Dont Buy From Boutik

[Chesticals]

That's all, folks.

[momotion]

I have Fall into darkness and bought a ot hammer and mykrolar leggings from him , I still can't forgive myself =P , boutik make people mad cuz of high priced stuff and take advantage of the desperate customers,ec tun has become hell since all the boutik child's has taken the long corridor with their flopping, prices are most of the time to their limit with no room to negotiate ,is it good if you selling but buying there result in a horrible experience since all the fat cats buy the stuff before they even get to ec and boost price dramatically so you always has to pay the value of the item + the cut they take, p99 trade market uses to be a lot much better than this has become today , just look at the price of cos or bead in couple of months

[JayDee]

I have Fall into darkness and bought a ot hammer and mykrolar leggings from him , I still can't forgive myself =P , boutik make people mad cuz of high priced stuff and take advantage of the desperate customers,ec tun has become hell since all the boutik child's has taken the long corridor with their flopping, prices are most of the time to their limit with no room to negotiate ,is it good if you selling but buying there result in a horrible experience since all the fat cats buy the stuff before they even get to ec and boost price dramatically so you always has to pay the value of the item + the cut they take, p99 trade market uses to be a lot much better than this has become today , just look at the price of cos or bead in couple of months

I had a dude tell me he has a program that logs auctions and relays alerts to his phone when items are listed at a desirable price. Whether it is true or how you'd go about doing that, I wouldn't know, but I couldn't help but think how severely that impacts the overall EC experience.

[Legidias]

He's literally admitted to using a script.

[joppykid]

He's actually sold me a few things at good prices. He even accepted my lower offers. These were just items that cost a few k though. Nothing high end or that he is trying to drive the cost up on.

[Ravager]

https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224792&highlight=notifier

[Computer Man]

I thought 3rd party programs weren't allowed? Does this sit with GINA in being "kind of acceptable"?

[Ravager]

Log parsers are fine. They don't mess with the client. They just read a text file.

[Ruhtar]

I thought 3rd party programs weren't allowed? Does this sit with GINA in being "kind of acceptable"?

Not sure. Might want to ask Robthe how AHK is working out for him.

I don't know how much I would actually use this "Notifier Tool" though. If I'm buying something, I just park my toon in the tunnel, put up my WTB or WTS, then alt tab back to hentai and hope I have a tell window when I tab back.

[Supreme]

Discord has a bot that also scans EC tunnel and notifies you when something you want to buy etc comes up.

[robtherad]

Not sure. Might want to ask Robthe how AHK is working out for him.

I don't know anything about 'AHK' but an auction tool sounds great. Might help me liquidate the bags of lodi shells I have just rotting away on my mule.

[loramin]

Log parsers are fine. They don't mess with the client. They just read a text file.

Just wanted to second Ravager's point in case anyone was unsure. Anything that actually interacts with the EQ program (even a tiny macro on your keyboard that lets you press one button and have it count as two button presses) is banned, but logs are technically completely outside of the EQ program itself (it just writes to them as you play, but after it does they're just normal text files).

If log parsing was banned GINA, those programs that show the map of the zone you're currently in, all of the auction tracking sites (including the wiki's own auction tracker), etc. couldn't operate ... but they do, so you can trust that log parsing is safe.

[mefdinkins]

those programs that show the map of the zone you're currently in

Loramin!?!?! the grand explorer you use a map program!1?!?! damn dude! this is like when i found out lance armstrong was juicing!

[feniin]

I don't know anything about 'AHK' but an auction tool sounds great. Might help me liquidate the bags of lodi shells I have just rotting away on my mule.

lol like you don't have an autofire key spamming pet attack.

[Droxx]

His "brother" also logs in his PoM CoTH bot to do his CoTHs while he sits in the tunnel.

[theonesler]

That's all, folks.

Unsubstantiated. Why do you expect people to listen to you if you don't give any legitimate reasons? I've had loads of interactions with Boutik. He's been very friendly. So he's a trading wizard and has a corner on the market and thus can control prices a lot... so what? Go cry about it elsewhere? I dunno...

[Molitoth]

There are players on this server with 500k-1m+ plat just sitting around...
A lot of times it's not worth it for them to play EC tunnel rat for days trying to negotiate 1k off an item.

I'f you don't like Boutiks prices, just wait for the undercut.

[Iksar_with_a_plan]

I bought an item from him, marked at an average of 150,000 plat for 100,000 plat. Not to mention in a recent free roll where everyone in EC had the chance to roll for free plat, he donated 10k to the pot.

He may be responsible for some price hikes, and he may be irritating to some, especially on the forums. But EC is a free market, and a virtual one at that. Yes of course you don't HAVE to buy from him, but most of his prices are on par with the average if you really take a look. Granted he may be responsible for some those prices.

Point is, its a free market, hes just doing his thing.

[indiscriminate_hater]

get good

[Iksar_with_a_plan]

I bought an item from him, marked at an average of 150,000 plat for 100,000 plat. Not to mention in a recent free roll where everyone in EC had the chance to roll for free plat, he donated 10k to the pot.

He may be responsible for some price hikes, and he may be irritating to some, especially on the forums. But EC is a free market, and a virtual one at that. Yes of course you don't HAVE to buy from him, but most of his prices are on par with the average if you really take a look. Granted he may be responsible for some those prices.

Point is, its a free market, hes just doing his thing.

The most important thing to finding a good bargain in EC or making a profit is PATIENCE. Most of the people who complain about price gouging in EC don't spend nearly enough time there for their opinion to be validated.

if you are PATIENT, and realize that boutik doesn't hold all the supply, you will see that someone will come along with the same item and undercut his price. If you know anything about boutik he rarely changes his prices, he's very PATIENT with what he has for sale. So in due time its almost a guarantee that you will find your item at a lower price. I also spend quite a bit of time in EC, and there are plenty of players who have an item for sale and drop their prices significantly if they dont sell it within minutes. If this is YOU, either give it more time or settle... Because the reverse is also true, you can undercut the EC street fatcats and still make a profit. The funny thing is, that I guarantee most people complaining about boutik's prices would sell the same items for the same price if they had the chance, because this isnt about justice or unfair advantage, this is about people not getting what they want.

[hobart]

I don't care about Boutik's EC tactics. I just hate him for his crimes against the English language committed in these forums. Am I alone in this?

[Lune]

Unsubstantiated. Why do you expect people to listen to you if you don't give any legitimate reasons? I've had loads of interactions with Boutik. He's been very friendly. So he's a trading wizard and has a corner on the market and thus can control prices a lot... so what? Go cry about it elsewhere? I dunno...

If you've had loads of interactions with Boutik you're either buying from him (stupid) or selling to him (even more stupid).

He's not a trading wizard. He lowball offers people who are impatient to get out of EC and then sells the items for as much as he possibly can. This doesn't take skill, only copious amounts of time staring at the tunnel. He's not performing a service. All he's doing is making it more difficult for typical players, who spend far less time in EC, to find good deals on items, because the second someone shows up in EC and is willing to sell quickly/negotiate on price, Boutik buys the item up, making it unavailable for you when you show up in EC, unless you buy it from Boutik.

What does he do with all this plat, seeing as how he does not play the game? More than likely he RMT's, or will at some point in the future, like the majority of tunnel rats before him.

[bigjeff100]

He provides a service that some of us use.. I'm not sure i've ever sold my items to him personally. But i've used similar folk like fleamarkit.. He advertises his buy outs. You know exactly the business he runs, and the prices you are going to get after he takes his cut. And im sure many folk other than myself take advantage of it..

I've never seen Boutik advertise his buy low sell high strategy. So folks get rubbed the wrong way once business begins, and next thing you know there is another thead about him. But you know what they say, any press is good press! And Boutik's name is surely out there!!

[theonesler]

If you've had loads of interactions with Boutik you're either buying from him (stupid) or selling to him (even more stupid).

He's not a trading wizard. He lowball offers people who are impatient to get out of EC and then sells the items for as much as he possibly can. This doesn't take skill, only copious amounts of time staring at the tunnel. He's not performing a service. All he's doing is making it more difficult for typical players, who spend far less time in EC, to find good deals on items, because the second someone shows up in EC and is willing to sell quickly/negotiate on price, Boutik buys the item up, making it unavailable for you when you show up in EC, unless you buy it from Boutik.

What does he do with all this plat, seeing as how he does not play the game? More than likely he RMT's, or will at some point in the future, like the majority of tunnel rats before him.

To sum up your post, "Blah, blah, blah. I'm really sad."

Seriously, move on.

Also, I've never bought nor sold anything to Boutik and yet have had lots of interaction with him. So, he's a human... weird.

[Nikkanu]

I've bought and sold a bunch of items from/to Boutik. I don't care if I get 5k less than market value for a Bone-Clasped Girdle if it means I don't have to sit in the tunnel for a week trying to get top price. Believe it or a not tunnel resellers provide a service to both buyers and sellers. They help make items more easily available for buyers and help sellers not have to sit around in the tunnel for days/weeks/months on end to liquidate items they no longer need. In the time you spend sitting in the tunnel trying to find a better deal than the reseller prices or whining them on the forums you could have farmed the few k difference and been actually playing the game.

[Octopath]

I don’t think it’s Boutiks selling tactics that get him a bad rep, it’s his attitude.

[Lune]

I've bought and sold a bunch of items from/to Boutik. I don't care if I get 5k less than market value for a Bone-Clasped Girdle if it means I don't have to sit in the tunnel for a week trying to get top price. Believe it or a not tunnel resellers provide a service to both buyers and sellers. They help make items more easily available for buyers and help sellers not have to sit around in the tunnel for days/weeks/months on end to liquidate items they no longer need. In the time you spend sitting in the tunnel trying to find a better deal than the reseller prices or whining them on the forums you could have farmed the few k difference and been actually playing the game.

Nobody is saying you have to spend a ton of time sitting around in the tunnel. It's typically sufficient to log in your mule for 5-10 mins at the beginning and end of your session. If you're not selling to a tunnel rat, you might have to do this for a few more days or weeks but you're ultimately not pissing away thousands of platinum out of impatience. Also don't forget about EC tunnel which costs no playtime.

And if you can so easily farm the 5k difference on your BCG then maybe your experience isn't generalizable to hundreds of other players who are scrimping for their first fungi tunic or CoF and aren't going to find one at a price other than the ceiling price.

Tunnel rats in general are tolerable and I don't really care what people do. It's Boutik specifically.

[Valrok]

I had a dude tell me he has a program that logs auctions and relays alerts to his phone when items are listed at a desirable price. Whether it is true or how you'd go about doing that, I wouldn't know, but I couldn't help but think how severely that impacts the overall EC experience.

A simple python script that monitors his log file while a toon sits AFK in EC can do it easily. This can all be handled on something as simple as a raspberry pi monitoring the log file over your network. All perfectly legal as far as server rules go too.

[Computer Man]

I bet he has an IP exemption.

[Chesticals]

I bet he has an IP exemption.

Bought it with his gains from RMTing plat.

[commongood]

I don't have much to say for or against him but something funny happened to me a few weeks ago.

I see Boutik was selling Bedlam for 15k. I need it on my chanter so I /tell him asking if he would lower his price. We have a friendly enough back-and-forth but are unable to reach a price.

About 10-15 mins later I /auc WTB Bedlam. I get a tell from someone I don't know but in suspiciously poor English ressembling that of Boutik. This stranger asks me what I'm asking for Bedlam.

I tell him 'I'm not selling, I'm buying'.

He says 'yeah, how much you paying?'.

I say '11k'.

He says 'oh that's probably too low. My brother's been selling them for 18-20k lately.

I don't respond.

Then Boutik's /auc comes up in my auc window - still with Bedlam at 15k.

My new friend tells me

'Look, Boutik's selling for just 15k!'.

I didn't reply.

Now I'm not saying I know it was the same person. But it just seemed SO much like the same level of English and if it was the same person (or a friend of theirs) then it's just such a funny and hamfisted attempt at manipulating someone to overpaying.

[Jimjam]

Logs or it didn't happen!

Fortunately I am not CSR here for I would rule with an iron fist (in the name of peace and prosperity of Rivervale of course). If I were, and I was to investigate such shenanigans I'd strip both accounts of anything of value. But I'd also be a fair and kind ruler, so I'd grant them a short sword*, some bread and milk so they could rebuild their empire honestly if they were to so choose.

[Diogene]

Roids auctions : WTS cobalt Breastplate 18k
(5min later)
Mezco auctions : WTB cobalt breastplate 25k + 2k finders fee
(5min later)
Roids auctions : WTS Cobalt breastplate 18k

Thing is I had cobalt BP myself for sale but wasnt actively auctionning it. I send a tell to mezco but he doesnt answer... heck, if i can sell this 27k I’d do it !

Good part of this is 18k on cobalt bp is not outrageous. I have no proof the dudes were the same person, but lol, if it was, it can be pretty confusing and might trigger some greedy rat looking for an easy 9k ahaha

[ZiggyTheMuss]

I don't have much to say for or against him but something funny happened to me a few weeks ago.

I see Boutik was selling Bedlam for 15k. I need it on my chanter so I /tell him asking if he would lower his price. We have a friendly enough back-and-forth but are unable to reach a price.

About 10-15 mins later I /auc WTB Bedlam. I get a tell from someone I don't know but in suspiciously poor English ressembling that of Boutik. This stranger asks me what I'm asking for Bedlam.

I tell him 'I'm not selling, I'm buying'.

He says 'yeah, how much you paying?'.

I say '11k'.

He says 'oh that's probably too low. My brother's been selling them for 18-20k lately.

I don't respond.

Then Boutik's /auc comes up in my auc window - still with Bedlam at 15k.

My new friend tells me

'Look, Boutik's selling for just 15k!'.

I didn't reply.

Now I'm not saying I know it was the same person. But it just seemed SO much like the same level of English and if it was the same person (or a friend of theirs) then it's just such a funny and hamfisted attempt at manipulating someone to overpaying.

Good god. Just when I thought I understood the true depths of Boutik's mental illness...

[Alanus]

Ive dealt with him a few times and he was always cool to me.

[Castigate]

Why don't you people screenshot this shit with /who's and such and report boxing?
Hell petition in game when it happens, if someone's boxing they'll get fucked.

[Champion_Standing]

Maybe he just wants to save up 14 million plat so he can have one of every class and a million plat for each? Seems like perfectly normal, sane thing to do.

[Bardp1999]

Why don't you people screenshot this shit with /who's and such and report boxing?
Hell petition in game when it happens, if someone's boxing they'll get fucked.

Boutik cant possibly be boxing though because he is recovering from
an exotic disease + surgery + paralyzed left hand + brain injury

[MamaKan]

Be smart, don't get baited, don't get scammed. EC tunnel is as simple as that. Never had any issue. I also have the "overpriced sellers" on perma ignore.

[Shinko]

i have no problem selling to people willing to sit in EC, if you want to play that way fly at it

EC sucks Plat is over rated, go loot stuff play the game

Hinko 1-60 ZERO buying self JC ect ect
Shinko Zero Buying

rest of my alts TWINKED AF

[k9quaint]

Put him on ignore and all these problems are solved.
Or don't care and pay his fees and all these problems are solved.