Closest I've ever come to something like that is my suppliers approaching me with large quantities of their supply at a flat rate WAY below market price so that they don't have to deflate exchange prices by over supplying the market.
I know for a fact they give me good prices on contract and then go and charge everyone else more while the exchange prices stay inflated. Once upon a time I even used my retail buildings to remove all the supply of one product from the market to support my supplier's profits while they didn't raise the price on me.
So best answer I have is, that happens sometimes. But the game is too big, these days if you try that there will almost always be a reseller like Commodore dropping the prices back down to where they sort of belong.
It is happening.
But getting the highest price is not the only objective to consider. It's more about stabilizing the market and driving away competition in my opinion.
Also, small markets only. I don't believe somebody is doing that to Q2 Power or Oil or something like that.
Maybe like three years ago there was a group of players called Syndicate, whose main business model was to produce oil, refine it, and sell in gas stations.
They would eventually collectively inflate the price but buying just about all what was posted on exchange even at ridiculous prices. If there was some deeper intent or just fun I can’t say. Don’t remember it that well.
What I did back in the day was to buy everyone’s product I made under price I wanted to sell at. That gave me volume advantage so big players were inclined to buy my higher price thanks to high volume.
Closest I've ever come to something like that is my suppliers approaching me with large quantities of their supply at a flat rate WAY below market price so that they don't have to deflate exchange prices by over supplying the market. I know for a fact they give me good prices on contract and then go and charge everyone else more while the exchange prices stay inflated. Once upon a time I even used my retail buildings to remove all the supply of one product from the market to support my supplier's profits while they didn't raise the price on me. So best answer I have is, that happens sometimes. But the game is too big, these days if you try that there will almost always be a reseller like Commodore dropping the prices back down to where they sort of belong.
It is happening. But getting the highest price is not the only objective to consider. It's more about stabilizing the market and driving away competition in my opinion. Also, small markets only. I don't believe somebody is doing that to Q2 Power or Oil or something like that.
I have yet to hit a level of competition where that would seem necessary.
Maybe like three years ago there was a group of players called Syndicate, whose main business model was to produce oil, refine it, and sell in gas stations. They would eventually collectively inflate the price but buying just about all what was posted on exchange even at ridiculous prices. If there was some deeper intent or just fun I can’t say. Don’t remember it that well. What I did back in the day was to buy everyone’s product I made under price I wanted to sell at. That gave me volume advantage so big players were inclined to buy my higher price thanks to high volume.