Selling loot?

[Jon_Dahl]

The rules of selling loot are not unclear, but I'd like some opinions how could you potentially increase the profit and the limitations of selling loot.

#1. Available currency
Generally dealing only with gold pieces drains them from the merchants, leaving them with only silver and copper pieces (and some pp's). I have been considering that from now on, merchants will pay 50% in gold and 50% in silver for smaller loots. If the loot is really expensive (like hundreds gp's) than it's more like 50% gp's and 50% platinum pieces.

#2. Finding a buyer
Players could find a buyer themselves, but they would invite the wrath of local merchants and also craftsmen of that particularly item(s) that they are selling. Merchants fight for their corner of business and craftmen don't want crappy stuff to be sold, otherwise the reputation of local good would plummet. However, by finding a buyer you could get almost full price for the item.

#3. Certification
Craftsmen Guilds can provide certificate of authencity for the item, but they will demand a high price for non-guild members. However, after this craftmen will forgive you for the selling the item. Uncertified goods will be only bought by merchants and the half-price rule applies. Uncertified good where the authencity is hard to prove, certification will be demanded even by merchants. And the whole process and expenses are on the seller.

#4. Friendly NPC-dealer
An established buyer - befriended by players - can help them in this process and take some commission. Such buyers will most likely sell some to merchants (half a price) and sell some directly to buyers (100% price).

Any thoughts?

 

[tlantl]

to start;


SELLING LOOT
In general, a character can sell something for half its listed price.
Characters who want to upgrade to better armor or weaponry, for
example, can sell their old equipment for half price.

This comes from the player's handbook pg 112.

Since there isn't any reference that I could find regarding selling magics I guess this goes for them too.

You could make selling gear an adventure in itself by having your players travel to large cities for trade. Finding a buyer could include any kind of dishonesty, theft, or misinformation.

You could set specific taxes on the selling and/or buying of magically enchanted gear.

I would assume that a merchant who is buying magics would use the largest denomination of coin they have. Perhaps these trades could include gemstones with a certain base value. unless you want your players rolling wheel barrows full of coppers around town, you might refrain from using low denomination coins when buying from player characters.

Then there are thieves and con men looking to relieve the players of their hard won goods and coin.

I would expect that using lower level gear as trade items to upgrade the gear they have would be the best way to keep large amounts of coin from being taken out of circulation.

BUT. What does it really matter? The only monies in actual circulation are those being used to outfit the players. Who else needs the money to be available? Once the players buy or sell the junk they collected there is no need to worry about the economy of an area. Perhaps the influx of coin causes the local economy to become inflated for a while but if it doesn't affect the players in any way then it doesn't really matter.

 

[Jon_Dahl]

BUT. What does it really matter? The only monies in actual circulation are those being used to outfit the players. Who else needs the money to be available? Once the players buy or sell the junk they collected there is no need to worry about the economy of an area. Perhaps the influx of coin causes the local economy to become inflated for a while but if it doesn't affect the players in any way then it doesn't really matter.

It does matter to the suspension of disbelief. If the world seems like a paperdoll, then it reminds the players that this just like a video game where the world only lives when they are around.

It would bother me as a player.

 

[HoboGod]

Eh, if your players are ever demanding a more realistic economy-based world, set a gold cap for any city they enter, such as all goods are items listed at under 1000 gold can be bought and sold in small hamlets, then set up a system of bank notes for currency amounts worth more than 100 platinum which can only be redeemed by nobles, royalty, or underworld black markets. Then to fast-track all the other variables involved in determining the price of any give item in town, have the player roll a search check while you roll percentiles. Add their search check to your percentiles and that's the percentage of the base price they'll get. For example, the player rolls a 15 for their search and you roll 63, then you find somebody that's willing to pay you 78% of the base price, that's a pretty nice find. If they don't like that price, they have to find another town.

 

[Dross]

There is nothing wrong with what you suggest, just some more bookkeeping.

I'd also include merchants using trade bars, other wares, letters rather than plain coins for higher priced items.

I do limit selling things to the normal limit of stuff you can buy in a town (if you could not buy a +3 sword here, you can't sell it here either), but that is generally for more exotic stuff. There are other payments than $$ anyway so it does not come up often.

 

[radmod]

#1. Available currency

I'm sure you're aware that p. 137 of the DMG addresses some of this. (I love the example of the the party depleting a town's cash reserves by selling 5 gems!)
Historically, metal pieces were valued by weight and then, later, also by purity. D&D gets rid of this with the simple expedient of a 1 to 1 ratio. Also, though, it was quite common for merchants to do large transactions with gems. That has becoming pretty common in D&D since it is a lot of weight carrying around various pieces (I think it used to be 10/20 pieces to a pound, but, IIRC, it's now 50 to a lb.)

#2. Finding a buyer
Players could find a buyer themselves, but they would invite the wrath of local merchants and also craftsmen of that particularly item(s) that they are selling. Merchants fight for their corner of business and craftmen don't want crappy stuff to be sold, otherwise the reputation of local good would plummet. However, by finding a buyer you could get almost full price for the item.

I'd be a bit leery of this. Merchant classes tend to think more of their bottom line than about anything else. Thus one could almost always find someone willing to buy or sell anything that gives them a profit.

#3. Certification
Craftsmen Guilds can provide certificate of authencity for the item, but they will demand a high price for non-guild members. However, after this craftmen will forgive you for the selling the item. Uncertified goods will be only bought by merchants and the half-price rule applies. Uncertified good where the authencity is hard to prove, certification will be demanded even by merchants. And the whole process and expenses are on the seller.

I'm not sure of this. Historically, merchants appraised items on their own, basing things on the material, where it was manufactured, etc. Just because so-and-so guild says it's okay may not mean anything to an individual merchant. Additionally, where guilds did exist, there was often competition among guilds and merchants about the quality of the merchandise. Some merchants simply would not do business if the merchandise was not approved by their 'pet' guild so as not to annoy that guild.

#4. Friendly NPC-dealer
An established buyer - befriended by players - can help them in this process and take some commission. Such buyers will most likely sell some to merchants (half a price) and sell some directly to buyers (100% price).

Sounds like "ye olde magic shoppe." I think this might be an unnecessary complication.

Overall, I applaud your efforts. Yes, it may require some book-keeping but you sound like the type who can handle it. Your players, though, may be reticent to follow your ideas ("who cares about buying/selling, I just wanna kill!"). Yet, at the same time, this adds a role-playing aspect and everyone always complains about the lack of role-playing. Just don't let yourself get bogged down in it. Unless you have a group who doesn't mind haggling over items, you'll likely have people complaining.

Good luck!

Any thoughts?[/QUOTE]

 

[Ogrehatescomputers]

I've had the groups thief seek out the local thieves guild and we've fenced items for more cash befor. Also the Merchantile background feet allows players to sell items for 75 percent as opposed to the usual 50 percent. But if I remember correctly it limits it to once a week. Hobogod is pretty spot on for what I like to do when DMing. Sometimes players are just going to have to travel far to sell something. My current game is in the middle of BFE and no one in the very small villiage can afford to purchase anything from the players. They are forced to use sending spells, teleports, etc... to fiind buyers and sell goods.

 

[jefgorbach]

I believe the 50% resale value presumes/implies the goods are in used condition so it seems reasonable that using Mend/etc to restore the item to original/like-new condition would restore its base market value to 100% (before other feat/etc adjustments).

Obviously not always an option, but consider transporting the items elsewhere which has a need/desire for the items in question, such as a major city rather than trying to unload in the local rural community/village which neither has a need or likely can afford what you're trying to sell. Whats common in one region might bring extra profit for being exotic elsewhere.

 

[krupintupple]

at lower levels, i'd be in for stuff like this. but i found that once PCs got to the 10th or so range, and had literally thousands of dollars of unusable junk, it tends to become easier if they have it appraised or carted off by the armful.

typically, i let someone pass a DC vs. Merchant guild they're selling to, and if it works, they get 60% instead of 50%. the "Merchant guild" DC is typically 20 + n, where n is a random number based on the size of the town/city/capital.

i dunno, seemed to work for me.