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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Parlan" data-source="post: 4221558" data-attributes="member: 16808">Not to be pedantic, but the merchant is looking at a profit margin of 500% for magic items.(The legendary Berkshire Hathaway's pre-tax profit margin is about 16%)Item is worth 100Buys from adventurers for 20Sells to other adventurers for 90-150 (avg: 120)He just made 100 on a 20 investment.With those kind of profit margins, he can afford to:-Hire a couple of decent bodyguards-Bribe the barbarians/gnolls/bandits into letting him pass (hell, they probably need salt from him to preserve their food, their wives want brass buttons to sew onto their festival clothes, etc.)-Take a little risk that the Item is stolen/cursed etc.The merchant pays his bills by selling buttons/salt/scraps of silk to the villagers, but selling just one or two magic items would make a VERY successful year.Pushing it a bit further, City merchants might put Travelling Merchants on retainer-- "If you buy any magic items during your travels, I promise to buy them off of you when you return to City"They might even allow the Travelling Merchant to write letters of credit that the PCs could cash in at the City Merchant's shop. Travelling Merchant: "I don't have enough cash to buy this off you, but I tell you what, I'll give you a letter of credit at City Merchant.  You said you're going to City anyway, and he has some other magic items there. Since you have to wait to get paid, I'll give you 25% of Item's value instead of 20%."</blockquote>

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