Magic Items and their resale value

[Zogmo]

It definitely gives the PC's much more incentive to use the disenchanting/enchanting rules. And that's work's just fine by me.

The whole "buying magic items" situation is not a good story element I think. Having to disenchant/enchant items and maybe barter them should help make them more rare, wondrous and meaningful as they are intended to be. Dumping magic for gold is empty feeling and not special. Magic sold and bought too easily cheapens the experience that finding/making something magical should be.

There are so many ways a PC can get gold that it really shouldn't be an issue if you can't sell it at full price. It's much more fun do dispose of it in a creative, story related way than just selling it I think.

 

[Sashi]

A +X weapon costs exactly 1/5 of a +(X+1) weapon. You can take any weapon and convert it into any other at the cost of a +1.

The enchant/disenchant rituals work exactly the same way (minus the cost of the ritual). It's a balance thing.

 

[ForbidenMaster]

A +X weapon costs exactly 1/5 of a +(X+1) weapon. You can take any weapon and convert it into any other at the cost of a +1.

AKA 5 levels. It essentially means that the only way you are going to get items above your level is by your DM giving them to you. I am not sure how I feel about that. I am so so used to magic items being so essential that not being able to pick what I want just seems wrong.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

4.0 is mathematics and balance foremost, and common sense/suspense of disbelief secondary at best.

Why they took this approach is up for debate.

Because it is a role-playing game, I presume.



My take on this is that magical items are hard to sell for a merchant. Yes, if he finds an adventurer interested in his +4 Flaming Longsword, that adventurer will gladly pay a big price for it.
But unfortunately, adventurers are rare and commonly very picky ("I am a Paladin, I want a Holy Avenger, nothing else!", "I specialized in Axes, what should I do with a frigging Longsword?" "I can't even sneak attack with this stupid sword!" "Excuse me? I already have a +5 Flaming Longsword!"
So the merchant sets a price that ensures that if he his carrying this thing for 6 months before finding a buyer, he will get something out of it.

Any magic item shop owner knows that he is offering a very specialized service, and that he can sell his stuff at a good price if it meets the demand of his (rare and picky) customers. It might seem like a rip-off, but you'll still gladly pay if this is the only way to get you a Portable Hole.

 

[Zogmo]

AKA 5 levels. It essentially means that the only way you are going to get items above your level is by your DM giving them to you.

Nah, it's not bad at all. It's the way I've DM'd for decades. Access to magic was always under my control and usually I customized the items to be very different from what players got used to seeing in the handbooks. It made them more desirable to my players because after playing for years the available magic items became too well known and boring. This way it stays fresh and exciting.

This method lets me make sure that balance is maintained and everyone was really happy with what they got since I catered to their particular likes somewhat.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

AKA 5 levels. It essentially means that the only way you are going to get items above your level is by your DM giving them to you. I am not sure how I feel about that. I am so so used to magic items being so essential that not being able to pick what I want just seems wrong.

The "treasure parcels" promise to get you some higher level items by default. This means that finding treasure is actually more rewarding then ordering or making a custom build armor or weapon.

This makes finding treasure interesting again. In 3E, you'd usually haul dozens to hundreds of low level magical items you'd never use, and then sell them to get exactly the item you wanted. From a pure wealth point of view, you might have lost 1/2 of the items value in the process, but as a 12th level character, what could you do with 12 +1 Longswords and a +1 Flaming Greataxe, 3 Potions of Cure Light Wounds, a Wand of Ventriligquismn (30 charges), a Scroll of Arcane Sight, 12 +2 Studded Leather Armors, 1 +1 Full Plate, 6 Ring of Protection +1, 6 Light Steel Shields +1, 1 Ring of Climbing, 6 Cloak of Resistance +1 and Gloves of Ogre Power +2?
Usually, you "won" money by selling such items, because the individual items you found where mostly useless. Turned into (half) their gold piece value, they suddenly could be used to get you the Belt of Giant Strength +6 you always wanted...

 

[pming]

My take on this is that magical items are hard to sell for a merchant. Yes, if he finds an adventurer interested in his +4 Flaming Longsword, that adventurer will gladly pay a big price for it.
But unfortunately, adventurers are rare and commonly very picky ("I am a Paladin, I want a Holy Avenger, nothing else!", "I specialized in Axes, what should I do with a frigging Longsword?" "I can't even sneak attack with this stupid sword!" "Excuse me? I already have a +5 Flaming Longsword!"
So the merchant sets a price that ensures that if he his carrying this thing for 6 months before finding a buyer, he will get something out of it.

Any magic item shop owner knows that he is offering a very specialized service, and that he can sell his stuff at a good price if it meets the demand of his (rare and picky) customers. It might seem like a rip-off, but you'll still gladly pay if this is the only way to get you a Portable Hole.

...or just steal it.

Seriously, it makes no sense no matter how you slice it. The easiest way for PC's to get 'around' this? Build a shop/store and sell their stuff to adventurers. All it takes is three of four "full price" sales...after all, they are merchants at this point...and presto! More money than you can shake a stick at.

But the other silliness is simply the fact that the rules assume that a PC has a MILLION GOLD PIECES OR MORE to buy items once he hits high levels. If I was a thief...or, well, *anyone* I'd rob a fricken merchant and make off with potentially hundreds of thousands or millions of GP's...and a swack of magic items to boot!

How the hell does a merchant protect his bajillions in coin and items? Seriously? Enquiring minds want to know!

 

[KKDragonLord]

I just want to see how are they going to explain that in the Forgotten Realms, where Magic item trade is so damn common that its even included in the economic map, and also its the very plan for Thay to get ahead on their world domination plans, there are even conclaves in Waterdeep and Cormyr

Other than that, Faerun was always filled with adventurers from mid to high level, and if making magic items uses Residuum then even Elminster would be interested in buying some +1 swords.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

...or just steal it.

Seriously, it makes no sense no matter how you slice it. The easiest way for PC's to get 'around' this? Build a shop/store and sell their stuff to adventurers. All it takes is three of four "full price" sales...after all, they are merchants at this point...and presto! More money than you can shake a stick at.

Yes. You can choose to become a merchant instead of an adventurer. But who will stop Orcus archpriests from laying waste to your nation?

Opportunity Cost -
- Make a ton of money
- Save the world and get the girl.

 

[Jedi_Solo]

I know there's a older thread on this somewhere, but I don't have the search feature...

There are quite a few real life examples of this. My recent one is with used video games. I recently traded in a bunch of old games for store credit and one of the games netted me $2. It was an older Xbox 360 game that had the instruction book and case and played just fine. Not many used Xbox 360 games sell for under $10 at this location (some, but not many).

Now, I have no doubt that if I looked I could find someone to buy the game for more than $2. I simply didn't want to bother with tracking down said individual, and even when I did find some one interested who is to say they would trust me (a complete stranger) enough to pay an amount that made the effort of the search worthwhile?

Used Text Books are another prime example and don't even start to look into the pawn market or jewelry for trade ratios better than 20%.

There is nothing stopping the players from holding onto something for a better price. There is nothing stopping the DM from making said search into an adventure itself.