Months of planning and materia melding has led to this moment; it’s the start of the first quarter in the markets – and this season is proving to be more turbulent than last cycles. Here’s a breakdown for you about what’s new and what still needs work.
Market prices were projected to be high, experts are right
With recent rumors circulating about the opening of the western continent Tural to trade, and the release of patents for private use from North of the Jade Sea, the Market Board was flooded with the first batch of high-quality furnishings early this morning. Asking prices are ranging from 78,000 to one million gil, per furnishing. For freelance crafter Berke Ejinn, these raised market prices are an opportunity to jump on, both as a crafter and gatherer.
“With the markets as they are, it’s more prudent to do a bit of reclamation rather than buying materials from the board,” Ejinn said. “I’m also no stranger to picking up an axe and felling a tree or three if I really need some new lumber. So until the market improves, I’ll be gathering my own materials – whether from the wilds or from the scrapyard. I have sold a few things for a higher price recently, though. Nothing special: a rocking chair I made, some side tables, and a garden bench.”
Inflation bubble yet to burst, but it won’t be long
Marketboard inflation has seen a roughly 25% increase since the end of the Dragonsong war in Mateus county alone, causing an irregular market spike and drop. Documented by Universalis, a Market Board data tool used to collect information on all items that have been sold at auction, financial quarters begin with a boom of high inflation which starts plummeting as the law of supply and demand evens out the price – leading to aggressive tactics by crafters and merchants who survive off the Market Board in the first week.
Sometimes, items on the market drop by hundreds of thousands in less than twenty hours.
The most common form of market manipulation is undercutting; where multiple sellers watch for updated prices, more supply is added to the stock at a lower price, causing a chain reaction of other sellers also lowering their price-point.
One of the most critically undercut furnishings in the last cycle was the indoor marble fountain, which originally went for over 12 million gil at patent release. Now, a cycle later, the fountain retails for less than 10% of its original value at 120 thousand gil.
Undercutting has led to market crashes in the past cycles, on top of tanking the price to its market median. Total buyout and reselling is a top-choice for high profile merchants who wish to avoid the undercutting bloodbath and can afford to run the board. Merchants, like secretary-general Raelys Runefeather of The Iron Consortium, who works off commission tailoring fine attire.
“Regarding the economy… I’ll always be buying and selling,” Runefeather said. “A commodity that’s finite – and very personal – is time. For me, it takes much less time to have the capital to simply buy the materials one needs. That allows me to focus on the part I like best – crafting.”
Trends to be on the lookout for
The market value of some items at offer are still yet to be determined today, specifically the new patents out of the Garlean Empire, Magitek service stations. These stations serve as recharge units for magitek based items that require ceruleum, which were previously impossible to buy on Eorzean markets.
Now, the market shift toward Garlean technology is expected to only grow in the coming cycles as more refugees from North of Abania will bring magitechnology into Eorzea’s workforce – which will need charging stations like those on the Market Board to sustain their battery.
“I think it’s great. I absolutely want to see more and hope to,” Garlean ironworks engineer Cassia Laurentius said. “It seems entirely likely … all things considered.”
For flourishing crafters looking to earn quick gil, striking while the iron is hot – is now. While market prices are starting to substantially drop, day-one investors are still buying and the demand will only rise as the price point lowers. You can stay up to date with county-specific market trends with the Crystal Chronicle News covering all things Eorzea Financial.
