The Market of the Future

Yesterday I sold my surplus tree fruit, flowers, and herbs in the market. I had an abundance because I had stopped selling for a while. I may be alone in this but ever since I became a member, I was stunned by the prices in the Farmer's Market. It makes me think of those futuristic movies of the 1970's (Logan's Run, Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man, Soylent Green, and especially Z.P.G. (Zero Population Growth). An apple costing $400, an orange $200 and a single egg $1900. It makes The Great Depression and rationing in WWII seem not that foreign to those of us who did not live through them. I give a generous discount for my produce, I try to be kind to those who need to buy it to make feed for their animals. I try not to think about the sellers who will resell it at ridiculous prices to make a profit.
I know it is just a game. It is not real money and no one's animals are going hungry, so I should "lighten up" and "relax". I am trying.

Just a little food for thought.

 

Its not just that this is a game, the dynamics of what makes prices rise, while still basically "supply and demand" differ significantly from reality because the factors of creation and demand vary.

An apple might cost 400 CC , but the tree price never changes. (and by the way, I tend to think of CC as "cents", not "dollars"-- a BB pack only cost a few dollars, after all) Some production items -- pens, trees, etc cannot be bought on the open market and so their prices naturally differ, but you will note that some of the the things in lesser demand do not engender high prices, even if they are rare.

golden leaf was only about 20CC for the longest time, when there was only one animal needing them. Now... well, the price may drop in time, but the ladybug feed demand is driving it up.

If you see the markets here as a puzzle, and part of a game that really does not cost anything to play, then its just fun. Any time you try to tie things here to reality, you will just drive yourself crazy.

 

The market is made up by real people, and a lot of theories about economics and economic behaviour does still apply. I too at times think about the rise and falls of markets in real life and the similarities and the differences. The drivers behind the prices and how the different players chose to react at them. I find it very interesting, more similarities than differences at times.

 

It IS fun. I was only being cheeky. I do wonder if my 5.8 million coins would be 10.8 if I charged "full price" for things, but I can scarcely find things to buy with it other than replenishing my seeds, at this point. Cheers.

 

Angus, there is no such thing as 'the market' in this game - there are over 40 markets, so the prices could be different on other markets. Your market may not and probably isn't the same as my market - apples @ 170; oranges 144 and eggs around 1500 - which is odd, because for the longest time they were around 290. I have a friend who plays and we often compare prices and her market can be significantly lower or higher for any one product.

I think you'd find your 5.8 million ccs would probably be about the same, since you may not sell at 'full price' whatever that is. I've put up goods for sale at the lowest price, and then a week later they're back in my barn not having sold, others have managed to undercut me. Other times I see the prices soar and they sell instantly at the most ridiculous prices. Currently, cardboard boxes are going at 45,000 and have been 25,000 - 85,000 over the past couple of weeks. Whereas Hammocks hardly sell at all, I've stopped producing them because bears are far more profitable.

Goldleaf has been around a long time, I made 1,000,000 when the trees were first introduced, because it was needed for the new city event way back when they changed it and sent poor old Susi somewhere into the ether, instead of having an airfield on the edge of town. She used to fly us to the island, but now we have to slowboat It was fun watching her land on the island, but times change.

I do agree prices seem to be rising generally for quite a lot of produce, maybe some newer players don't have the older rare trees which are no longer available. Pheromones are a steady seller and I can sell in excess of 5,000 from my trees during breeding event and / or Baby Boom.

Woody thinks in $, I think in £ - but, just can't think of ccs as pennies or pounds, so for me they are game currency.

I do believe though that thing which keeps me playing this game is both the constant change and the constancy of it. Some things never change and others seem hardly to be introduced before they are updated and the original aspect is gone.