Ok it is not evil merchants, it is magical physics

[Particle_Man]

I posted earlier about evil merchants selling goods for full price (or a little more) but only taking 20% off.

But now I see that even if the PCs drain the items for residuum, they only get 20%.

The assumption: The merchants are doing just that, and then using the residuum to build what their customers want.

So now I don't feel as bad about it. It is not so much bastard merchants, as merchants going "I can't sell that item as is, but I can strip it for parts" which I am more comfy with, somehow.

It does mean that magic item creation/uncreation is a rather inefficient engine, but that's entropy for you.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

I think that is intentional. The idea being that the DM tailors treasure to the party's needs, rather than handing out 15 +1 guisarmes that nobody can use effectively.

It might create some awkward assumptions about the game world. Weapons above Heroic tier should probably exceedingly rare. 25+ items nigh impossible to find. If you can only create magic items of your level or lower, there probably have not been many creatures in the upper stratospheres of the level progression to create that +6 holy avenger for your paladin.

I'm not much for simulation myself, but to get around this concept I will probably do something like the Samurai's ancestral daisho from d20 Rokugan, where items and treasure can be sacrificed in a ritual to create the kind of effect one wants. I'm not sure exactly how that would work with the treasure packets recommended in the DMG. I think I would just give out the equivalent gold for appropriate magic items, and simply let characters create the weapons they want within the appropriate level ranges (an item no more than your level + 4).