Proposal for Improving ESO’s Trading System

Solvar

Good idea – Makes trading easier and more accessible. Worth the effort, while keeping the current system for those who enjoy it.

I play a bit of GW2 which has a global auction system (called trading post in that game).
It is very rare you see people in map chat trying to sell stuff, because there is really no reason for it. Yes, it saves the TP listing fee and commission, but as a buyer, the I'm not going to be waiting/looking in map chat to buy something, and would only buy something I don't need if it was a lot cheaper and I could flip it for more money. At which point, there is no reason for the person to just not list it on the TP in the first place.
Also, the listing and transaction fees cuts down (does not eliminate) flippers - there has to be a pretty significant gap between what the flipper can buy it for vs sell it for to make money. As a seller, I don't care who buys my stuff (I got paid the price I wanted - if I think the current bids are too low, I can list it with a higher asking price). As a buyer, it may mean I'm paying more money if I want to buy it right now, but I can always put a bid in for it at a lower cost. The bigger gaps in prices are those where supplies is more limited (equipment). Items with lots of supply, like crafting materials, tend to have close bid and ask prices, likely because so much is being produced, it would be hard to flippers to keep up, and even if they did, they might very well end up losing money.
I find the ESO system lacking. I can't imagine how players without TTC would have any clue on reasonable prices, and I always consider any game where one needs to use outside tools to be something as a shortcoming.
As a buyer, if I'm needing to buy something fairly rare, like a crafting motif for a masterwork writ, there is no guarantee that hitting one of the major trading hubs will have it listed. Even there, having to check in with a dozen traders is hardly an engaging experience. But going to TTC, seeing where the item was listed, going there, seeing it was sold, going to next place, and maybe finding it on the third or fourth zone, is even a worse experience.

joshisanonymous

Bad idea – This would create more problems than it solves.

I always find the "not good for casual players" argument for the current system perplexing. I'm in trade guilds with traders in Mournhold, Sentinel, and Elden Root, all highly active base game zones. How did I get into these? Did I work my way up the trading ranks? Did I have to trade millions in gold first? Do I need to go through a rigorous recruitment process? Nah. I opened the guild menu, searched for active guilds, sent blank join requests, and was added usually within minutes. I'm not a major trader -- I just unload stuff that I don't want -- and unless I stop playing for like a month, I'm in no danger of being kicked from these very active guilds. I don't even know if they have minimum sale requirements because it has never mattered. And if I do get kicked from inactivity? I just apply again when I log back in in two months and two minutes later I'm able to sell again.

katanagirl1

Furyous wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

You’re a new ESO player, right? How about learning how this 10+ year old game works, take into account all of the suggestions made by the experienced players here in the forums, and work with it? Instead you are demanding that the game cater to your view of it and work like other games work, requiring a ton of development effort and money and time.

I want to correct a few assumptions.

I am not new to ESO. I was part of the beta, have played through years of updates, and my suggestions come from that long experience. If you had bothered to click on my name (on the left), you would have seen my join date of Nov 9, 2013. Instead of making even that minimal effort to fact‑check, you chose to libel me.

Calling my post "demanding" is inaccurate. It was a polite suggestion, framed for discussion, and even put to a vote. That is the opposite of a demand. A demand is when someone insists on a change without input or compromise. A suggestion with open voting is an invitation to dialogue.

What is disappointing is that instead of engaging with the ideas, you dismissed them by labeling me inexperienced and mischaracterizing my tone. That does not move the discussion forward.

The point was to highlight barriers in the current trading system and propose improvements. Whether or not you agree, the ideas deserve to be considered on their merits.

And yes, I have my beta monkey. Perhaps once you have caught up to those of us who were there from the start, you will have the experience needed to comment meaningfully on these issues. (That last line is a joke, in case they don't have humor where you come from.)

My apologies if my post sounded like anything other than me speaking matter-of-fact about the subject, that was not my intent. I read your post, but I don’t bother clicking on the avatar of everyone here on the forum. You gave the impression of a new player, and you don’t have many stars next to your name here on the forums.

I don’t get through all of the forum posts every day so I don’t remember much of what you wrote, other than you seem very dismissive of the replies, as if you are demanding change.

We get posts here all the time from new players wanting everything under the sun being changed to accommodate them. It gets very tiring. When I read yours, it seemed like more of the same. So disregard my comments.

kargen27

Furyous wrote: »

kargen27 wrote: »

"The point of my post was to highlight how the current trading system creates unnecessary barriers compared to other MMOs, and to propose ways it could be improved."

I do not believe this premise to be true. This game has a layered and structured trading system. It has levels and the more you participate the more you get out of it. Just like trials. You don't just start out trying for the leader board and trifectas on your first trial. You start with normal trials get in a progression group and work up. Not being able to do hard mode trials right off the start doesn't mean you are locked out of doing trials. I don't see it as unnecessary barriers but levels of play.

With trading entry level is selling to venders and zone chat. Join a guild and if they are large enough to can buy/sell using a vendor exclusive to the guild. Personally I think this part of trading doesn't get near as used as it should and players lose out not taking advantage. Next step is a guild that often gets one of the outlier traders. Even a trader out in the boonies can generate 100sof thousands of gold a week if you have the items to sell. End game could be getting into a prime trading guild and spending a good chunk of time in game pursuing items to flip.

This game is the only one I've played that has this diverse a market that accommodates so many styles of play. A central market would severely damage a vibrant trading community and damage the economy. I suggested my idea for making the current system (my opinion) better earlier in the thread. I don't know how feasible my idea would be when considering server performance but I think it would allow players who just want to find items quick and those that want to chase down bargains the chance to do that.

Trials are an end‑game level of PvE combat, but they are the culmination of a clear and well‑designed path. Players start with quests, overland content, delves, and dungeons, and can progress naturally into trials if they choose to take PvE that far. It is an incredibly robust and accessible road.

Trading is not like that. Trading is a basic function of MMOs, it should be available to every player as part of the core game. In ESO, however, it starts at end‑game. The only way new players can participate is by latching onto the coattails of a few trading guilds, without ever having a realistic chance at securing a trader of their own.

No one is locked out of PvE. You don’t need third‑party add‑ons or membership in an exclusive trial guild to do quests, dungeons, or trials. Trading, by contrast, requires outside tools and insider access just to function. That is not progression, it is exclusion from a fundamental part of the MMO experience.

Trading in ESO is exactly like that. A good chunk of the player population treats trading as an end game activity and there is different tiers of trading. The more time you put toward trade the more you get out. Selling to a vendor would be akin to doing quests. Selling in zone chat akin to using group finder for dungeons. Joining a trade guild same as joining a progression team.
This system not only allows different levels of game play and participation it also keep the economy vibrant, fluid and healthy. Sure some tweaks would help and I and others have made suggestions to that end. No need to scrap a system that offers so much especially when at this point the "fix" would cause many more problems while solving almost none.

Many trial teams require Discord and a myriad of add-ons that alert for different mechanics. You don't need the add-ons but you don't need add-ons for trading either. The add-ons make things easier sure but for participation I would say add-ons are required more for trials because plenty of groups doing the end game stuff require them or have at least one team member with add-ons to call things out.
Nobody is locked out of trading. Trials you need 12 people to agree to the content. Trading takes only two, a buyer and seller. That is the lowest level of trading other than selling to vendors. You can progress from that to selling at a trader by simply joining a guild. You can find a guild with no dues and minimal activity requirements. I'm in a guild that consistently has a trader and their only requirement is you log in once every two weeks.