Imaginetheday
Senior Member
I confess that I will choose Market Box every time! I'm so sad when my go-to friends are low. I will hunt if I have to, but I love to shop those Market Boxes. 

I like to hunt and only use friends Market Box when I absolutely have to. I keep my own Market Box stocked, and hope it helps my friends out when they can't find what they need for requests, but it is a bit annoying when one person buys out the entire thing in one go.
I was just that person. (oops!) I do like to keep my own market box stocked, so I do hunt, but I just can't stand going from island to island fishing and bug hunting while I'm in the midst of fulfilling requests.
I don't know if this makes you feel any better, but I rarely look at prices when I'm buying from Market Boxes. If somebody has what I need, I'm just thrilled that they have it. I price things in my own market box pretty low, but like you, find that I run out on a regular basis.
Do people really do that? Buy things just to resell? I just can't see Market Box being enough of a moneymaker to make it worth the trouble. You get to a point in the game (at least I have), where you always have plenty of money/bells.
I gather for most of my own requests, and I try to keep my market fully stocked with a wide variety of common fruits, bugs, and fish. I wanted to offer everything at the lowest possible price to help my friends, unfortunately, I was having a heck of a time keeping things in stock that way, so I had to raise my prices as high as 50 bells per item (depending on how many I have). Ultimately, that is much higher than I would prefer, but I was starting to become concerned that people may have been buying items from my market and reselling them in their market to make a profit because I would see most of my shop being cleared out by one friend. It's not always the same friend clearing me out either, I have a few friends who do this.
Now, I 100% don't mind if my friends are buying me out if they are using it to fulfill requests, but I'm not as keen on spending time to help my friends only to have someone use my stock for their own market. I think this is where a slightly higher price for items is helpful because my items aren't as appealing to resellers and my market stays stocked longer for friends in need, but my friends are the ones who are now stuck with a higher price. I think I just need to find a balance between keeping my items affordable to friends and deterring mass purchasing to resell items. I've seen markets where things are priced higher than 50 bells per item, but it's still higher than I'm comfortable with.
I love to go shopping in my friends Market Boxes, but that is after I've hunted for what I need on my own (if time permits). I do not have time to play all day (full time job), but I do play a lot while I am commuting to and from work, so there isn't always enough time to go through the replenish cycles.
In summary I do buy-to-sell somewhat, but conscientiously. I also do a lot of my own hunting, and I don't think I see much in the way of profit. If anything I imagine I net a slight loss. But I like that people know there is somewhere they can go in a pinch and definitely get what they need, at least until they improve market box as promised, and probably beyond.