For those of you who have been wondering where all those motifs are coming from that people are charging exorbitant amounts of gold for...
Let me fill you in. (Because I wondered for a while too)
The night stands and dressers in the main towns, (in my case Daggerfall), have a chance of dropping blue level recipes and motifs. Some players have spent hours running back and forth between houses waiting on re-spawns to "farm" these motifs.
If you don't want to pay 500-1500 gold for something that you can get yourself, this could be useful information to newer players or players who didn't get an opportunity to play on the beta.
You may come across what I did, which is that every drawer and cabinet and chest was always empty due to these "farmers", but be diligent and try and get your own motifs and better level recipes!
Good luck and have fun!