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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 4564416" data-attributes="member: 18280">I think that you absolutely right in terms of modern economics.  However, I don't think that most D&D games ought to simulate modern economics.I'm going to use comic books as a model, because I am co-owner of Golden City Comics in Toronto.  In the modern sense, a handful of old comic books are potentially worth a fair sum of money.  However, they are worth absolutely nothing at Radio Shack.  If you need something at Radio Shack, you would have to have a canny salesperson indeed to realize that the Amazing Fantasy #15 you are holding (1) is worth far more than the item you wish to purchase, and (2) is not a reprint.In the world of D&D, though, a sword is as valuable in Hommlet as it is in Verbonc, as it is in Waterdeep, as it is in Sigil.  Depending upon the condition of the gear, there are few places that cannot use arms and armour.  The local economy may make a big difference in the price you are offered -- trying to sell meh swords in Toledo, Spain, is simply not a good idea.It is difficult to imagine a D&D world where a sword or a suit of armour doesn't retain strong barter value.The earliest "money" we know of was made of clay, and contained images of the items that were represented by the "money".  "One cow" had, in effect, a stable value, even though two real cows are not always of equal worth.Likewise, in some worlds, guilds might set the range of prices for which items can be bought and sold within a precinct.  Then it becomes law that swords sold within the City of Greyhawk to the Swordmaster's Guild may be bought for X-Y gp, and sold by the Swordmaster's Guild for Y-Z gp.Back in modern times, if you brought Amazing Fantasy #15 into Golden City Comics, I simply wouldn't have the means to give you 20% of its book value.  That is one valuable book.  I would be happy to sell it for you, giving you 45% of the take at no risk to myself.  But a canny seller would use something along the lines of an auction house or ebay to capitalize on the book's value, possibly making far more than 50% of its cover.So, within the context of my own campaign worlds, going back as far as Holmes Basic, there are folks who will buy some gear at par, quite a few folks who will buy at 50% (many retailers buy from wholesalers at 50% IRL), a few folks who will pay over par for some reason (if you can figure out who they are, knowing those people is a "treasure" all by itself), and more than a few people who will pay less than 50%.....sometimes 10%.......sometimes paying thieves 10% when you say No......for what you are trying to sell.I actually find the "What are we going to do with this stuff?" part of the game to be fun, as player or DM.  When the lair of an ethereal filcher is located in my world, it is not so much filled with magic items as with the sorts of things that mundanely disappear, a lot of junk, and thousands of mismatched socks........amid which the treasure is waiting to be recognized for what it is.YMMV.RC</blockquote>

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