Hey all,
I see all these topics out there that just make me want to cringe. I am talking the ones cluttered with caps, lack of description, tons of symbols ie=[!!!!????? etc etc].
This is not the way to go about making a marketplace topic and expect a serious response, it is however, a perfect way to make yourself look dumb and have people give you bad offers to no offers because of the way you carry yourself out on the marketplace.
This is a fine example of the kind of stuff I want to clean up -
http://forum.c-rpg.net/index.php/topic,13751.0.htmlI am hoping to change that with this guide, it isnt hard and doesnt take much time to get the hang of it but if you follow this, then you too can have a professional looking trading topic to get what you desire, and maybe even more!
So lets get started!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Known marketplace bugs, read this before putting ANY item on the marketplace
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There are some bugs on the marketplace that will utterly screw you over in a matter of seconds. Here are the ones I know about
Do not for any reason use a period or comma in your gold prices when posting it on the actual marketplace
Prices like 1,200,000 will read only as 1 gold, meaning that masterwork will get snatched by someone who sees it before you even realize what you did. Use straight numbers, like if you are selling an item for 800,000 take that comma out, you want to put it down for 800000 or else it will cut off at the comma and post on the actually marketplace for 800 gold.
If you are heirlooming an item that you have on the marketplace, remove it before you retire
The reason for that is if you have a +2 swrod on the market for 700k gold, when you heirloom it, that item will stay on the market as a +3 sword for 700k gold and more than likely someone will buy that from you
If you know of any more bugs PM me so I can add them to this section
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Your topic title
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The topic title can be what makes or breaks it if someone even bothers going in. I see a lot of topics with caps symbol spam and just are not clear at all. If you are going to sell it for gold, or trade it state so in the topic.
Lets say we are trying to sell a Masterwork German Greatsword. There are many ways of putting this, you can say +3, Masterwork, x3, but I think the best way you can do it (if it fits with whatever else you are putting in the topic) is Masterwork. If not, +3 along with the item names is fine.
Try to avoid using abbreviations if you can, hell there are even some parts where I have no idea what a +3 LAS or +3HRS or +3 KHS mean.
The topic title should look like so:
Trading or selling a Masterwork German GreatswordIf is are more than that, that is when I see it fit to use +3
Trading or selling +3 German Greatsword, +2 Long Hafted Blade, moreYou see the part where I put more? That can help draw people inside your topic wondering what more could possibly be. Not granted that they will buy or trade for it, but it will give your topic views, bumps for offers and such to draw focus on yours.
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Your topic body
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Now of course, what lies within the body is just as important as the title of the topic for what you are trying to trade or sell. This is where picture in lining comes in handy, as well as coloured fonts to just make everything look nice and professional.
You have to make it clear what you want, which could be anything, but also be sure to put things you dont want (if the case calls for it) just so you dont get flooded with the latest crappy looms that just got dumped and you will see plenty of.
Lets say we are are building the topic body for that Masterwork German Greatsword and Long Hafted Blade.
It should look something like this imo, and I see a lot like this but it should start to become a standard. This way, people know what they are exactly getting, what it looks like, and stats so you do not have to answer everyone who asks those questions.
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Hi guys, I am selling off or trading my Mighty German Poleaxe and my Reinforced Cased Greaves. PM me or post here what you have to offer and I will get back to you as soon as I can! Thanks for looking!
For the German Poleaxe I would like:
+3 Two handers
+3 Polearms
+3 Armours
- Possibly some gold
For the Cased Greaves I would just like some other foot armour, nothing else please
visitors can't see pics , please
register or
loginMighty German Poleaxeweapon length: 131
weight: 3.3
difficulty: 16
speed rating: 91
weapon length: 131
thrust damage: 31 pierce
swing damage: 45 cut
slots: 2
Can't use on horseback
Bonus against Shield
visitors can't see pics , please
register or
loginReinforced Cased GreavesWeight: 3.5
leg armor: 43
difficulty: 15
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Now, I am not saying every single topic should be a clone of this. It is just a starter on how to get a nice trade topic going, presenting everything in every detail and informing those who are reading what they will be getting and what you want.
I got the images for the items straight from the crpg website, visit your character page, click equipment, find wherever the pic of the item you are selling ed, and click the pic of the item to make it larger, than copy the address of that image. Click on visitors can't see pics , please
register or
login this button to embed it into the page, then what I like to do is use the colour codes from the marketplace itself in the item's name (Dropdown menu that says change color, I used purple for +3 items, blue for +2 items and green for +1 items) before giving it the stats.
Lets take this topic again for example -
http://forum.c-rpg.net/index.php/topic,13751.0.htmlIt just looks like a child wrote it and people will treat you as such if they look like that, i am seeing less of those topics as time goes on but I figured I should write something as some sort of guideline for a marketplace selling/trading topic so its all organized and is aesthetically pleasing to those who stumble on it.
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Other tips and tricks
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Always do a search on the buy board before making a sell/trade topic. I have found that there is someone always looking to buy what you have, and you have a somewhat better rate of getting a better deal for you in the end because if they wanted the item bad enough to make a buy topic, then they just may give you a good offer on the item you are getting rid of.
I am not however, talking about those "Buying all heirlooms" topics, those are people who are buying them to help you get rid of something when you just cant get rid of it, they offer you a low gold offer or item offer so they can use your item to profit them. There is nothing wrong with that at all, but if you are looking to get the most out of what you have then try those as a last resort effort.
It also never hurts to leave your steam info in your sales topic, people can get ahold of you faster and talk to you live rather than a message back and forth on the forums messenger system. It is not always a choice because not everyone uses steam, you can also always arrange a meeting on the IRC chat by clicking the chat button on the upper right of the boards (you will see the large chat button). User beware, the person you might be talking to on IRC might not claim who they say they are, so it never hurts to get some sort of validation from them on who they are before talking business (especially when buying and selling heirloom points)
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Finishing
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Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you have learned something from this. You can always feel free to message me on the forums at any time, I am also on IRC most of the time. I will update this guide as I see fit so check back sometimes, you may learn a thing or two!
Good luck out there traders.
