There is no shopkeeper deciding what things are worth. The Grand Exchange is an order book: players post buy offers and sell offers, and a trade happens when they meet.
How it works
- Post a buy offer at your price, or a sell offer at yours. Offers rest until matched.
- Sales are taxed at 5%, which is the main gold sink keeping the currency from inflating without limit.
- Prices are visible and move with supply. A boss that drops a rare more often makes that rare cheaper, and everyone sees it happen.
Why it matters for progression
Production skills need inputs that other players gather. That makes the market the join between the 20 skills: a fisher supplies a cook, a miner supplies a smith, and a boss killer supplies everyone with the rare that makes a set worth wearing. It is the reason skilling has a point even if you never fight anything.
Trading safely
Trades settle through the exchange rather than by handing items over, so there is no trust step to be scammed at. Duels with staked gold freeze both sides' gear and boosts the moment both players agree, so nobody can swap into better equipment after the stake is set.