Ships & Modules

o/ Just returned to the game after 3 years and dusting down lv 4 apoc to make some cash.

This has really been bugging me, both of the reppers in the title seem to be identical but the navy version is twice the price. Any idea the reason for this? Am I missing something? Is it something to do with rollplayers paying more for the shiny gold version? Relative rarity of the navy variant? I'd happily trade my navy one in for the sansha one + cash.

I would have expected the prices to be similar but 60Mil seems a large difference..

It's a question of "seeding".

The True Sansha version drops from complexes and faction rats. So basically, the only cost to you is a few rounds of ammo.

The Imperial Navy version doesn't drop anywhere NPC-wise. It can only be found in the LP stores, where it costs 20 million isk, another 50-odd mill's worth of tags, and 50 thousand LP.

The TS version more properly reflects the value of a LAR with that performance. But there are OCD capsuleers who like everything on their shiny IN faction boats to "match"...

To be honest that's just the tip of the iceberg here. LP stores lead to all kinds of irrational market behavior across a wide variety of sectors.

In this case, you're looking at a module that is identical in Imperial Navy, Khanid Navy, Ammatar Navy, Dark Blood, and True Sansha varieties. The last two are obviously drop seeds with lower prices, but both KN and AN are higher than IN on this module right now. Honestly, it's worth it to check all five if you really want the best price.

This comes up on the flip side when people ask about LP conversion rates as well. Bottom line is that most people are going to by IN simply because it's what everyone knows about -- and that actually drives the price lower in some cases because market volume is so much higher that it becomes economical to flip LP at a lower conversion rate.

Or at least that's one theory, albeit one that assumes rational market behavior. If we're willing to throw that out then we can just wave our hands and say "because of stupid" and leave it at that I suppose.

110 000 ships worth if :)