Another Market Inefficiency I Found in WarEra
You can read my previous article about market making here:
https://app.warera.io/article/6a5fafdd10996dea317df197
After writing my previous article, I decided to test whether the strategy actually works.
I found a market with a relatively large bid-ask spread (Heavy Ammo) and started placing both buy and sell orders.
I was able to buy Heavy Ammo for 2.464 and later sell it for 2.489, successfully capturing the spread and making a profit.
So at least from my experience, market making does work in WarEra when there is enough trading activity.
However, while watching the marketplace I noticed another interesting pricing inefficiency.
The "Desperate Seller"
Sometimes the sell side of the order book looks like this:
On the buy side:
Highest bid: 2.463
On the sell side:
2.464 × 270 units
2.487 × 99 units
2.488 × 68 units
Notice something interesting.
The first seller is offering Heavy Ammo for 2.464, while the next cheapest seller is already at 2.487.
That is a difference of 0.023 gold per unit.
A Potential Opportunity
If you believe Heavy Ammo is actively traded, one possible strategy is to buy the entire first sell order.
Once it disappears, the cheapest available price immediately becomes 2.487.
You can then list your newly purchased Heavy Ammo slightly over that level—for example at 2.488.
Any future buyer purchasing from the market will match your order first, since it is now the cheapest available offer.
If your order gets filled, you've effectively captured the pricing gap created by a seller who was willing to sell significantly below the rest of the market.
Of course, this only works if there is enough demand for the item. Otherwise, your capital may remain locked until another buyer appears.
Final Thoughts
Markets are not always perfectly efficient.
Sometimes opportunities come from large bid-ask spreads.
Other times, they appear because one player prices their item far below the rest of the sell orders.
I'm curious whether other players have noticed similar situations in different resources, or if you've found other interesting market inefficiencies worth sharing.
Since I'm still a new player, my available capital is quite limited. I'd love to continue researching WarEra's economy and testing new market ideas, but that requires funds.