RuneScape:Wiki Post/Editorials/The Art of Merchanting

The Art of Merchanting
Written by: Enigma

Merchanting has been apart of RuneScape forever. Let's take a look back and see what it has become.

There are currently 6 eras of exchange. No, these era names are not randomly made up, they are derived from latin words to name the era, with the closest English translation on the right.

Genusverto Era - RuneScape Classic
In RuneScape Classic, merchanting didn't surface for awhile. When people realized how easy money could be made by simply buying and selling items, it became somewhat popular.

Praelitto Era - Pre Grand Exchange
Before the Grand Exchange, players that needed to buy something would hang around banks, town squares, and other popular places, usually on worlds 1 or 2 to buy expensive items or items in mass quantity. By this time, merchanting was well known and many players would, for example, buy several hundered Yew Logs in Varrock for 300 coins each, then sell them in Falador for 400 coins each. This was a simple yet effect way to gain money, and players skilled at it made millions a day.

Maneampert Era - Early Grand Exchange
With the introduction of the Grand Exchange and balanced trade limits, merchanters had to find a new way to make their money. As the crowds in the banks moved to the Grand Exchange where buying and selling things was much easier, merchanters figured they could use similar methods as before, and the Grand Exchange made a huge impact on this. All of a sudden higher quantities of items could be more easily bought at one time. These updates made merchanting harder yet easier.

Mediudo Era - Mid Grand Exchange
After awhile merchanting became more well known and merchers examined the price history to determine what raised in price and what fell to maximize their profit. When done carefully, this was very effective and profitable.

Lupoema Era - PvP Effect
With the introduction of PvP Worlds and, later, Bounty Worlds the demand for supplies sky rocketed. The incorporated every skill except agility, prayer, firemaking, thieving and construction. For example, a set of Ranging equipment alone includes use of Combat skills (to kill dragons for the hides) Crafting (to make the hides into equipment), fletching (for arrows, bows, bolts, and crossbows), smithing (for crossbows, bolts, and arrows), mining (to get ores for smithing), and woodcutting (for fletching). Due to this, prices for everything in relation with PvP, however far it is from relevence, fluctuatd dramtically.

Profegen Era - Merchanting Clans (Present day)
As the PvP effect wore off, the economy went back into the Mediudo stage. Though, sometime later, a new popularity arose: Merchanting Clans. The way Merchanting Clans work is the owner of the clan and 6-12 people buy an item at minimum-medium price, then tell the rest of the clan to buy that item at maximum price so the price raises and the clan owners make more money, thoguh roughly half of the clan of, say, 100 people actually loose money because they arn't able to sell the item in time. This price manipulation is greatly effecting the economy, with prices going up and done as merchant clans "buy them all out".

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