Players make things and sell things to the NPC for money. Almost everyone I talk to has said this. They sell farm goods to NPCs. They sell Ore to NPCs. I do it too. Some players sell things at auction because they can make more money than at the NPC. This makes sense. If by some way you acquired a 'finished product' from the game... it makes more sense to try to make more than what the NPC would offer at Auction. Things like Gems and Drinks spring to mind. Some players sell Raw materials instead of NPCing them though, and they do it at outrageous prices. But, Players buy them. Why?
Almost always, the Raw materials, spice, cherries, bubbles, beans, meat... you're almost always better-off selling your raw materials to someone rather than making finished products to sell. The killer for me were cherries. It takes 34 cherries to make a pungent sunrise. The NPC sells them for 194. Cherries sell on auction for 10 each. That means if I were to buy cherries from auction and turn them into sunrises, just cherry costs (not energy and time and fees) are 340. Yet, I can't sell them for that because an NPC sells them for a price that assumes cherries are worth about 1 currant.
This is accross the board in regards to 'things that can't be bought' by NPCs. That is, if it can't be bought at an NPC, its price is inflated at Auction. I personally suggest a simple fix.
My qualm is that NPCs should *never* sell finished products...
They should simply not do it. If they don't, then we can have the cost of things fluctuate based on the supply and demand of materials. That only makes sense. As-is, things are governed by convenience. The only reason someone *might* buy anything at auction? Too lazy to get it. *I don't want to go to Ix, so I'll pay 400 for a sunrise. I don't want to harvest cherries, so I'll pay 2500* Whatever.
Also, *why* are people buying cherries for 10 each? What are you Possibly making with them to justify the expense? Whatever you are making, you can probably get cheaper elsewhere. Heck... buy the finished drinks on auction... buy them from the liquor NPC. Do not buy cherries for 10 each. There is no good reason to do so. (Laziness is merely a reason. It's not a good reason.)
Ok... Thanks.