A small list of scams and their avoidance.

joobelix moo

joobelix moo

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: May 2006

shadows of sorrows

R/Me

Hi,

I think it would be a good idea to post a thread about scams. So I did. If people would kindly post their chosen scam and the solution, I;m sure people wouldn't get scammed so often (surprise surprise)

So....

Bleached Carapaces for Bleached shells
Mursaat thigies and Ectos
Inks and Black dyes....

And so on and so forth.

Nivryx

Nivryx

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2006

Kenya

Mo/

http://www.gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/List_of_popular_scams

read it yourself

fiery

fiery

Banned

Join Date: Oct 2005

maryland

InYurFace Gaming [IYF]

R/

I believe guru has a list of scams thread already than wiki.

Former Ruling

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Oct 2005

Cedartown, Georgia

R/

Yea,theres lists already, but since this thread is here I'll warn:

The most important scam not to get caught in right now is Factions items being sold in Tyria. They'll often call the item "rare skinned" or something similar and try to sell relatively trash items for huge profits.

End Game greens are the worst for this. They'll buy up a few amulets (cost is usually under 20k) go in and trade these for the better Greens (Swords, Axes, Shiedls, and sometimes the bows) go to Tyrian towns and sell these for HUGE markups. Today I saw someone in Droknar's wanting 100k+5ectos for an Ironwing Flatbow (green version), but the most common price is people selling the Exalted Aegis's and Dragoncrest Axe's for 40-50k in Droknars or Ascalon.

Malice Black

Site Legend

Join Date: Oct 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Former Ruling
Yea,theres lists already, but since this thread is here I'll warn:

The most important scam not to get caught in right now is Factions items being sold in Tyria. They'll often call the item "rare skinned" or something similar and try to sell relatively trash items for huge profits.

End Game greens are the worst for this. They'll buy up a few amulets (cost is usually under 20k) go in and trade these for the better Greens (Swords, Axes, Shiedls, and sometimes the bows) go to Tyrian towns and sell these for HUGE markups. Today I saw someone in Droknar's wanting 100k+5ectos for an Ironwing Flatbow (green version), but the most common price is people selling the Exalted Aegis's and Dragoncrest Axe's for 40-50k in Droknars or Ascalon.
LOL! that isnt scamming its called playing the market...buy low sell high

Jetdoc

Jetdoc

Hell's Protector

Join Date: Jul 2005

The Eyes of Texas [BEVO]

D/A

Quote:
Originally Posted by Malice Black
LOL! that isnt scamming its called playing the market...buy low sell high
Exactly. The market will bear whatever price someone is willing to pay...and as long as it's the bonafide item they are seeking, you can't "scam" that person.

VitisVinifera

VitisVinifera

Banned

Join Date: Nov 2005

Northern California

HoTR

N/Me

I normally see amulets going for 30k, so if you take the time to buy it, do the Shiro quest and trade the item in for the green, then go to Tyria and sell it for maybe 40-50k, that would seem to be barely making it worth your time, but I'd rather make my money farming and questing (as in actually playing the game rather than spamming wtb/wts and dealing with idiots)
So I'd consider that just another way to make an honest (and boring) plat, a far cry from a scam

I'll put another perspective to it: if you don't own Factions, and have already farmed Tyria all out and have max plats, it very well might be worth having a 'perfect' bow or axe for the 40-50k, and probably everyone's happy

anonymous

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jan 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by VitisVinifera
I normally see amulets going for 30k, so if you take the time to buy it, do the Shiro quest and trade the item in for the green, then go to Tyria and sell it for maybe 40-50k, that would seem to be barely making it worth your time, but I'd rather make my money farming and questing (as in actually playing the game rather than spamming wtb/wts and dealing with idiots)
So I'd consider that just another way to make an honest (and boring) plat, a far cry from a scam
I would say farming is alot more boring than buy low/sell high. I despise pve but I actually have fun buying golds for 2-3k and then trading them for a green or a mini pet that is actually worth something. But it all depends on the person I guess.

Coolniceronguy

Coolniceronguy

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Nov 2005

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Amidst A Sea Of Darkness[Star]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Malice Black
LOL! that isnt scamming its called playing the market...buy low sell high
A thief by any other name is still a thief (regardless of how you literally articulate it).

Griff Mon

Griff Mon

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Nov 2005

In the Elfen Forests of Washington State

Damage Radius

N/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Coolniceronguy
A thief by any other name is still a thief (regardless of how you literally articulate it).
Buying at one price and selling at a profit is not stealing. It is called business.

If you bought a house for 100K and sold it for 500K five years later are you stealing or just taking advantage of the market? So what is the difference between that and selling something at a profit the next day or the next minute?

Back on topic, scamming is actually ripping someone off, such as not paying for a run, or waiting for a shard to become a free drop by not rezing the player it is assigned too.

dbgtboy

dbgtboy

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2005

irl

i quit playing

remind me to never take 15k armor as collateral, just lost my mini bonedragon (guy said he wanted to see if he liked it and wanted to test before buying) like that. The guy pretty much gave me his whole entire warrior and some cash as collateral, his weapon and shield, 15k armor with runes and was dyed, and the whole collateral pretty much was almost the cost of the bone dragon. Well, the guy logged off after that and i was wondering why he couldnt have just payed a few extra plats and not gotten reported and banned (hasnt logged on in a week). Do not trust anyone in this game, most scammers are plain dumbasses, no matter how nice they act, if you are taking collateral make the collateral in cash or something so if he decides to run off you will have some gold instead of useless 15k armor.

Malice Black

Site Legend

Join Date: Oct 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Coolniceronguy
A thief by any other name is still a thief (regardless of how you literally articulate it).
LOL! no point trading if you dont make a profit

i own my own business..i wouldnt be in business if i didnt make a profit would i? same rules applys here

buy for X amount sell for XX amount..thats the game..some are good at it some aint, go to business school and learn that for yourself

The Herbalizer

The Herbalizer

<3 Ecto

Join Date: Jul 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Griff Mon
Buying at one price and selling at a profit is not stealing. It is called business.
Word.

If I buy something for say 50k and sell it for 500k do I feel guilty? No.
Why? If they were too stupid, lazy etc to find out what it is worth it is their own problem not mine. People do it in the real world all the time e.g. antique dealers, art deals, car dealers etc.

The armor scam was maybe someone who was going to delete his character thus the armor is worthless.

konohamaru heaven

konohamaru heaven

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2005

Some where in Cantha beyond the Petrified Forest and the Jade Sea

The Amazon Basin

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=9859 is the offical Guru Thread for scams

Former Ruling

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Oct 2005

Cedartown, Georgia

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Malice Black
LOL! that isnt scamming its called playing the market...buy low sell high
I'm sorry, but falsifying your information and misleading people into overpaying for things Is NOT simply "playing the market".

I agree fully that the point of trading or "merchanting" as it is called by some is to make a profit, a CLEAN profit...

Selling an Amber Longbow thats 13^50 with trash mods for 50k in Droknars with a WTS tag like "W<T>S UBER RARE FACTIONS BOW AMBER LONBOW 13^50 GET IT NOW 50k!@@@!!!!!@@!!shiftone@##@!~!!!" (the seperation in WTS is because its in All Chat, not trade) isn't playing the market...its misleading and lying to the people to get a penny. (This actual message was not made up - someone spammed it in Droknar's for 2 hours a few days ago)

The same is applyed to the Greens. Amulets are commonly 20-25k, 30k at most if your impatient, so a "fair" going value is 35k at most. This is a FAR CRY from going to Ascalon and Spamming "\/\/TS RARE GREEN EXALTED AIGESBEST STATS IN GAME GET IT NOW BEFORE THEY REMOVE IT 50k!@@!!" (I often times see similar messages).

You wouldn't be very bright at all if you can't see the difference between selling at a markup and these obvious scams...

hellboy909

hellboy909

Academy Page

Join Date: Feb 2006

So how should we add that to the scam list?

- "Don't be an idiot and buy something if you don't now what it's worth,"?

The Great Al

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2005

ALOA

E/Me

then nothing will ever be sold.

and also, if ch2 players dont have ch1, or ch1 players dont have ch2, then its only natural that they should be willing to pay a little more

for example, the -50hp offhands go for more in cantha than they do in tyria. its not scamming, its being a smart seller

Malice Black

Site Legend

Join Date: Oct 2005

if ppl will buy shit for stupid amounts of money then the clever ppl will exploit this..i have done b4 and will continue to do so...not my fault ppl dont check market value...ignornace/stupidity is not an excuse.

Mournblade

Mournblade

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: May 2005

Houston, Texas

Dawn Treaders [DAWN]

W/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Former Ruling
I'm sorry, but falsifying your information and misleading people into overpaying for things Is NOT simply "playing the market".

I agree fully that the point of trading or "merchanting" as it is called by some is to make a profit, a CLEAN profit...

Selling an Amber Longbow thats 13^50 with trash mods for 50k in Droknars with a WTS tag like "W<T>S UBER RARE FACTIONS BOW AMBER LONBOW 13^50 GET IT NOW 50k!@@@!!!!!@@!!shiftone@##@!~!!!" (the seperation in WTS is because its in All Chat, not trade) isn't playing the market...its misleading and lying to the people to get a penny. (This actual message was not made up - someone spammed it in Droknar's for 2 hours a few days ago)

The same is applyed to the Greens. Amulets are commonly 20-25k, 30k at most if your impatient, so a "fair" going value is 35k at most. This is a FAR CRY from going to Ascalon and Spamming "\/\/TS RARE GREEN EXALTED AIGESBEST STATS IN GAME GET IT NOW BEFORE THEY REMOVE IT 50k!@@!!" (I often times see similar messages).

You wouldn't be very bright at all if you can't see the difference between selling at a markup and these obvious scams...
caveat emptor - buyer beware. If you buy crap from someone with a sell line like that then nothing said here is going to help you.

Demesis

Demesis

Banned

Join Date: May 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Herbalizer
Word.

If I buy something for say 50k and sell it for 500k do I feel guilty? No.
Why? If they were too stupid, lazy etc to find out what it is worth it is their own problem not mine. People do it in the real world all the time e.g. antique dealers, art deals, car dealers etc.

The armor scam was maybe someone who was going to delete his character thus the armor is worthless.
Nobody, no matter how stupid or whatever, deserves to be ripped off or scammed. I always make sure that I ask my buyers if they're sure they want the item and I'm always willing to undo the trade and give back the platinum in exchange for the item back.

I have a very high regard for moral ethics and that has earned me a lot of people adding me to their friends list. I now have a very strong network of buyers who trust me and that has been useful in the long run when I am selling items.

Whiplashr

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

I find the discussion as to whether over pricing items is a "scam" or not, and I can understand where some of you are coming from in your opinions. But let us get one thing clear. If you are purposely setting out to take advantage of uninformed people, you can hardly be said be acting in a scrupulous manner. Yes, those people are stupid for puchasing something without knowing what it's worth.. but let's not sit around and try to convince ourselves that there are no moral or ethical issues there. If you purposely set out with every intention of taking advantage of someone else, you are NOT a very nice person. Don't kid yourselves.

Erasculio

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Nov 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mournblade
caveat emptor - buyer beware. If you buy crap from someone with a sell line like that then nothing said here is going to help you.
That could be said about any scam. Someone traded Mursaat Tokens instead of Ectos - it's the buyer's problems if he hasn't paid enough attention. Someone paid for a run and the runner left - that person should have checked before paying if the guy was a real running.

None of those make these scams less wrong, just like deceiving people into thinking something is worth more than it actually is. I think it's funny to see so many people defending that kind of behavior here - as usual, a scammer won't admit he's scamming to no one, not even himself.

Erasculio

Swampgirl Inez

Swampgirl Inez

"I love reading trash!"

Join Date: May 2005

Home Again

There is already a thread for scams:
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=9859


Closed.