Single Iceblade Arrows

When the initial hype was released on Greedy Goblin about selling arrows for 100 as opposed to 1000 per stack, it drew a lot of controversy. I decided to take it a step further. The original method relied on an inability of the user's interface to display the different stack sizes correctly. This opened the debate for whether it was a scam or not and talk of ethics, morals and colorful adjectives were thrown about the gold-making community. However, what if we remove that handicap to the argument and leave no doubt, no matter what UI the player has, about the quanitity of the product?

Could the customer's mistake be taken to an extreme and have profit not rely on the visual similarity of 100 vs. 1000?


The Experiment
I created a stack of arrows from 1g worth of mats - two Crystallized Shadow. These 1000 arrows were then posted as singles, up 10 at a time. The goal was to get through as many SINGLE arrow sales as possible before the average population caught on. Just how much could I turn 1g into by merely relying on my customers assumptions?



I had to adjust my prices to undercut what full stacks were going for, so prices fluctuated from double to single digits as December turned into January. BeanCounter kept track of my sales for the item which just passed the 2k gold mark. I recently started this on the Alliance side as well. I plan on alternating each faction, where the presence of single stacks are there one week, gone the next. This should give the short-term memory players a chance to reset their gullibility.



The best recorded data has been the return customers. These same toons have come back to purchase more single arrows. I currently have about a half dozen of these and am keeping track of their names for a Hall of Fame. The thrill of seeing your chat window fill up with sold messages is priceless.