Ecto Prices - Guild Wars Forums

xnightmythx · Jun 24, 2006, 10:35 PM // 22:35

What drives the price of Ecto? Is it ppl trying to get their FOW armor? Or is it because ppl are using them to trade items over 100K?

Do you guys think it will ever drop back to 5-6K like it was a month ago?

shadowfell · Jun 24, 2006, 10:43 PM // 22:43

The magical acid fairies.

I have a few theories as to why ecto is currently so high. One is less crazy than the others.

A: People are buying FoW armor for existing, and new characters. Surplus of gold in the economy makes people think that paying, 8.5-10k per blob at the trader is "a.o.k" when in truth, it's ridiculous. It takes very few purchases at the merchant to spike the price considerably. As there is already fewer ectos, than say, monsterous eyes at the trader to begin with, hence the higher price.

B: Rich guilds have a surplus of ecto, from 1. buying ecto when ecto was down, and 2. from farming it. This leads to fewer ectos being sold back to the trader in hopes that the price will rise one more notch.

C: Rich guilds purposefully buying ecto from the trader in order to raise the price dramatically, thus selling off large quanties of ecto at 8.5-9, or whatever -1k is at the time, private. By spending a little money, you make more money in the long run. Kind of like people did with monsterous parts during FPE and now with the black dyes. Remember..It actually doesn't take as many ecto as you think, to drive the price up considerably.

...Eventually what goes up, must come down.

Doomlord_Slayermann · Jun 24, 2006, 10:43 PM // 22:43

The price is largely dependent on the price that the merchant sells/buys for. The price will usually be approximately centered between what a potential buyer could buy it from the merchant for and what a potential seller could sell it to the merchant for.

Now, merchants raise and lower their price based on how many people are buying and selling with them for a certain material, and not many people are trading ectos and shards with the merchant. This means that with a relatively small sample size the estimate that the merchant gives will not be extremely accurate and will fluxuate rather noticably over time.

So, basically we get our prices for materials from NPCs who don't really know anything about the prices to begin with. Brilliant!

Caleb · Jun 24, 2006, 11:08 PM // 23:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadowfell

The magical acid fairies.

I have two theories as to why ecto is currently so high. One is less crazy than the other.

A: People are buying FoW armor for existing, and new characters. Surplus of gold in the economy makes people think that paying, 8.5-10k per blob at the trader is "a.o.k" when in truth, it's ridiculous. It takes very few purchases at the merchant to spike the price considerably. As there is already fewer ectos, than say, monsterous eyes at the trader to begin with, hence the higher price.

B: Rich guilds have a surplus of ecto, from 1. buying ecto when ecto was down, and 2. from farming it. This leads to fewer ectos being sold back to the trader in hopes that the price will rise one more notch.

C: Rich guilds purposefully buying ecto from the trader in order to raise the price dramatically, thus selling off large quanties of ecto at 8.5-9k private. By spending a little money, you make more money in the long run. Kind of like people did with monsterous parts during FPE and now with the black dyes. Remember..It actually doesn't take as many ecto as you think, to drive the price up considerably.

...Eventually what goes up, must come down.

Choice C is ingenious! Maybe we will again see the trader at 12-15k per glob?

Darth Marth · Jun 24, 2006, 11:14 PM // 23:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caleb The Pontiff

Choice C is ingenious! Maybe we will again see the trader at 12-15k per glob?

0_0 When did that happen? Have prices ever been this high prolongedly? (I want my Fissure armor, and if I could save hundreds of k total by waiting for prices to recede, then...

)

Caleb · Jun 24, 2006, 11:43 PM // 23:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darth Marth

0_0 When did that happen? Have prices ever been this high prolongedly? (I want my Fissure armor, and if I could save hundreds of k total by waiting for prices to recede, then...

)

Not sure what the exact time frame was, I remember one of my sets of armor the trader was buying at 15k + and selling for 18k!

It was real high for awhile, then realllllll low. Now it's back towards the middle, let's see if it keeps climbing.

xnightmythx · Jun 24, 2006, 11:48 PM // 23:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caleb The Pontiff

Choice C is ingenious! Maybe we will again see the trader at 12-15k per glob?

I remember that. Ya never know. I think the cap is set at around 9.5K for ecto so that won't happen again. Still, it rediculous high considering FOW armor requires 105 of them.

Darth Marth · Jun 25, 2006, 12:07 AM // 00:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by xnightmythx

I remember that. Ya never know. I think the cap is set at around 9.5K for ecto so that won't happen again. Still, it rediculous high considering FOW armor requires 105 of them.

Yes, I've seen the max range from 8.5k to 9.5k. (Although they usually aren't sold between players for over 8k) If only I'd gotten into trading back when they were cheap.

They seem to be remaining quite steadily high, though. Anyone know just how many Ectos it takes to change the trader price?

jimmy_logic · Jun 25, 2006, 12:50 AM // 00:50

Do you want to try and see to find out for the rest of us? Then we can have our little revolution!!!!

Darth Marth · Jun 25, 2006, 12:52 AM // 00:52

Only problem is, if I buy too many, people will just buy from the trader and drive prices back up... It would have to be done gradually.

EDIT: What about Shards? Are they the same at the trader?

Fyre Brand · Jun 25, 2006, 02:15 AM // 02:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by xnightmythx

What drives the price of Ecto? Is it ppl trying to get their FOW armor? Or is it because ppl are using them to trade items over 100K?

Do you guys think it will ever drop back to 5-6K like it was a month ago?

No I don't think it will ever get that low again for a prolonged period of time. Ectos are still insanely cheap. Other than a couple weird game hiccups they haven't been this low this long.

A few things affect the price of ecto:
1. demand for fissure armour
2. the amount of people farming them in the underworld (and to a lesser extent the new tombs)
3. how many people buy and resell to the trader as opposed to individual players

The best thing for you to do is start hunting the Underworld and Fissure of Woe or other high end spots. It's not that you are likely to completely farm all of your ectos and shards but along with some of those dropping to you there will also be chests to open and the occasional rare drop. These will help build your cash base. Green farming is another option, but now I'm getting off topic.

Bottom line ectos are still pretty cheap right now.

Avarre · Jun 25, 2006, 02:31 AM // 02:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caleb The Pontiff

Choice C is ingenious! Maybe we will again see the trader at 12-15k per glob?

I miss those days

Don't remember why, but the prices went from 12->15k suddenly one day. It was quite saddening, because I was in the middle of getting FoW armor

Alias_X · Jun 25, 2006, 04:02 AM // 04:02

This is way overposted.

Darth Marth · Jun 25, 2006, 10:42 PM // 22:42

Update: I sold 17 Shards to the trader...no price change. I still have yet to try it with Ectos.
EDIT: And 11 Ectos don't budge the Ecto price. I think our definitions of "very few" are radically different.

Doomlord_Slayermann · Jun 26, 2006, 01:58 AM // 01:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ennes X

third post by doomlord is completely wrong. disappointing answer from someone who goes to a school as nice as UIUC

Very well, prove me wrong and I will admit that I am wrong. Otherwise, stop the random trolling.

Ennes X · Jun 26, 2006, 02:17 AM // 02:17

I dont have the time to give you a lesson on open markets. Look up the terms bid/ask/spread/arbitrage/speculation.

basically what i want to clarify the most is that the NPC is far from ignorant on ecto prices and is actually the most accurate quoter at any given moment of the bid and ask prices for ecto.

Doomlord_Slayermann · Jun 26, 2006, 02:25 AM // 02:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ennes X

I dont have the time to give you a lesson on open markets. Look up the terms bid/ask/spread/arbitrage/speculation.

basically what i want to clarify the most is that the NPC is far from ignorant on ecto prices and is actually the most accurate quoter at any given moment of the bid and ask prices for ecto.

Okay, care to justify it? My basic logic was simple statistics: insufficient sample size -> unreliable results.

Maybe I am wrong (I'm an ECE major dammit not econ) but just saying "You're wrong because I know more about it than you and because I say so." doesn't help at all.

Shaw Shank · Jun 26, 2006, 05:35 AM // 05:35

i remember when all the prices were reset and ecto and shards and even superior absorbion (when they were 100k) were going for 100g

Slainster · Jun 26, 2006, 08:43 AM // 08:43

well ive got a couple of ecto's laying about.. and im not after fissure armor, so maybe its a good time to sell, i held on to them when the prices were down to 3k..

Jun 24, 2006, 10:35 PM // 22:35	#1
xnightmythx Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2006	Ecto Prices What drives the price of Ecto? Is it ppl trying to get their FOW armor? Or is it because ppl are using them to trade items over 100K? Do you guys think it will ever drop back to 5-6K like it was a month ago?

Jun 24, 2006, 10:43 PM // 22:43	#2
shadowfell hamonite anur ruk Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Echovald Forest Guild: [PhD] Teh Academy Profession: Me/A	The magical acid fairies. I have a few theories as to why ecto is currently so high. One is less crazy than the others. A: People are buying FoW armor for existing, and new characters. Surplus of gold in the economy makes people think that paying, 8.5-10k per blob at the trader is "a.o.k" when in truth, it's ridiculous. It takes very few purchases at the merchant to spike the price considerably. As there is already fewer ectos, than say, monsterous eyes at the trader to begin with, hence the higher price. B: Rich guilds have a surplus of ecto, from 1. buying ecto when ecto was down, and 2. from farming it. This leads to fewer ectos being sold back to the trader in hopes that the price will rise one more notch. C: Rich guilds purposefully buying ecto from the trader in order to raise the price dramatically, thus selling off large quanties of ecto at 8.5-9, or whatever -1k is at the time, private. By spending a little money, you make more money in the long run. Kind of like people did with monsterous parts during FPE and now with the black dyes. Remember..It actually doesn't take as many ecto as you think, to drive the price up considerably. ...Eventually what goes up, must come down. Last edited by shadowfell; Jun 25, 2006 at 02:30 AM // 02:30..

Jun 25, 2006, 12:52 AM // 00:52	#10
Darth Marth Lion's Arch Merchant Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: USA Midwest Guild: Order of Celestial Guardians II [OCG] Profession: Me/Mo	Only problem is, if I buy too many, people will just buy from the trader and drive prices back up... It would have to be done gradually. EDIT: What about Shards? Are they the same at the trader? Last edited by Darth Marth; Jun 25, 2006 at 01:13 AM // 01:13..

Jun 25, 2006, 10:42 PM // 22:42	#14
Darth Marth Lion's Arch Merchant Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: USA Midwest Guild: Order of Celestial Guardians II [OCG] Profession: Me/Mo	Update: I sold 17 Shards to the trader...no price change. I still have yet to try it with Ectos. EDIT: And 11 Ectos don't budge the Ecto price. I think our definitions of "very few" are radically different. Last edited by Darth Marth; Jun 26, 2006 at 12:27 AM // 00:27..

Jun 24, 2006, 10:43 PM // 22:43	#3
Doomlord_Slayermann Jungle Guide Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Chicago IL Guild: Dark Phoenix Risin [DPR] Profession: W/P	The price is largely dependent on the price that the merchant sells/buys for. The price will usually be approximately centered between what a potential buyer could buy it from the merchant for and what a potential seller could sell it to the merchant for. Now, merchants raise and lower their price based on how many people are buying and selling with them for a certain material, and not many people are trading ectos and shards with the merchant. This means that with a relatively small sample size the estimate that the merchant gives will not be extremely accurate and will fluxuate rather noticably over time. So, basically we get our prices for materials from NPCs who don't really know anything about the prices to begin with. Brilliant!

Jun 25, 2006, 12:50 AM // 00:50	#9
jimmy_logic Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Sep 2005 Profession: R/	Do you want to try and see to find out for the rest of us? Then we can have our little revolution!!!!

Jun 25, 2006, 04:02 AM // 04:02	#13
Alias_X Desert Nomad Join Date: Apr 2005	This is way overposted.

Jun 26, 2006, 02:17 AM // 02:17	#16
Ennes X Academy Page Join Date: Nov 2005 Guild: Teh Outsiders [xxxx]	I dont have the time to give you a lesson on open markets. Look up the terms bid/ask/spread/arbitrage/speculation. basically what i want to clarify the most is that the NPC is far from ignorant on ecto prices and is actually the most accurate quoter at any given moment of the bid and ask prices for ecto.

Jun 26, 2006, 05:35 AM // 05:35	#18
Shaw Shank Banned Join Date: Sep 2005 Guild: Barons of Bikini Bottoms Profession: Mo/W	i remember when all the prices were reset and ecto and shards and even superior absorbion (when they were 100k) were going for 100g

Jun 26, 2006, 08:43 AM // 08:43	#19
Slainster Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Feb 2006	well ive got a couple of ecto's laying about.. and im not after fissure armor, so maybe its a good time to sell, i held on to them when the prices were down to 3k..