
Well the price will be what the price will be. Price in open market economy is what the public is willing to pay. Price too high and eventually nobody can buy it, so the price falls to a medium that most people are willing to pay.
HOWEVER a key component of the open market is viable alternative. For this reason, I propose an Auction House or Market Ward or whatever, in which the average selling price is listed (as reference for merchants) while alternative prices are also listed (for buyers). Think of it like Amazon, where you can see what something is going for, but can also go into the details of what each seller is selling that product for.
This would force merchants to compete for sellers' attention and drop the price, but only so far, as they still have to exceed the costs of their materials.
HOWEVER a key component of the open market is viable alternative. For this reason, I propose an Auction House or Market Ward or whatever, in which the average selling price is listed (as reference for merchants) while alternative prices are also listed (for buyers). Think of it like Amazon, where you can see what something is going for, but can also go into the details of what each seller is selling that product for.
This would force merchants to compete for sellers' attention and drop the price, but only so far, as they still have to exceed the costs of their materials.