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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 1661353" data-attributes="member: 3146">I figure that this kind of thing is generally why PCs buy magic items for full price but generally sell for half price.For cheap items, they have to pay for an identify spell from a trustworthy source and whatever fees for the wizard or priest's time are necessary in order to have him either:A. Verify that said item is what he identified (often, wizards will use Arcane Mark to keep track of this).orB. Cast Identify again in the presence of the buyer and verify the powers of the item. (Obviously, this is expensive).For expensive items, people take more serious precautions like isolating the items to ensure spell durations wear off, casting dispel magic (just in case there's a Nystul's magical/antimagical aura), and even casting Analyze Dweomer (if you're spending 50,000 to buy a +5 sword some adventurer found in a tomb because you got suckered into a duel with Sir Lancealot and you need some serious magic weapons to stand a chance, the cost of Analyze Dweomer is well worth it).After tacking on the local taxes and excise fees (or bribes to officials to look the other way), buying the right people drinks and publicizing the fact that you've got a magic item to sell, it all comes out to about half.Admittedly, it's a rather limited economic model designed with only a couple factors in mind (1. People want to avoid being cheated by the really obvious exploits available to 3.x rogues and wizards 2. Players buy items at full price but sell for half). However, I think it's good enough for most D&D games.So, the moral of the post is this: shopkeepers don't just automatically take PCs' words; they take serious precautions to avoid being cheated. However, since this is Dungeons and Dragons not Contracts and Caravans (the game of Fantasy Merchantry aka Magic Item Tycoon), most of that takes place off-screen through the simple "Buy full, sell half" mechanic.</blockquote>

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