Has the bottom fallen out of the market for guild sales?

spartaxoxo

CrashTest wrote: »

Also, one of the major contributors to the rapid deflation that no one ever mentions is ZOS has done a wonderful job at cracking down on and banning the worst gold buyers and sellers.

This is actually true. Also the way they handled crown sellers too, I suspect.

freespirit

I have three accounts...... on my main I have yet to have an item expire or need relisting

On the other two I have run into items expiring and I have removed items to relist them at lower prices but these accounts are frequently only visited once per day to restock stores and do some dailies.

I don't routinely sell mats but atm when I do I am listing them lower than before, they still sell usually within 24 hours.

I do pay attention to prices and am adjusting mine as I go.

MidniteOwl1913

I'm having trouble selling and my prices are lower most things I sell are about 1k. I can't go any lower. I don't sell materials.

Mostly armor and weapons. I think the reduced listing time is having a negative effect on my sales. It is not that my prices are too high it's that somebody who wants that particular piece has to be looking in the two weeks it's listed.

Most traffic is on the weekends so that really only 4 days to sell something. Of course, it's had a negative effect!

ShadowPaladin

agelonestar wrote: »

Prices on both EU and NA have dropped off considerably. Items are all selling but for a much lower cost. This is especially true of high end materials.

Prices will probably rise again, but unlikely to recover completely. Prices were high for a little while - too high.

You are absolutely right with this. Prices were *too* high. Just take a look on how for example Nirncrux (potent and fortified) prices developed in that last 12-18 months on PC EU. They have gone up by a factor of 6 to 8 (fortified) and 5 to 6 (potent). Certainly, if there are new sets released and players craft/improve/transmute the new stuff, you will have an increase in demand for certain items/resources. BUT, after some time - when players finished improving their new stuff - prices will drop again. That sadly did not happen most of the time. The circle of lower prices during and after events like anniversary and higher ones after releases of certain contents was broken . Now it is starting to correct itself.

h9dlb wrote: »

They broke the economy and fewer people are playing since they brought in the changes

Steamstats (a broadly representative sample)

Month Avg. Players Gain % Gain Peak Players
Last 30 Days 13,766.5 -651.7 -4.52% 24,532
June 2024 14,418.1 +622.3 +4.51% 27,405
May 2024 13,795.8 -3,082.8 -18.26% 23,327
April 2024 16,878.7 +3,246.2 +23.81% 29,898

Please, do NOT give steamstats as *representative* examples or samples and please do NOT claim that those are something broadly representative or anything along those lines! It has been discussed many times, that they are not in the least useable as an example, because a majority of people are not playing via steam!!! Steam and with that steamstats are something highly volatile and therefore do not have a real significance for a game as ESO.

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

Yes, sales have steadily slowed since U35. Now days I sell about 25% of what I list the first listing, and the other 75% of the items are returned after 14 days. This 14 day listing limitation is turning out to be a severe pain in the ass; to the point that I will no longer farm for items even during the special anniversary events. It's just not worth it. It's work to farm the items to sell, and now it's more work to sell them.

This 14 day listing limitation is doing nothing but causing an unnecessary inconvenience for anyone wanting to use a guild store to earn in game gold. And we should see the trade guilds start to fold this week, with the pace of trade guild closures picking up pace for a couple more months.

It's going to be interesting to see just how many of the casual trade guilds are going to be shuttered over this. It's just too much work now to pay the fee for the vendor locations.

I am not so sure about casual guilds shutting down. I do think that larger guilds, which focused on high prices and high member fees (to keep up with their high prices spots) will be the ones to get into trouble first. Why? Because, fewer players are willing and able to pay those fees and therefore will leave those guilds. On the other hand, guilds which do have a certain flexibility - like some of the casual ones - may be the ones now having their time .

MidniteOwl1913 wrote: »

I'm having trouble selling and my prices are lower most things I sell are about 1k. I can't go any lower. I don't sell materials.

Mostly armor and weapons. I think the reduced listing time is having a negative effect on my sales. It is not that my prices are too high it's that somebody who wants that particular piece has to be looking in the two weeks it's listed.

Most traffic is on the weekends so that really only 4 days to sell something. Of course, it's had a negative effect!

If you are selling weapons and armors for aroung 1k, I take it that those are items for other players to fill their sticker-book (collection) or to use them to learn traits? If so, then it is only natural that sales will drop over time. The collection is account-wide and more and more players do complete it, which leads to fewer players needing to get such items. Also, if a player has one char with all traits researched, that player will be able to craft items for researching on their own.

MidniteOwl1913

ShadowPaladin wrote: »

agelonestar wrote: »

Prices on both EU and NA have dropped off considerably. Items are all selling but for a much lower cost. This is especially true of high end materials.

Prices will probably rise again, but unlikely to recover completely. Prices were high for a little while - too high.

You are absolutely right with this. Prices were *too* high. Just take a look on how for example Nirncrux (potent and fortified) prices developed in that last 12-18 months on PC EU. They have gone up by a factor of 6 to 8 (fortified) and 5 to 6 (potent). Certainly, if there are new sets released and players craft/improve/transmute the new stuff, you will have an increase in demand for certain items/resources. BUT, after some time - when players finished improving their new stuff - prices will drop again. That sadly did not happen most of the time. The circle of lower prices during and after events like anniversary and higher ones after releases of certain contents was broken . Now it is starting to correct itself.

h9dlb wrote: »

They broke the economy and fewer people are playing since they brought in the changes

Steamstats (a broadly representative sample)

Month Avg. Players Gain % Gain Peak Players
Last 30 Days 13,766.5 -651.7 -4.52% 24,532
June 2024 14,418.1 +622.3 +4.51% 27,405
May 2024 13,795.8 -3,082.8 -18.26% 23,327
April 2024 16,878.7 +3,246.2 +23.81% 29,898

Please, do NOT give steamstats as *representative* examples or samples and please do NOT claim that those are something broadly representative or anything along those lines! It has been discussed many times, that they are not in the least useable as an example, because a majority of people are not playing via steam!!! Steam and with that steamstats are something highly volatile and therefore do not have a real significance for a game as ESO.

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

Yes, sales have steadily slowed since U35. Now days I sell about 25% of what I list the first listing, and the other 75% of the items are returned after 14 days. This 14 day listing limitation is turning out to be a severe pain in the ass; to the point that I will no longer farm for items even during the special anniversary events. It's just not worth it. It's work to farm the items to sell, and now it's more work to sell them.

This 14 day listing limitation is doing nothing but causing an unnecessary inconvenience for anyone wanting to use a guild store to earn in game gold. And we should see the trade guilds start to fold this week, with the pace of trade guild closures picking up pace for a couple more months.

It's going to be interesting to see just how many of the casual trade guilds are going to be shuttered over this. It's just too much work now to pay the fee for the vendor locations.

I am not so sure about casual guilds shutting down. I do think that larger guilds, which focused on high prices and high member fees (to keep up with their high prices spots) will be the ones to get into trouble first. Why? Because, fewer players are willing and able to pay those fees and therefore will leave those guilds. On the other hand, guilds which do have a certain flexibility - like some of the casual ones - may be the ones now having their time .

MidniteOwl1913 wrote: »

I'm having trouble selling and my prices are lower most things I sell are about 1k. I can't go any lower. I don't sell materials.

Mostly armor and weapons. I think the reduced listing time is having a negative effect on my sales. It is not that my prices are too high it's that somebody who wants that particular piece has to be looking in the two weeks it's listed.

Most traffic is on the weekends so that really only 4 days to sell something. Of course, it's had a negative effect!

If you are selling weapons and armors for aroung 1k, I take it that those are items for other players to fill their sticker-book (collection) or to use them to learn traits? If so, then it is only natural that sales will drop over time. The collection is account-wide and more and more players do complete it, which leads to fewer players needing to get such items. Also, if a player has one char with all traits researched, that player will be able to craft items for researching on their own.

I've been doing the low-end armor stuff for years just finr, this is the first time for a drop-off. Hmm, maybe something changed...

Sluggy

Some of this is simply because a portion of the players don't care to spend on the prices they see anymore. I haven't changed my playstyle habits since I started and with prices like 20k for a single temper or 10k for a kuta I simply can't afford to buy that kind of stuff anymore. So I stopped buying and stopped making and upgrading new gear.

If I really do need something then I just plan it out a bit, spend a little time going through the thousands upon thousands of surveys I have hoarded on a single character, and earn the mats that way. It's a better use of my time than trying to farm up the gold to buy the mats. I'm sure I'm not in the majority here. But I'll bet there's enough people like me at this point that's its having an effect on the bottom line.

Casdha

I myself love the drop in prices, I spent 2 million in gold yesterday just going around and buying unknown motif pages but I set myself a limit, I only bought the ones I needed that were at or below 10k unless it was the last page I needed and I would go up to 15k. I think I completed 5 or more motifs that I hadn't collected.


Why that limit? because I know that almost all prices will come down eventually as the market gets saturated, I just need a little patience. That will happen eventually even with hoarding sellers ( like I used to be) because as the game goes on you just get more hoarders to compete with. I myself hoard because I don't like destroying things, I have a mule for just about every type of item in the game (with full inventories) from motif pages and consumables to Recipes and Furnishing plans. But even I have taken too selling all green and blue plans along with common motifs right back to the vendors because my coffers are full and I haven't been in a trading guild for years.

As for the daily reward thing, I've stopped making potions for my alts simply because I have so many taking up bank space because it is annoying to fill my bank up with bound items.

ShadowPaladin

MidniteOwl1913 wrote: »

I've been doing the low-end armor stuff for years just finr, this is the first time for a drop-off. Hmm, maybe something changed...

I too am selling armor and weapons. Thought, mostly the intricate stuff for leveling crafting skills. Heavy Armor and Weapons are still going as they did 1 or even 2 years ago.

Other items, which do still sell, are those from sets people do like and use (e.g. Mother's Sorrow).

Everything else depends a bit on the situation. If its an armor or weapon, which is not easy to get for the collection, it will sell most of the time. Random stuff - as far as I've seen - will only sell for the 500-1k gold (with luck). I think players who buy those things are trying to get their collections done as fast as possible.

SeaGtGruff

TaSheen wrote: »

belial5221_ESO wrote: »

Problem is not limiting anniversary boxes,or not limiting amounts of items in them.20 dragon rheum in a box is a bit much,when ppl getting hundreds of boxes a day.They need to limit daily craft boxes to one each type per account(like zenithar),and like 5 of each mats instead of 20 to start,would help reduce oversupply,and no demand.

No thank you. I harvest everything I run across while questing, yes. But the things that don't have a "farm node" (dragon blood, rheum; perfect roe - yes yes you can fish for it, but it works a LOT better for me to get a few here and there during these events), etc.

I NEVER SELL ANYTHING. I'm not running around undercutting anyone. I keep mats for my own use, I refuse to be bothered with traders as I find it a crap system overall. So your idea to cut my mats is NOT appreciated AT ALL.

I'm more or less the same way, except I do buy from guild traders on occasion, and I've also sold mats on rare occasions to players who post WTB messages in zone chat. But for the most part I (almost) never sell my harvested mats or looted gear, and (almost) never buy anything from guild traders.

TaSheen

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

TaSheen wrote: »

belial5221_ESO wrote: »

Problem is not limiting anniversary boxes,or not limiting amounts of items in them.20 dragon rheum in a box is a bit much,when ppl getting hundreds of boxes a day.They need to limit daily craft boxes to one each type per account(like zenithar),and like 5 of each mats instead of 20 to start,would help reduce oversupply,and no demand.

No thank you. I harvest everything I run across while questing, yes. But the things that don't have a "farm node" (dragon blood, rheum; perfect roe - yes yes you can fish for it, but it works a LOT better for me to get a few here and there during these events), etc.

I NEVER SELL ANYTHING. I'm not running around undercutting anyone. I keep mats for my own use, I refuse to be bothered with traders as I find it a crap system overall. So your idea to cut my mats is NOT appreciated AT ALL.

I'm more or less the same way, except I do buy from guild traders on occasion, and I've also sold mats on rare occasions to players who post WTB messages in zone chat. But for the most part I (almost) never sell my harvested mats or looted gear, and (almost) never buy anything from guild traders.

I was referring to selling through traders. I don't buy much - an occasional page for a master writ - IF it's available in Vivec, at under $20k. If not, I don't bother with the writ. I will even less occasionally buy gear for a new cp160 - if there's a set I want to use that's not crafted. Otherwise, it can be weeks or months between going to look for something at a trader....

AzuraFan

TaSheen wrote: »

I was referring to selling through traders. I don't buy much - an occasional page for a master writ - IF it's available in Vivec, at under $20k. If not, I don't bother with the writ. I will even less occasionally buy gear for a new cp160 - if there's a set I want to use that's not crafted. Otherwise, it can be weeks or months between going to look for something at a trader....

I'm very similar in that I mainly buy motif pages from traders when a master writ comes up, but I won't pay exorbitant amounts. I just destroy the writ.

I've never had a lot of gold (I think the max I've ever had is 2,000,000 gold). I'd buy more from guild traders if the prices were more reasonable, but most are exorbitant, so I don't bother. There's nothing I absolutely have to have.

I also have a craft bag stuffed with ingredients (I think I have 1k columbine, for example). I like harvesting as I explore, so I have no need of traders for ingredients. The only thing I seem to run low on consistently is platinum ounces, and that's only happened since the changes to jewelry crafting. But when I'm low, I just don't do jewelry crafting for a while until I've built up a supply again.

SeaGtGruff

I never destroy master writs, not even the old Jewelry master writs back before the tempering mats were converted. Granted, I had to hold onto many of them until I could craft them, but I never analyze the cost-to-reward value of master writs, given that I almost always use materials I've acquired on my own-- the main exception being rare trait mats that I don't happen to have at the time. Most of my purchases from guild traders are-- in descending order of frequency-- motif pages, rare trait mats, event style pages, Perfect Roe, and set gear I haven't collected yet (if there's a daily endeavor for deconstructing a certain type of item and I haven't acquired enough of that type of item during my daily activities).

Although I don't use guild traders very much and generally prefer to acquire things on my own and not sell them, I'm grateful there are players who do prefer to sell their unwanted stuff through the guild traders.

It would be interesting to see what types of players form the bulk of guild trader customers-- in particular, what percentage of the buyers are flippers who buy cheap and resell at a profit. I'm thinking that those types of buyers might make up a sizeable portion of the guild trader customer base, and that they may have cut back on their purchasing out of fear that it's going to be more difficult to resell within the shorter time period-- but that's just a guess.

Whatever the reason for the current drop in purchasing, hopefully things will pick back up as things stabilize.

tom6143346

I am trader myself and my tradings are still more or less the same I just sell a bit cheaper. Let’s be honest, most price where way to long way to high , bc of the summer they now drop to a healthy amount . Oc ink farming plays a little bit in , but overall it’s just normal. I still see people trying to sell far overpriced items in the zone chat. And that’s one of the problems. People just look in ttt and think that’s the price , but ttt is way to inaccurate. You can get away with ttt prices maybe in a major tradesperson but not every where. Most items I see , are just not worth what seller want for it. I had to learn this lesson myself.

tom6143346

And the people that now scream , it is to much this and that in the anniversary boxes, I ask why ? It’s not. Players should have the chance to earn most of the stuff they need during playing the game and events, and not by buying overpriced mats from traders. I think dragon rheum and dragon blood prices are now in a way healthier spot then they where before.

I_killed_Vivec

tom6143346 wrote: »

And the people that now scream , it is to much this and that in the anniversary boxes, I ask why ? It’s not. Players should have the chance to earn most of the stuff they need during playing the game and events, and not by buying overpriced mats from traders. I think dragon rheum and dragon blood prices are now in a way healthier spot then they where before.

I'm not so sure.

I'm a master angler, I fish a lot, I enjoy it. At the start of the year I had 5 perfect roe. I guard them jealously, don't sell them, and keep them for when I really want to use them (and certainly not using 2 on a provisioning writ worth 40 points).

Now I have 35 - purely through event drops, I have yet to fish West Weald. At first when they started dropping I thought "That's nice", but as the event went on and roe kept dropping I started to think it was getting a bit silly.

If ZoS really want to control the price of items then instead of giving them away they should increase the drop rate. That way everyone is happy: farmers get more drops for their efforts; buyers benefit from a less rare resources; players who just want to fulfil their own needs and aren't interested in selling don't have to spend as much time harvesting.

But to just give roe away devalues the time that people spent trying to get it.

And roe is just an example, this applies to all the rare drops - increase the temper drop rate from processing raw mats; increase the drop rate on rare motifs and patterns; even increase the "double up" opportunity on herbs - instead of just giving everything away.

Above all, it seems to me that it is only fair that the increase applies to the activities that produce the mats - so that you are rewarded for doing something, rather than being rewarded for turning up.

Luthivar

h9dlb wrote: »

They broke the economy and fewer people are playing since they brought in the changes

Steamstats (a broadly representative sample)

Month Avg. Players Gain % Gain Peak Players
Last 30 Days 13,766.5 -651.7 -4.52% 24,532
June 2024 14,418.1 +622.3 +4.51% 27,405
May 2024 13,795.8 -3,082.8 -18.26% 23,327
April 2024 16,878.7 +3,246.2 +23.81% 29,898

Dunno where you get the decrease in player population from. I read that many players came back for the anniversary event in April and most of them left right after. In June some came back for the Zeal of Zenithar event and the new chapter and will most likely leave again. Still, there even is an increase in player population of 5 percent in comparison to March 2024, maybe due to the free-to-play event and huge discounts on the game collection.

oldbobdude

I’ve definitely noticed reduced volume. Gold mats, furniture mats still go quickly at reduced rate. But other stuff which used to sell just doesn’t move. I blame the reduced time the item can sit in the guild store. Don’t know about anybody else but if I have something that is returned I don’t relist it and I stop listing similar items.

tom6143346

A lot people buy now the scribs from the vendor wich can get super expensive if you own 20 chars and want have everything on all chars , therefore I don’t buy other stuff in the moment, especially when I don’t need new gear for raids or something comparable. There comes so much together at the moment, it’s impossible to say , that’s the only reason. But it feels not broken for me. Yeah the 14 days change sucks but it is what it is . With time prices will go up again just like demand will. It always will as long as enough people play the game.

MidniteOwl1913

I think that a decrease in players may have something to do with it but the decrease in listing time with no decrease in fees may have more. I know items I would have relisted I just don't now. I'm paying twice as much for the same listing time, so I'm more careful what I list and mostly just don't relist.

From a buyer's perspective, I buy things to fill my stickerbook, there is less selection. Some things I just don't see any of anymore. Niche sets mostly.

My favorite guild is struggling.

I wonder if ZOS' spreadsheets told them how many people were using listing as extra storage and if the chaos this change has made is in the end worth it.

Roxxsmom

Thought it was just me, or maybe the two guilds I belong to that have vendors. For the past couple of months, more and more stuff comes back unsold in the mail, and I've been steadily lowering my prices so they stay a bit below the ever-dropping "averages" provided by the add ons I use. I used to place items for sale for a bit above the "average" and most would sell within a few days, some almost immediately.

This seems to be true for all categories of items I sell--resources, recipes, motifs, furnishings, master crafting requests etc. It doesn't appear to be because the game itself is "dead." Seems like there are a good number of players on whenever I play.

manukartofanu

tom6143346 wrote: »

And the people that now scream , it is to much this and that in the anniversary boxes, I ask why ? It’s not. Players should have the chance to earn most of the stuff they need during playing the game and events, and not by buying overpriced mats from traders. I think dragon rheum and dragon blood prices are now in a way healthier spot then they where before.

Who is screaming where? People are just curious what is happening, because suddenly all that stuff looted during anniversary turned into a pumpkin.

SeaGtGruff

As far as rare mats and rare ingredients that dropped generously during the Anniversary event, remember that this only helps the existing players; newer players who joined ESO after the event ended will still need to fish for Perfect Roe or buy it from guild traders, just like usual. And a lot of existing players who got Perfect Roe during the event will eventually need more of it. Personally, I didn't grind event coffers the way a lot of players did, so it isn't like I've got Perfect Roe and Nirncrux coming out the wazoo the way some players do.

Araneae6537

It did seem that more rare material dropped than ever before during the Anniversary event — I got the first Aetherial Cipher I’ve seen in five years and and a friend got three, but of course now they don’t sell for even half what they did before. I think the current state of the market is all the drops during Jubilee combined with double-drop and other events followed by people wanting to cash in on their good fortune and then a spiral of panic selling as prices dropped, which pushed then still further. I think that the prices of rare materials with more than single use (ie, dreugh wax and perfect roe rather than aetherial ciphers) will recover in time, unless another event drops significant materials prior to next Jubilee, but it may be a very long time before prices are again anything like last year’s. It may take another new class or meta gear being introduced for demand to rise that much.

One thing that I suspect is overestimated in its effect is players farming for ink. If players weren’t motivated to pluck columbine off the ground rather than pay 3.5-4k per flower, I can’t see them motivated to start farming now just for a chance at occasional ink drops.

TaSheen

I didn't get much in the way of "rare" this Jubilee. Not nearly as much as the last 3 years or so....

Arrodisia

JHartEllis wrote: »

The guild trader system has run its course and is less and less usable as more trader locations and more items are added with each update. The saving grace was the liquidity from a robust gifting system, and that's been mostly removed to combat the fraudsters. It's very much time to add a parallel trading system that is "pull" oriented instead of "push" oriented.

I don't agree with 'guild traders having run their course' completely. However, I do think.The devs should consider possibilities for tweaking some aspects of how bidding functions. Adding a fleshed out guild system, which encourages and rewards players for engaging with active guild play and working to obtain common goals could help.

Besides that, some changes could also include, but not be limited to, member capacity and bank space increases with multiple tabs. 500 spaces isn't enough for 100 players much less 500.

I saw some complaints about bids being higher and tax income from sales being lower. The devs might want to be removing and changing some problems in the bidding system for example ghost guilds amongst other things. The sole purpose of these inactive ghost guilds OP bidding is to blockade trader spots and drive bids exponentially higher, which active guilds could've and should've won. Had there been a mild activity requirement baked into the bidding process ghost guild bidding would become a much rarer occurance.

The 14 day sales reduction of the timer wasn't a popular change. It's an inconvenience. This change, coupled with less populated servers, has made the decreasing demand for items more noticeable.

In my experience, players log on and sub more when they feel they're getting their money's worth in content.

Will the game economy stabilise? Maybe. For that to happen ZOS must generate more interest for their game. Interest in the gaming industry is not generated solely by advertising and giving away free game play and items. It's generated by adding bar raising content more often, with a lot of QoL and with little performance problems.

Gamers will gravitate to games which are fun to play, receiving lots of love from their dev team. They rarely gravitate towards nor remain in a game, which is delivering less and less playable content and is plagued with bugs and/or bad performance.

The most impactful things ZOS could probably do, while attempting to reach such server activity, is add a massive, fully fleshed out area expansion each year, increase patching for QoL, bug fixes, and increase dungeons to 3 per dungeon DLC released, increase trial releases, add new weapons and classes, overhaul PvP for Cyrodiil( higher pop and without the bugs, recode it to perform better even if it means adding a separate instance shard or even instance server), add new BG'S and rewards.

A properly managed business can still thrive during an economic downturn. I'll just say it straight without beating around the bush. All businesses suffer setbacks. Get past it, reorganise and do what you came to do. Deliver the most engaging, fun packed, quality content the Elder Scrolls Online player base has ever seen. Positively shock and awe your player base, because that kind of delivery would be the true win for everyone on all sides of this issue.

vsrs_au

sarahthes wrote: »

I'm just waiting for guild trader prices to drop... but it's blind bidding so it's hard to know when it will.

... and I wonder how many guilds will be lost before that happens.

LPapirius

I'm a relatively new player in two "casual" guilds with vendors. Both guilds are saying they don't think they're going to make more than another week or two and hold their vendor. The guilds won't shut down, but they won't have a vendor any longer, which means that most of the players in the guild will look for a guild that does have a vendor.

manukartofanu

Arrodisia wrote: »

Gamers will gravitate to games which are fun to play, receiving lots of love from their dev team. They rarely gravitate towards nor remain in a game, which is delivering less and less playable content and is plagued with bugs and/or bad performance.

It is the most underestimated reason of the fall of the market and overall player activity.

CrashTest

Trading guild GMs really need to adjust and lower their requirements by half if they haven't already.

Bite the bullet and bid half of what you've been bidding. Tell your guild they might lose the trader for a few weeks as you try to find a new bid. I guarantee you that the 100 million+ bids are a thing of the past and any guild still bidding that high is going to go under because it's simply unsustainable.

BretonMage

manukartofanu wrote: »

Arrodisia wrote: »

Gamers will gravitate to games which are fun to play, receiving lots of love from their dev team. They rarely gravitate towards nor remain in a game, which is delivering less and less playable content and is plagued with bugs and/or bad performance.

It is the most underestimated reason of the fall of the market and overall player activity.

While that's not exactly false, it doesn't really explain why prices dropped almost suddenly after U42. I'm 90% convinced it is due to the item listing period being slashed.