Trading with merchants instead of selling.

[Anonymous]

I think that NPC merchants should be willing to trade you an item at a higher value than what they would offer you in coin for the item you are trading.

Example:  A merchant is selling fruit for 14 coins each.  You offer tell some seeds and he will give you 6 coins for them.  You accept and he turns around and starts selling the seeds you just offered for say, 19 coins.

Now, assuming this guy marks his things up the same amount, why wouldn't he offer to trade you the 14 coin fruit for your seeds which he will turn around and sell for 19 coins?  If the markup is the same that means he would be paying more for your seeds than what he would have paid for the fruit.

Unless there is something I don't understand this seems like bad business.

The dwarf pays, let's say, 5 coins for the fruit.  You come along and offer him the seeds which he knows are worth more.  Why wouldn't he trade you the fruit he's selling at 14 coins straight up?  Its a win-win situation.

He's parlayed his 5 coins into 19 coins which is like a 14 coin profit.

Maybe I'm just not looking at it right, but I know in real life merchants who buy used items are always more willing to give you more value in trade than they will for cash.

[Gar]

I think it's simple.  The merchant has a certain markup on everything he sells.  What you're esentially asking is why doesn't he give me 14 sids (the equivalent of the fruit) for my seeds?  Well, he only pays you 6.  

You see, he makes profit of 13 sids on the seeds and a profit of 9 sids on the fruit (14 - 5 in your example).  The merchant wants to make a 22 sid profit on the two transactions (13 + 9).  I believe you are trying to link the two transactions together but the merchant sees them separate.

[Anonymous]

I see your point, and you might very well be right, but why are merchants in the real world most always willing to give you more if you trade in items for store credit versus cash?

I'm not asking for a merchant to trade me a pair of 200 coin gloves in exchange for a helm he would sell for 210.

But I know places that buy CDs will typically give you 20% more in store credit than they will in cash.

Look at the flip side, that merchant who wouldn't trade the seeds is now out of pocket for 10 coins instead of 4 coins and they have 2 items to sell instead of just one.

[ashyom]

Because it's Zalanthas, and it's gritty, harsh and unfair?  

If you feel this system needs tweaking, feel free to write the mud with suggestions on how to improve it.
Ash

[Gar]

Stores give credit mainly because they have agreements with the manufacturers to do so.  Also, it's a good customer policy.  As for the 20%, they want you to spend the money in the store, not walk away with the cash and spend it somewhere else (there are so many choices on where to spend your money here on earth).

I imagine that todays megastore retailer is not a good comparison to a shop in Zalanthas.  Heck, even a mom and pop store in todays society probably wouldn't be a good comparison.

[Gorobei]

It depends on the hypothetical dwarf's supply of fruit.  If he has an infinite supply, or can easily buy more for cheap, then it would be good business to trade as he'll always have another fruit to sell.
However, in the likely situation that he can't get as many fruits as he wants, then he can make more money by waiting for another customer who will pay full price for the fruit.

This is sort of confusing me, and I'm tired, so that might be flawed logic...

I see what CRW's saying and I like it and understand it. Many merchants are willing to offer you more in store credit because it guarantees that you'll be spending the money there, not walking off to spend it elswhere. Do they take a slight hit in profit vs. that particular load? Sure, but since they're moving things quicker, they see in increase in profit vs. time.

[Gorobei]

That's my point, perhaps they don't.  Fruit is relatively rare on Zalanthas, so maybe if they sell all the fruit then they're just SOL.

[Anonymous]

Because it's Zalanthas, and it's gritty, harsh and unfair?

That's not the point I'm trying to make.  Looking at it from the NPC seller's standpoint, is he better off buying two items and having to sell both to recoup his expenditures?  Or is he better off trading something cheaper for a more valuable item?

[Anonymous]

For that matter, why not sell things in bulk? Half-dozen and a dozen at the very least?