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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nightson" data-source="post: 5816781" data-attributes="member: 61515">The economics of magic items suffers from three things that make it really weird compared to modern economic counterparts.1.  Magic items never degrade.  Put on magic fullplate, get hit ten thousand times, dunked in acid, scorched by fireballs.  In 4e, it's the same as when you bought it.  In Pathfinder it might have taken hp damage (but probably not given most DMs) but even if so magical repair is very easy.Obviously in our world, we can't cast a cantrip to make sure the car is back to working in perfect condition.  This would significantly increase the resale value of magic items.  Alternatively, the GM could implement a durability system that very slowly degraded magic items.  The first option is more to my liking, but tastes may differ.2.  There's no steady stream of better models coming out.  This is something that we as a modern society generally expect.  Look around you, how many things will there be no new model or type to buy ten years from now?  Heck, how many things can you spot at hand that will have a newer, slightly better version out every year (you're reading this on one).Magical items don't work like that by the rules.  Nobody is tweaking the spellwork on flaming swords to make them just a bit hotter without melting the steel, a flaming sword is a flaming sword whether it was made a hundred years ago or yesterday.  In fact in a lot of fantasy, the idea is of a more magical, stronger past then the current time.  It's possible the thousand year old flaming sword should be more potent flavorwise then the one made yesterday.This will again, probably increase the resale value of most magic items.  If you buy that flaming longsword off that adventurer, you're not going to have a customer turn their nose up later because it's an old model.Although, choosing to let things advance like the modern world could be hilarious too.  "Ahh, you'll want the Pyrus Mark VII Flaming Sword, it's nearly twenty degrees hotter then the Mark VI with a 36% scorching increase!" 3.  Magic item economics doesn't take demand into account.  A +1 Axiomatic Whip and a +1 Keen Longsword are the same price when you try and resell them.  This is because trying to create a demand value for every magic item combination in the book is simply impossible, it's not the fault of the developers that this isn't in the rules.It's not really feasible for one GM to come up with listings for every possible item either, but what the GM can do is eyeball a value for all the magic items that actually show up in game.  This can give a rather potent in game reason for the resale value being lower which I think most players would instantly understand.  But by the same token, items which would be pretty desirable, simple +1 longswords, wands of cure light wounds, etc. should have a higher then base resale value.Of course, a lot of GMs don't want to fiddle with the economics of the game because the economics of the game aren't really economics, they're guidelines for what gives a balanced wealth according to level such that the party can't get resources that unbalance combat encounters.The easiest way to not have a problem with that is to have players who look at a hundred thousand gold surplus and reach for the stronghold builder's guide instead of the magic item lists.  Most players who complain about resale prices are just complaining in the natural way all humans do about something which isn't 100% in our favor, having something to gripe about can be a good, fun thing.</blockquote>

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