Here's what happened: someone said they were selling a shining silver ring on the OOC channel in Bree, so I whispered them and asked how much. It seemed like a nice add-on to my character.

120 silver!

I almost fell over laughing. Someone makes it to the middle of lone-lands, fights a half-orc or two, and a silver ring falls off. They want 120 silver for that? I mean, the ring wasn't bad and all, but 120 SILVER?

You know what? I make pretty good money selling stuff, and here's the secret: I don't charge ridiculous prices. Maybe I'll charge a few more silver for the posting fee and my trouble. And guess what? I sell stuff like crazy. It's the same with materials like light/medium hides. Why gouge people?

Here's what I think is going on: You have a bunch of people running around thinking: "I know what I'll do ... I'll ask for WAY above value and then negotiate downward from there. I'll be rich! I'm brilliant!"

Well, folks, that's a movieland thing, just like dodging 1000 machine guns and back flipping over explosions. In the real world (or at least, world where non-scripted, thinking people are doing things in real time), it doesn't quite work that way. But keep on keepin' on. Far be it from me to tell anyone how to play a game.