Alexi_Jameson
Friendly Trader
<center>UNCOMMONS/RARES/LIMITED/DONATION ITEMS!
(Latest Full Update - Friday March 18th, 12:30 AM)</center>
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<img src="http://s01.imagehost.org/0371/Page_1.jpg" alt="This first page contains the full store list with locations, arranged by the store and location they are in. It contains an introduction to items as a whole on Gaia, as well as helpful links you might be able to use." border="0"><img src="http://s05.imagehost.org/0479/Page_2.jpg" alt="You are here. The second Page contain lists of non-store items such as uncommons, rares, event items, and donation items/letters. Prices and advice on investing are contained here."><img src="http://s04.imagehost.org/1226/Page_3.jpg" alt="The third page contains the entire female store items and salon list, complete with locations, thumbnails, prices, and previews." border="0"><img src="http://s03.imagehost.org/0608/Page_4.jpg" alt="The fourth page contains the entire male store items and salon list, complete with locations, thumbnails, prices, and previews." border="0"><img src="http://s03.imagehost.org/0608/Page_5.jpg" alt="The fifth and currently last page will be the page of tutorials, mainly on topics involving earning money at a faster rate than posting/lurking and on being a successful consumer of the products available on Gaia. Exchanging/Vending/Minishops/Art Shops and Auctions - all will be incorporated into the tutorials." border="0">
<img src="http://tinyurl.com/4z3ll" alt="Your one-stop Source for Full Commons Lists with Thumbnails, Previews, Prices for Non-Store Items, and Gaian Consumer Advice/Tutorials!" border="0">
(Latest Full Update - Friday March 18th, 12:30 AM)</center>
<center>
<img src="http://s01.imagehost.org/0371/Page_1.jpg" alt="This first page contains the full store list with locations, arranged by the store and location they are in. It contains an introduction to items as a whole on Gaia, as well as helpful links you might be able to use." border="0"><img src="http://s05.imagehost.org/0479/Page_2.jpg" alt="You are here. The second Page contain lists of non-store items such as uncommons, rares, event items, and donation items/letters. Prices and advice on investing are contained here."><img src="http://s04.imagehost.org/1226/Page_3.jpg" alt="The third page contains the entire female store items and salon list, complete with locations, thumbnails, prices, and previews." border="0"><img src="http://s03.imagehost.org/0608/Page_4.jpg" alt="The fourth page contains the entire male store items and salon list, complete with locations, thumbnails, prices, and previews." border="0"><img src="http://s03.imagehost.org/0608/Page_5.jpg" alt="The fifth and currently last page will be the page of tutorials, mainly on topics involving earning money at a faster rate than posting/lurking and on being a successful consumer of the products available on Gaia. Exchanging/Vending/Minishops/Art Shops and Auctions - all will be incorporated into the tutorials." border="0">
<img src="http://tinyurl.com/4z3ll" alt="Your one-stop Source for Full Commons Lists with Thumbnails, Previews, Prices for Non-Store Items, and Gaian Consumer Advice/Tutorials!" border="0">
<center>GCG Navigation</center>
<center>Page 1 (Intro/Full Store) | Page 2 (Non-store) | Page 3 (Female Store) | Page 4 (Male Store)</center>
Introduction to pricing and valuing items<---You are here
GCG Price Guide
-Uncommon Items (Prices, Genders, Sellbacks)
-Rare Items (Prices, Genders, Sellbacks)
-2003 Donation Letters/Items (Prices and investment advice)
-2004 Donation Letters/Items (Prices and investment advice)
-2003 Event Items
-2004 Event Items
-Other Limited/Hard to Attain Items
-Fish and Junk Prices
Introduction to pricing and valuing items<---You are here
GCG Price Guide
-Uncommon Items (Prices, Genders, Sellbacks)
-Rare Items (Prices, Genders, Sellbacks)
-2003 Donation Letters/Items (Prices and investment advice)
-2004 Donation Letters/Items (Prices and investment advice)
-2003 Event Items
-2004 Event Items
-Other Limited/Hard to Attain Items
-Fish and Junk Prices
<center>Determining the Value of a limited/donation Item</center>
Before you go out and buy or sell an item, I'm sure you want to figure out exactly what the prices are and what is a good deal, and what a rip-off is. In general, I have my own values in my head as to what the item-values are (and maybe I'll create a price guide) but for now, please reference the following places to get your prices.
<center>The price guides</center>
<center>(Images are taken from the Price Guide Sticky created by Relikk)</center>
These are the four most prominent price guides on the GAIA Exchange - three older and one newer. Each has their strengths and weaknesses, and I will outline my personal thoughts here for you. Each guide uses "proofs" for their prices, or otherwise links and screenshots that prove an item was sold for such and such amount. Please note that the price guides are just that. GUIDES. They do NOT create the prices, though they may influence them at times simply by being there. Also remember that your goal is to eventually be confident enough in your knowledge of the prices that you don't even need a price guide anymore!
<center><img src="http://www.mit.edu/~dcpete06/Lists/GEN.png" alt="Click to visit the GEN (Gaian Exchange Network) Price Guide!"></center>
Gen is the oldest and most-used price guide on the exchange. Even though it has a good reputation as the "original price guide," I see this guide as the worst Price Guide on the sticky. Don't get me wrong (I love some of the people in the GEN) but half the prices are blatantly wrong and most of the others are very close to being wrong, and quite frankly, I've lost all faith in that guide. The main problem is that there are fewer workers on the updators list, and thusly the updaters who are still around are constantly being overworked. Additionally, GEN calculates prices according to the middle prices they already have for items, and one small mistake can balloon into a huge problem across the board. Not as often updated as it should be, GEN is often-times wrong, most of the time underpricing items while it isn't updated and overpricing when it is in order to compensate for the lack of updating. The fact that people who don't exchange much or people who don't even come on Gaia because of a busy real life has destroyed this guide. It must be noted though that Aquafire did her best to improve the guide, and really has, most notably in reporting items from the same letter different prices instead of always reporting them the same just because they came from the same letter. Her recent modship has limited her influence over the guide, yet she still tries to work on it even now to help her successors.
<center><img src="http://www.mit.edu/~dcpete06/Lists/EVIL.png" alt="Click to visit the EVIL (Estimated Value Item List) Price Guide!"> </center>
The middle child of the three older price guides in terms of age, EVIL is known as the most controversial price guide out of three on the sticky but is also known as the most accurate and proven one to veteran exchangers. The prices they report are created from proofs, but some remain skeptical about the way they go about reporting their prices. They are also unique in the fact that they have a guild in which their entire guide is based, unlike other guides that simply have a guild for chatting. Araunah, the original owner of the guide, isn't around much anymore and so Dlastbird and Umaeril have taken the reins. Whatever the case, EVIL is notorious at having higher but accurate prices (normally) than other guides, and is one of the best staffed, with people who are able and willing to devote tons of their time as well as a less-stressful and complicated procedure of reporting. Take their prices with a grain of salt though, even though I strongly suggest you look at their prices. Though they are generally right, they aren't a perfect guide and are sometimes wrong about the prices of some items.
<center><img src="http://www.mit.edu/~dcpete06/Lists/SIN.png" alt="Click to visit the SIN (Seraphic Item Nexus) Price Guide!"></center>
SIN is the youngest of the three but this doesn't mean that its necessarily the worst. FelineOddity has taken the reins of the guide and has been doing renovations in order to improve it and make it more known. Recently, people have been using SIN more and more as an alternative to GEN. Its added features such as a price increase/decreasing graph seperate it from the other guides and serves to provide some interesting insight into investing. Its staff has now created a new thread in which they can update the prices more efficiently, with posts by said members for specific time-frames of donation items and letters. Though it is the youngest guide, its prices are more accurate than most people think as a whole. I don't particularly look at its prices much, because I'm an older exchanger who was used to simply having two price guides, GEN and EVIL, but do take a look at them sometimes when you are trying to get an accurate gauge on the prices. Their prices tend to be slightly off for the 2003 stuff but their 2004 items are pretty accurate.
<center><img src="http://web.mit.edu/dcpete06/www/Lists/GCG.png" alt="Click to visit the GCG (Gaian Consumer Guide) Price Guide!"></center>
The newest addition to the price guide sticky, and faced with some scepticism by people for intruding on the three original guides, GCG is becoming more used and known in the exchange. Headed by one user, instead of a group of users, the GCG presents an exchanger's point of view on the values of items. It has been noted by exchangers that the guide is more accurate than the others, though that can definitely change later. This price guide's methods are controversial, just like its sole owner. Since a singular user runs it, it has more flexibility to change, but when that user can't update, there is no backup person for updates. Additionally, the GCG neither uses or posts "proof links" which makes updates easier and faster, but calls into question the validity of the prices. Many users complain that GCG prices seem to be higher than the other price guides (much like they used to with EVIL) even though the owner states that the high prices are high only because they are accurate. However, many exchangers are becoming proponents of this guide and the exchanger who owns it has proven to be a successful one, which adds credence to the accuracy of the prices. As with all the other guides though, GCG is still a "guide" and should only be regarded as a guide with sometimes inaccurate prices, since it can't be updated all the time to match real market values.
<center><img src="http://graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/map/gambino_market.gif" alt="Click to visit the Gaian Marketplace (Vend)!" border="0"></center>
What are you looking at me funny for? The fact that I have the Marketplace in my price guide section? Don't be. The truth of the matter is, I tend to use the Vend (Marketplace) as my ultimate November 2003 through Present Day price guide when I'm not sure of what an item is worth at the moment. With easy numbers to view, a search feature that gets you any specific item you want, and affected by the minute with ups and downs created by supply and demand, the marketplace is extremely accurate if viewed over time. However, because it is a fast-paced scene where you have the raw data in front of you, you must have prior knowledge before going in to stand a chance of knowing what is a good deal and what isn't. A quick mind and an even quicker finger will get you far in the marketplace, but if you slip once, you stand to lose quite a bit. If you don't know the general marketprice for an item before going in, read the price guides, or come here and ask me what I think the prices are.
A note to those inclined to believe the marketplace no matter what: The higher priced the item is, and the fewer copies there are in the vend of that particular itemm the less accurate the vend really is. At 50K+, the items get really messy. Jacked Up Items from 2003 are notorious for being jacked up in the vend, no pun intended. So just take it all with a grain of salt and use your common sense. Remember that the items still in the vend are items that haven't managed to sell yet!
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</center>
With the installation of the Fish Market Subforum, located in the Gaia Fishing forum, the FISH price guide has been born. This guide lists all the fish prices that they can find and though I'm not sure on the accuracy of their prices, it is still a worthwhile guide to check out for prices. Time will tell if this guide is maintained well enough to be an accurate price guide for fish.
<center>The price guides</center>
<center>(Images are taken from the Price Guide Sticky created by Relikk)</center>
These are the four most prominent price guides on the GAIA Exchange - three older and one newer. Each has their strengths and weaknesses, and I will outline my personal thoughts here for you. Each guide uses "proofs" for their prices, or otherwise links and screenshots that prove an item was sold for such and such amount. Please note that the price guides are just that. GUIDES. They do NOT create the prices, though they may influence them at times simply by being there. Also remember that your goal is to eventually be confident enough in your knowledge of the prices that you don't even need a price guide anymore!
<center><img src="http://www.mit.edu/~dcpete06/Lists/GEN.png" alt="Click to visit the GEN (Gaian Exchange Network) Price Guide!"></center>
Gen is the oldest and most-used price guide on the exchange. Even though it has a good reputation as the "original price guide," I see this guide as the worst Price Guide on the sticky. Don't get me wrong (I love some of the people in the GEN) but half the prices are blatantly wrong and most of the others are very close to being wrong, and quite frankly, I've lost all faith in that guide. The main problem is that there are fewer workers on the updators list, and thusly the updaters who are still around are constantly being overworked. Additionally, GEN calculates prices according to the middle prices they already have for items, and one small mistake can balloon into a huge problem across the board. Not as often updated as it should be, GEN is often-times wrong, most of the time underpricing items while it isn't updated and overpricing when it is in order to compensate for the lack of updating. The fact that people who don't exchange much or people who don't even come on Gaia because of a busy real life has destroyed this guide. It must be noted though that Aquafire did her best to improve the guide, and really has, most notably in reporting items from the same letter different prices instead of always reporting them the same just because they came from the same letter. Her recent modship has limited her influence over the guide, yet she still tries to work on it even now to help her successors.
<center><img src="http://www.mit.edu/~dcpete06/Lists/EVIL.png" alt="Click to visit the EVIL (Estimated Value Item List) Price Guide!"> </center>
The middle child of the three older price guides in terms of age, EVIL is known as the most controversial price guide out of three on the sticky but is also known as the most accurate and proven one to veteran exchangers. The prices they report are created from proofs, but some remain skeptical about the way they go about reporting their prices. They are also unique in the fact that they have a guild in which their entire guide is based, unlike other guides that simply have a guild for chatting. Araunah, the original owner of the guide, isn't around much anymore and so Dlastbird and Umaeril have taken the reins. Whatever the case, EVIL is notorious at having higher but accurate prices (normally) than other guides, and is one of the best staffed, with people who are able and willing to devote tons of their time as well as a less-stressful and complicated procedure of reporting. Take their prices with a grain of salt though, even though I strongly suggest you look at their prices. Though they are generally right, they aren't a perfect guide and are sometimes wrong about the prices of some items.
<center><img src="http://www.mit.edu/~dcpete06/Lists/SIN.png" alt="Click to visit the SIN (Seraphic Item Nexus) Price Guide!"></center>
SIN is the youngest of the three but this doesn't mean that its necessarily the worst. FelineOddity has taken the reins of the guide and has been doing renovations in order to improve it and make it more known. Recently, people have been using SIN more and more as an alternative to GEN. Its added features such as a price increase/decreasing graph seperate it from the other guides and serves to provide some interesting insight into investing. Its staff has now created a new thread in which they can update the prices more efficiently, with posts by said members for specific time-frames of donation items and letters. Though it is the youngest guide, its prices are more accurate than most people think as a whole. I don't particularly look at its prices much, because I'm an older exchanger who was used to simply having two price guides, GEN and EVIL, but do take a look at them sometimes when you are trying to get an accurate gauge on the prices. Their prices tend to be slightly off for the 2003 stuff but their 2004 items are pretty accurate.
<center><img src="http://web.mit.edu/dcpete06/www/Lists/GCG.png" alt="Click to visit the GCG (Gaian Consumer Guide) Price Guide!"></center>
The newest addition to the price guide sticky, and faced with some scepticism by people for intruding on the three original guides, GCG is becoming more used and known in the exchange. Headed by one user, instead of a group of users, the GCG presents an exchanger's point of view on the values of items. It has been noted by exchangers that the guide is more accurate than the others, though that can definitely change later. This price guide's methods are controversial, just like its sole owner. Since a singular user runs it, it has more flexibility to change, but when that user can't update, there is no backup person for updates. Additionally, the GCG neither uses or posts "proof links" which makes updates easier and faster, but calls into question the validity of the prices. Many users complain that GCG prices seem to be higher than the other price guides (much like they used to with EVIL) even though the owner states that the high prices are high only because they are accurate. However, many exchangers are becoming proponents of this guide and the exchanger who owns it has proven to be a successful one, which adds credence to the accuracy of the prices. As with all the other guides though, GCG is still a "guide" and should only be regarded as a guide with sometimes inaccurate prices, since it can't be updated all the time to match real market values.
<center><img src="http://graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/map/gambino_market.gif" alt="Click to visit the Gaian Marketplace (Vend)!" border="0"></center>
What are you looking at me funny for? The fact that I have the Marketplace in my price guide section? Don't be. The truth of the matter is, I tend to use the Vend (Marketplace) as my ultimate November 2003 through Present Day price guide when I'm not sure of what an item is worth at the moment. With easy numbers to view, a search feature that gets you any specific item you want, and affected by the minute with ups and downs created by supply and demand, the marketplace is extremely accurate if viewed over time. However, because it is a fast-paced scene where you have the raw data in front of you, you must have prior knowledge before going in to stand a chance of knowing what is a good deal and what isn't. A quick mind and an even quicker finger will get you far in the marketplace, but if you slip once, you stand to lose quite a bit. If you don't know the general marketprice for an item before going in, read the price guides, or come here and ask me what I think the prices are.
A note to those inclined to believe the marketplace no matter what: The higher priced the item is, and the fewer copies there are in the vend of that particular itemm the less accurate the vend really is. At 50K+, the items get really messy. Jacked Up Items from 2003 are notorious for being jacked up in the vend, no pun intended. So just take it all with a grain of salt and use your common sense. Remember that the items still in the vend are items that haven't managed to sell yet!
<center>
</center>With the installation of the Fish Market Subforum, located in the Gaia Fishing forum, the FISH price guide has been born. This guide lists all the fish prices that they can find and though I'm not sure on the accuracy of their prices, it is still a worthwhile guide to check out for prices. Time will tell if this guide is maintained well enough to be an accurate price guide for fish.
