whitewolfpup
Admittedly, the dress up feature has grown. I have found animated items, which didn't exist in ye olden days. But, I was appalled that the site even seems to acknowledge it's own greed, with the gaia getting started thread advises "buying some GCash, buying an item, and selling it for profit" which only drives the problem. Back in 08, I bought a $10 or $15 Gaia cash card and now I feel guilty for propagating a problem - back then, it was only relevant once a month.
.
I don't think it works that way. Buy GC then an item(non gold gens) does not create gold. What is exchanged are gold already in existence and merely transferring between users (and getting less being affected by the listing fee).
Prices reach a certain level because that's how much people can pay for the items. If they didn't want to pay that much, the vendors will reduce their prices until they reach a new price where items start moving. What happened the last couple of years is people were given to get a massive and rapid method to get gold quickly and they have far more gold and can afford to spend more. Whatever items were around got bought quickly and vendors adapted and tried for higher prices. If the buyers could still buy them, then they try for higher prices until buyers can't then they start looking for a new level. However, gold generators kept coming and kept spewing out every increasing amounts of gold, so the buyers are able to afford the new prices, and the whole process just kept repeating until you see the levels you see now.
If you think about the art being sold on site. That takes no GC and yet the prices have exploded as well. It's really having that much more gold in the system and people being able to afford the asking prices, therefore, resetting the selling level each time.
Gold sinks help control the rate of inflation, but they are too few and too slow against the amount of gold being generated.
I don't think you are to blame for investing in a website you like. Buying low and selling high has always been the guiding edict of the market. (Ask Johnny Gambino) This even existed before Gaia Cash. The stage is just bigger.
I will include
this comment since it says it better than I did.