The answer to the question in the title is pretty much no.
There are a lot of casual trading guilds out there. I have been in one that charges nothing to be a member. Just requires you sell a modest amount and we are in a solid location. Just find the right guild and you are fine. For casual player, one guild slot is not that big of a deal.
People already (mostly erroneously) believe that some people are already cornering the market and manipulating prices. This is very, very, very difficult to do with the 100+ vendor locations across Tamriel, as it takes an inordinate amount of time to visit all of them to buy every thing to do so.
A global auction house would exacerbate the situation, making it 100x easier for those who have billions (yes, with a 'b') of gold to actually corner a market.
Emma_Overload wrote: »We wouldn't need an auction house if they would make the trade guilds SEARCHABLE from a central location. They should also let you put down a deposit to hold the item until you can travel to the actual trader.
Taleof2Cities wrote: »Emma_Overload wrote: »We wouldn't need an auction house if they would make the trade guilds SEARCHABLE from a central location. They should also let you put down a deposit to hold the item until you can travel to the actual trader.
That’s essentially an Auction House, @Emma_Overload ... unless the global search did not include price of the search item.
Is that what you mean?
Emma_Overload wrote: »Taleof2Cities wrote: »Emma_Overload wrote: »We wouldn't need an auction house if they would make the trade guilds SEARCHABLE from a central location. They should also let you put down a deposit to hold the item until you can travel to the actual trader.
That’s essentially an Auction House, @Emma_Overload ... unless the global search did not include price of the search item.
Is that what you mean?
No. The items would still be stored at the individual guild traders. You would still have to travel to the trader to pick up the item. Traders would still have to belong to guilds to sell their items. And guilds would still have to bid for trading posts. All the mechanics that keep players milling about the cities would still be there, they just wouldn't have to waste as much time traveling through wayshrines (and loading screens) when they are shopping.
Here's what would be different:
1) Rich guilds would no longer be able to monopolize the market by hogging the best trading spots every week, simply because the centralized search would level the playing field for all guilds. Guilds might still prefer a spot on Rawlka or Deshan for prestige and bragging rights, but there would be no significant financial advantage.
2) Players will be able to find the items they are looking for quickly and place deposits on the items they intend to buy. In order to keep greedy players from locking up the market by placing too many deposits, the number of deposits per player could be limited and the length of time the items would be held could be limited, too.
3) Sellers would be free to list their items at ANY guild trader (that they belonged to) without feeling penalized or disadvantaged. Rich, greedy cartel guilds would no longer be able to demand ridiculous dues or fees from sellers, because all trading spots would be more or less equal. Even the smallest, poorest guilds would be able to sell their wares efficiently.
Hiding the price of the item as you suggest would just be irritating to the shopper. The whole point of centralized search would be to make shopping a more pleasant experience for the player.
wtlonewolf20 wrote: »
This really is the case. A GAH will not end trade guilds, it will refocus them and turn them into 24/7 market trading groups. Whose entire focus would be to try their best to manipulate prices.
Emma_Overload wrote: »We wouldn't need an auction house if they would make the trade guilds SEARCHABLE from a central location. They should also let you put down a deposit to hold the item until you can travel to the actual trader.
katanagirl1 wrote: »I have mixed feelings about this as a console player.
I spend time keeping up with the listed value of the items I sell by visiting traders in the capital cities, and I price my items at the low end of the range so they are priced to sell. I do my homework so I reap the benefits.
What I don’t like seeing are these no-name guilds in Elden Root, Wayrest, or Mournhold that have no items to sell. How are they making the bid for those choice spots??? The traders in Belkarth used to be good but now I hardly find anything there.
VaranisArano wrote: »Casual Trading:
Step 1: use guildfinder or ask in zone chat for a casual trade guild with low or no requirements that fit how you like to play. I've never had a problem finding guilds that fit me and I regularly see low/no requirement trade guilds recruiting.
Step 2: list items for approx the same price as your guildmates. Yeah, it'll take a bit to get a feel for your good selling price especially if you are selling rarer items, but that's honestly how I learned to trade without add-ons. List, see what sells, relist if needed; its casual sales - if you need to empty your listings quick to manage inventory, throw the ESO equivalent of an "Everything Must Go!" sale.
The trading system as it is now is really not very casual friendly. Any chance to implement the classical global action house? Like 10 slots for normal players, 30+ slots for eso+.
No trading guilds, no requirements, no endles checking for proper prices and available stuff using addons... etc. I want to buy and sell stuff without wasting too much time on it.
Just the removal of merchant addons improves the performance by a lot. And you simply cannot properly trade without them.
degree of effort
degree of effort
This is the keyword. Just replace the effort with "grind" or "chores". I want to quest, and do groups or pvp when I can, I do not want to worry if I sold or donated enough to prevent the guild from losing it's spot. Namely when I know I will be not able to log in for at least a week or so.
VaranisArano wrote: »Casual Trading:
Step 1: use guildfinder or ask in zone chat for a casual trade guild with low or no requirements that fit how you like to play. I've never had a problem finding guilds that fit me and I regularly see low/no requirement trade guilds recruiting.
Step 2: list items for approx the same price as your guildmates. Yeah, it'll take a bit to get a feel for your good selling price especially if you are selling rarer items, but that's honestly how I learned to trade without add-ons. List, see what sells, relist if needed; its casual sales - if you need to empty your listings quick to manage inventory, throw the ESO equivalent of an "Everything Must Go!" sale.
No. It just does not help because many people do not use addons and they simply do not know that the item is available. I tried it and the stuff which goes immediatelly at a good spot would hardly be sold on a bad spot. If it worked as you say nobody would pay the outrageous prices for the good spots.
Emma_Overload wrote: »We wouldn't need an auction house if they would make the trade guilds SEARCHABLE from a central location. They should also let you put down a deposit to hold the item until you can travel to the actual trader.katanagirl1 wrote: »I have mixed feelings about this as a console player.
I spend time keeping up with the listed value of the items I sell by visiting traders in the capital cities, and I price my items at the low end of the range so they are priced to sell. I do my homework so I reap the benefits.
What I don’t like seeing are these no-name guilds in Elden Root, Wayrest, or Mournhold that have no items to sell. How are they making the bid for those choice spots??? The traders in Belkarth used to be good but now I hardly find anything there.
There is a website, tamrieltradecentre.com, tied to an addon, which lets you to browse the prices and see where the item is or was available and for what lowest price. Works for all platforms, including consoles.
degree of effort
This is the keyword. Just replace the effort with "grind" or "chores". I want to quest, and do groups or pvp when I can, I do not want to worry if I sold or donated enough to prevent the guild from losing it's spot. Namely when I know I will be not able to log in for at least a week or so.