Diablo III's real money auction house has just gone live, and players are paying everything from a dollar on the low end to $250 on the high end.
As some of the items were on sale for as high as $250, I did't think anyone would pay that much. To my disbelief, people have, and continue to pay that much for items that can be found through days of farming—which isn't to say that they can't do whatever they want with their own money, of course.
Image source: Reddit
While some items are being sold for upwards of $100, most items—legendaries included—fall within the more reasonable range of less than ten dollars. Most of the better ones can cost up to $50, which isn't too bad considering the amount of time it might take to find such items on your own.
Should players choose to spend a lot of time in Diablo III, they can easily turn a profit by selling their own legendary tier items, so spending a couple of hundred dollars for a full set of equipment might be a decent initial investment, especially if it helps you to kill elite packs over the long haul and earn many times more than what you spent.
In addition to a $1.00 transaction fee, Blizzard will take a 15% cut for every sale you make, which isn't too bad given that they're providing players with a platform on which to earn a profit.
As the rule goes, you have to spend money to make money—and Diablo III is no exception.
