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As the title says, I've noticed that vendors seem to be willing to buy my items for a lot less than the "value" listed outside of the vendor UI. Examples:

  • Potion of Lasting Potency is 311 gold in my "items" view, but Lucan Valerius will only pay 126 gold for it
  • Similarly for my Axe of Whiterun: 201 gold in "items," only 81 gold at the vendor
  • 500 gold for Scroll of Bane of the Undead in "items," 203 gold at the vendor

and so on. What's the deal here?

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Possible duplicate of gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/38173/… – jwaddell Jan 22 '12 at 4:33

1 Answer

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The value in your inventory is the worth of the item. Vendors will give you a percentage of that value based on your speechcraft skill and other factors. Likewise they will sell it for a multiple of that value.

Specifically the price is:

Sell price = [ value of item ] / [ 3.3 - (1.3 * [speech skill]/100) ] * [(1 + Haggling %) * (1 + Allure %) * (1 + Fortify Barter from potion) * (1 + the sum of Fortify Barter from equipment + Fortify Barter from Blessing of Zenithar)

From the UESP Wiki.

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My speech is currently 20 (my character is level 13). To get better prices, level up my speechcraft? – Matt Ball Jan 22 '12 at 4:06
Leveling up speech and getting a few perks will help. :] – stay Jan 22 '12 at 4:12
Yeah, just buy and sell items and it will go up over time. Or pray for a blessing from Zenithar or wear items that boost your speechcraft or spell percentage. Oh, and you can give coins to beggars for the gift of charity boost. – Canageek Jan 22 '12 at 4:18
Ah yes, I am already wearing a Necklace of Minor Haggling (12% better prices). The math adds up. Thanks! – Matt Ball Jan 22 '12 at 4:23

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