I apologize, I was overly terse in my previous post. There is nothing in the text in 3.5 to indicate that certain items may cause problems moreso than others do and nothing to indicate that certain magic items should be available at the listed prices while others are not. Additionally, the natural reading of the text seems to be that magic items in general are available for purchase by default as evidenced by the fact that that seems to be the way that the majority of players and DMs who I have communicated with seem to do things. I've tried to improve on this somewhat by dividing the items by category and listing items likely to cause problems for the GM separately for special consideration. If you have any further insights about how I could improve my system I would be interested in hearing them. (And will try to be less rude.)
No worries. All is good.
Buying magic items in general as default is one way of doing things (and is neither right nor wrong). My experience has been more moderate, some DMs allowed it, while others didn't. Its a campaign building decision, much like allowing or not allowing certain classes. There is no guideline saying "watch out for this or that". Just trial and error, common sense, and other folk's experiences.
The main point I was trying to make was if you found pricing/inconsistancies among the flying items that seemed wrong, then take steps to fix it. Much like you are.
However, if I had found the pricing issues you found I would get rid of the items that made no sense. Perhaps Brooms of Flying do not exist. In otherwords, prune the items list until you get a set of items that increases in value, and in utility, making more sense for your campaign. I like fly to have duration, so most "always on" items either do not exist in game, or have to be discovered via quests or rp, at which point they have earned it.
I look at items the same way I do "problem" spells, they are dials I can tweak to get a certain flavor of game, OR resolve inconsistencies that bug me or my players.
A final example. Nobody alive in my campaign world knows the teleport spell. Legends talk of it, but nobody knows it. Now, there are one or two cities that have ancient teleport circles still active, so they became centers of trade and commerce. So in this campaign, any issues with readily available teleport never come up. In other campaigns we were teleporting all over the place, and the DM had to modify his style.
Full circle back to your pricing and magic items of flying. What you discovered about price and usefullness seems valid to me. Hence my suggestion, slightly modified;
Either remove items that make no sense in your buy/sell magic world, or change the price/rarity around until it makes sense, for you and your friends.
Long winded for a short answer.
