First of all, some inflation is good. It keeps the market moving. The reason there are new items being traded, offers being made, and any "fresh-ness" in the market is because people think they can buy items low, and sell them high (or trade items and "trade-up" to a nicer item) through wheeling and dealing. If there was no inflation at all, the traders would stop trading to make a buck, and people with shitty items would be stuck, while people with good items would have less reason to trade or sell.
That being said, the inflated prices lately are really ridiculous. This is due to supply, in my mind. No, people are not deleting their looms...but there are less people playing than last fall. There is less on the market. The market has become sluggish, and shows early signs of solidifying. What keeps it moving now is (1)traders with patience who can wait for a sale or trade, and (2)"re-balancing" game mechanics (nerfs and buffs) that prompt people to sell or trade because certain items have become more desirable. There are also just those people who want to try different items for actual use, but that's a smaller percentage of of sellers and traders.
What can we do? It's impossible to really regulate a market like this...and deflation would be very bad (because people would not sell or trade at all, risking a loss). One easy step would be to allow people to offer gold with their trades, instead of just demanding gold. This will be a shot in the arm for the market as people can really express the trades they want to make. This has been suggested a couple times...it needs to be put in! It's the easiest, most practical thing to do in order to help the market and keep it fun.
Other tentative suggestions:
-Make selling loom points an "official" part of the market. Regulate a min/max price for the loom points only...this will help affect other loomed item prices, but not directly control them. It's like putting a soft cap on prices.
-Allow alts access to the market, rather than a sacrifice. This will bring more items in to play, and boost market vitality and movement....lowering or maintaining prices for a while.
