Goodluck in your lack of ...

 

 

 

 

 

i dont agree entirely with cwolf but, deangut... i dunno you seem to be a little odd, i agree with you about merchants if they dont manipulate prices, but most the time the ones i see are liars and other stuff and try to "jew" more $ out of people. but i really doubt you sell everything to merchants. im sure you sell to real people, me i make it a point to sell to real people first, turn to merchants when my time isnt worth it.

[starev91]

 

All merchanting takes is a lot of patience, coffee, eye drops, quick hands and luck on your side. Nothing more. I don't understand why you're going on that it takes a lot of skill and it is a skillÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ã

[darkmage099]

Without merchants, there would be soooo much less in circualtion around runescape. With merchants, it is much easier to buy things from other people, as there are always people selling.

 

 

 

Convinience > Price

 

 

 

Oh and for all you people who like to argue... I'll use the obby set as an example. Right now, there are 7 people on the official forums who are trying to buy an obby set (shield and cape). Also right now is a man selling 10 obby sets. Now, I'm sure this man is making a large profit out of this, but since he is keeping them up for buying and selling, he is helping those 7 people get what they want FAST, even if it is 100 or 200K higher than it should be. Money is sooo easily made in RS its completely absurd that you would not pay 100 or 200K more for something you could be spending hours looking for. Believe me, there ar not a lot of people who sell obsidian sets except for merchanters. Without them, NOBODY would be able to buy an obsidian set because NOBODY would sell them.

 

 

 

Stop beating on merchanters just because they take a tad more from you than others. If they did not fluctuate the prices, then all of the natures YOU craft would go down in price because people would want to sell the QUICKEST, and not by how much MONEY they make.

 

 

 

After all, what is a merchanter but a person who wants to make more money on an item he or she is selling?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VERY WELL SAID

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, to all you people who say "they are selling overpriced and stuff"

 

its actually you, the buyer, who can say "no, thats overpriced no thanks." its not like the merchanter is forcing you to buy it. It isnt all luck. You have to see where things are going in the Rs economy. Who cares if they are manipulating the prices lets say....yew logs go from 300 ea to 350 ea alright well the prices are going up because of the merchanters or whatever. Well all you have to do is sell yours 350 as a merchanter. If you want a quick sell, sell 300 ea but you cant complain because you got rid of it quickly.

 

 

 

the way i look at it...merchanters are people who sell your goods for you and take a cut for themselves 8-) which is totally cool because the skillers can get back to skilling. If you really want to take the time to sell those logs go right ahead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"merchanting is a skill. Money is just a way of keeping score"

 

 

 

-silk from belgarath :lol:

 

 

 

totally true^^

[megadedhed]

with the new construction update, I felt like I should bring this thread back... now-a-days, merchanting is alot harder due to the economical changes and now it takes alot more work then before....

[bobby1167]

I don't think merchanting is a skill, you cheat people out of there money, thats no skill IMO

 

 

 

What? You buy stuff cheap and sell it more??

[silverwarrior]

i agree wit u, merchanting is a skill........just look at my sig! :P

[lucasesco]

Well, I would just like to state my position on this. In my opinion, merchanting IS a skill, just not in the normal in-game style.

 

 

 

Amen.. the mesiah has returned.

 

 

 

+1

[AOSonic]

Give me a break... what can be easier then scaming some noobs.

 

 

 

Say you buy ess in f2p for 5gp ea, and now, you knowing that it's a low price, and the poor kid doesn't know any beter, take the ess, sell it, repeat, then show off?

 

 

 

Anyone who merchants is just scaming people, then lying to another.

[retaxis2]

merchanting doesn't take any skill whatsoever

 

 

 

runescape doesn't take any skill whatsoever

 

 

 

most games don't take any skills whatsoever

 

 

 

it is a game, play for fun.

 

 

 

this is merchanting

 

 

 

noob1merchanter: buying ahrims 2.4mil

 

noob2merchanter: selling ahrims 2.6mil

 

noob1merchanter stands next to noob2merchanter and continues chanting. Same as noob2merchanter.

 

 

 

2hours later

 

noob1merchanters:buying ahrims 2.45

 

noob2merchanter: selling ahrim 2.55

 

 

 

2hours later

 

noob1merchanter:2.5 deal?

 

noob2merchanter: fine.

 

 

 

5seconds later

 

 

 

noob1merchanter: selling full ahrims 2.7mil

 

 

 

1hour later

 

noob1merchanter: selling full ahrims 2.65mil plz buy

 

 

 

there goes 5hours of a merchanters life :lol: