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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JohnSnow" data-source="post: 4223020" data-attributes="member: 32164">Modern world. Modern economy. Modern markets. Modern concepts of equity. Modern population numbers. D&D is NOT a "modern world." It's a medieval world. An ancient one, to be sure, but it's no more comparable to the "modern world" than the latter is to Star Trek's moneyless future economy.At BEST, a D&D world (especially a PoL one) would resemble the economic conditions of the Roman Empire or Europe during the Renaissance.A good-sized modern metropolitan area is 500,000 people, or more. A GARGANTUAN renaissance-era metropolis (like, say, Rome) is 100,000 - maybe. Most "cities" have populations more like 10,000 to 25,000.Now, of that population, 90% are farmers or common laborers. That means all but 1/10th of the population is not going to have a snowball's chance in hell of affording your pricey object. So, in a Rome-sized metropolis, we're down to 10,000 people by just eliminating the poor and destitute. Now, we can eliminate another half as the lower middle class, people who are reasonably successful, but well below the ability to afford an object of the type you're talking about. Now we're down to 5,000 potential customers, which constitutes the soldiers, adventurers, wealthy, and nobility in the city. Now, of those, at least half still can't afford even a first-level magic item. So, now, before we get to an item the PCs can have at LEVEL 1, we're down to 2,500 people - 1 person in 40. Let's guess-timate that of those, 80% are probably uninterested in your gizmo for one reason or another - they don't like magic weapons, wands aren't their thing, whatever. Now, we're down to about 500 guys who can afford a 1st-level magical gizmo and might be interested in the one you have. These 500 guys mostly hang around in one section of town and hobnob with their friends.Assuming standard demographic fall-off of half for each level up you go, that means your potential customers for a 2nd-level item are 250 guys. By 3rd, it's 125. By 4th, it's 60 or so. By 9th, there's probably only a couple people in a city the size of Rome who are interested. In most cities, you can't move a 7th-level item. In most towns, you'd be lucky if you could sell a single 1st-level item.And who are they likely to buy from? Some scruffy adventurer they've never met claiming his sword is "magical?" Or Volo the Trader, who provided them with the silks for the outfit they wore to the Midsummer's Ball last year? And the spices for the feast. And the diamonds they gave to their paramour last winter...I think the answer's obvious.PCs aren't, by default, merchants. They don't have the connections to get anything like full price, because they're spending their time in dungeons killing monsters and taking their stuff rather than in cities going to balls and impressing noble ladies with their dance steps. And their coin greasing the paws of whoever controls a particular kind of trade.As I've said, you can absolutely make a campaign out of PC merchants. But in a pre-modern market, selling something just isn't as easy as it is with the internet and amazon. Did anyone of you claiming this would be "easy" ever try to sell something via the classified ads? Did it ever occur to you that THAT would be a vast improvement over the methods your D&D character has available to him?His options are more like what we can do at a swap meet, flea market, or a garage sale. And how far do you have to mark stuff down to move it at one of those? Honestly, letting the PCs get 20% is generous.For high-priced items, there's auction houses. And they'll buy for whatever you'll sell for.  I might allow a savvy PC to negotiate the merchant's offer up, just as I'd allow him to try to negotiate the sale price down.</blockquote>

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