why are popular villagers so expensive

[Orihime-chan]

So I've noticed that on the trading villager plaza that everyone has different prices they give to different villagers. i understand that some are more popular than others and i understand that people want to have a popularity list but why make them so expensive?
a lot of people give any tier away for free while others demand 100-200tbt for a single tier 1. and i think that's a bit ridiculous. some people play this game far too seriously which is also kind of absurd. it's a completely social game with no objectives aside from talking with animals. so why do you got to charge so much for one that might be slightly more popular than some others?
and in my personal opinion the list isn't even very accurate. why? because everyone will have a different opinion of whats ugly and whats pretty and cute and etc. so can't we just have equality?
and yes i'm not a nice enough person to have all tiers be the same but i'm not ridiculous either. just now i wanted this one tier 3 and they are asking 45tbt for it which i think is ridiculous. i put tier 1 on that level. tier 3 should either be free or only cost somewhere no higher than like 15tbt.
and there might be some people willing to pay that ridiculously high price but not me. because honestly if people are gonna overprice something then i'd rather just try my luck with no interaction at all on this site and get it in game than pay for that thing here.
and yes i know my friend probably would buy for me if i really wanted her to. but hoenstly i still think it's ridiculous how absurd some people are. not that i don't get that people would pay like 700tbt for a marshall for example (i've seen that before. it's just ridiculous x3.) but i honestly would never do such a thing.
so does anyone else agree with my opinion? or do you think i'm crazy for ranting about something that everyone else think is completely fair?
yeah i'm quite a ranting person i can admit to that... but i am a very curious person so i want to know everyone's opinion.

 

[Miii]

They're expensive because they're so popular and because so many people want them. Ugly/ not popular villagers aren't wanted as much, so they cost a lot less. I've paid a lot more than 200 tbt for villagers before, but I was okay with that because tbt isn't hard to earn. All you have to do is participate in conversation.

 

[That Marshal Fangirl]

Yeah, it's all supply and demand, just like in the real world. When demand increases for something, the price will go up. When the demand goes down, the price goes down. I got Ankha from a thread that sells tier 1 villagers for 100 TBT, and Rosie from a thread who sells tier 1s for 60 TBT. A lot of people are just willing to pay that much to get villagers they want.

 

[ChillyKio]

Honestly, TBT isn't that difficult to obtain, so I understand the higher prices. I'd pay any amount to get a villager I really want. You could say I'm too invested in the game.
Popular villagers being more expensive is because they're more sought out for. It's a good way to make money for cyclers. It's just how the economy is.

 

[PlasticPinkPiggy]

I paid pretty much near to nothing for Marina (Tier 1) because I was lucky but I can understand why people want to pay so much. Even for lower tiers, people pay around 50tbt for a dreamie each at least. With the tier 1 villagers being wanted by so many more people, the sellers/cyclers can make more money by putting it more expensive because they know people will still b.o.

 

[HMCaprica]

I don't at all. Nothing is over 75 tbt and even that there is very big range for popular ones. Case in point 30-50 for tier one. If that ismt cheap compared to others I don't know what is.
My highest ones are actually the specialty ones or hard to find or unique to find ones NOT tier one or even tier two. I wish more people would search out my thread because I strive in making the popular much cheaper then most. This is going by what I see in the popular threads.
Lastily I have ALL mine on a pay range meaning there is literally a range of at least 20 tbt between lowest and highest for every range except what I call middle of the road villagers. I honestly find my prices are NOT expensive at all but very cheap compared to most. And yes I have searched about 20 different cycling threads to come up with fair and lower them average prices. Not braging, stating facts.

 

[Soda Fox]

I'm alright with the prices. TBT is easy enough to get and I understand people wanting a lot of TBT since it can be used to buy art, pokemon, charms, anything really. The art and charms can get really expensive.

 

[SilkSpectre]

TBT is so easy to make why do people complain? It took a whole day for me to find a seller for Marshal when I got him in my cycle town. I lowered his price to 60, found a buyer, and then just decided to sell all t1s at that price. I know I could have gotten more for Julian and Lolly etc but I'm happy to get people their dreamies for reasonable prices. My time isn't free.

- - - Post Merge - - -

I love my dreamies so much and I didn't care how I had to pay to get them. *shrug*

 

[Corrie]

Prices have went down over the years. Last year, tier ones went up to as high as 500TBT! It was nuts! I'm legit happy the prices have went down.

 

[lostineverfreeforest]

Supply vs. demand and it's what people are willing to pay. IMO TBT is more desirable, especially if you want to scratch the forum collecting itch as making bells in-game is fairly easy with turnips. It's also infinitely faster to transfer TBT than IGB.

 

[debinoresu]

it's a completely social game with no objectives aside from talking with animals. so why do you got to charge so much for one that might be slightly more popular than some others?

yes, animal crossing is a "Social game" and a part of society is trading and bartering, or an economy. the economy is a large part of the animal crossing community because it is a very social game. if you dont want to participate in the trading and purchasing part of the social interaction, and would rather just freely play with friends and never trade or buy something, then feel free- you can play the game however you choose to!

and in my personal opinion the list isn't even very accurate. why? because everyone will have a different opinion of whats ugly and whats pretty and cute and etc. so can't we just have equality?

its simply pricing by supply and demand. i think pricing by supply and demand is perfectly sensible, and it happens naturally in any social community. people will notice trends of certain villagers selling more often than others, and others selling less or not at all, and will alter prices accordingly to make the fastest, highest profit possible. that's how this happens, and that's how it will always happen- that's why it cant just be equal. there is a majority, and that majority can be profited off of. if sales worked by "equality" instead of marketing and pricing by demand, companies would be wasting a lot of money and losing potential sales for the sake of marketing equally and making sure everyone will have fair access to a product. it doesnt sound nice, but being fair costs you sales.

and i highly doubt someone paid 700tbt for a marshall RECENTLY. ive seen villagers go for MAX 200tbt, and thats being generous- the highest ive seen as of late barely breaches 100tbt.

because honestly if people are gonna overprice something then i'd rather just try my luck with no interaction at all on this site and get it in game than pay for that thing here.

and lastly... then dont interact. people have overpriced something in your opinion, but youre still interacting, so clearly its not as big of a deal to you as this suggests.

it feels like every week or two theres a thread about this exact topic. i hope i could answer every point of your question.

 

[LinkToTheWorld]

Cycling takes time. I think people don't always appreciate that fact...
I ask 60tbt for tier 1's, 50 for tier 2 and 35 for tier 3. I'm not going to just give them away. Some people choose to do free cycling and that's fine, I don't believe my prices are extortionate for the time it takes to cycle. It's simple enough to earn 50 or 60tbt from making posts, so I don't see the issue. Prices has come way down over the years and people rarely ask for more than 100tbt for a villager now. It's the same with anything, the more popular something is the more people want it and that bumps the price up.


Like I said, tbt is ridiculous easy to get. 45tbt for a villager is a very small amount and can be earned in half an hour of posting. Whereas somebody can be cycling for hours to get a tier 1-3 villager.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Also, the list is done from observation. So yes it is accurate. If lots of people are looking for and buying Julian, he's a tier 1, that's accurate. If nobody is looking for or buying Bella, she gets put in tier 5. Yes we all have different opinions on what is cute or whatever, but that isn't how the tier list is worked out.

 

[namiieco]

Because they are popular, people want them badly therefore they are willing to pay more.

 

[Melchoir]

People will pay huge fees to get a villager they want. I guess their asking price is whatever people are willing to pay. In the case of many tier 1 villagers, that means over 100 TBT/millions of IGB.

 

[HMCaprica]

Please (yes shameless self promotion because i pride myself in how i run it) if you do want odd villagers come to my cycling thread-
http://www.belltreeforums.com/showt...ew-Keaton-Ankha-Drago-all-original-low-prices!

Even if you want popular ones while I don't cycle thoses ones free they are pretty cheap. I am really trying to change the perceptions for tiers 3-5 because I think they deserve it.
Its not all about me or supply and demand, it's about those loveable villagers who aren't so popular but are so amazing.
Not all cyclers are just out for the highest price they can get regardless of supply and demand. I might be one of the few but I will say 99% of any tier are original and my prices have nocbaring on this orceir actual tier evencthough initially I said i will themcfor higher I actually have changed it drastically.
While yes I might sell I am far from TBT hungry as some people can attest to this. The only ones that go for a higher price are the very unique but still quite a bit less then 100 TBT.

 

[Munyo]

I honestly don't understand why the ratio of TBT to villager went down. It decreased so much when I first started.

 

[satine]

It's decreased a lot, like everyone has said.

I will have to disagree with you there, the AC community is actually a wonderful thing. You see, it works because TBT is what users spend on multiple things. They might spend it on villagers, on gardening supplies, or DLC that they could have never imagined getting because it doesn't come from their own country. Sure, some people will give those away for free, and that's great, but the fact of the matter is that TBT is traded repeatedly and everyone wants it for different things. Those people hosting the cycling towns had to buy a whole new copy of the game or use their old one. They take time out of their day to filter through these villagers. I'm not justifying lack of selflessness nor am I saying it's selfish, but from a psychological standpoint, every human desires benefit to his or her self. It's nature. It's how it works. So when they take all the time to do that, they want to be paid in return, so they may go ahead and spend the TBT they earned doing that on something that they might need for their own town or shop.

I don't have much else to comment on the whole popularity thing except what everyone else said, about it being supply and demand.

If you really really don't like it that much then you can play the game however you want, you don't have to interact with the people making profit! It's the beauty of a free market.

 

[Fallenchild]

the list isn't even very accurate. why? because everyone will have a different opinion of whats ugly and whats pretty and cute and etc. so can't we just have equality?

You don't understand what "popular" means, do you? :S

 

[Corrie]

I honestly don't understand why the ratio of TBT to villager went down. It decreased so much when I first started.

I'm wondering that too as well as with in game items. I'm thinking with the value of TBT increasing, things in turn will lower in price because each TBT is worth more.

-shrugs- just my guess. I really don't know.

 

[axo]

Supply < Demand

People want them and there aren't enough of them to go around. I know that makes it sound like they're objects that you just buy and sell, but that's essentially what they are.