What is gear worth?

Boop boop boop boop-boop boop boop boop!!

We interrupt this series of Cataclysm zone reviews to bring you breaking news!

=====

I'm still gearing up for raiding, but last night some very nice BOE leather caster shoulders dropped. As per guild policy, they will be available for guildies to purchase at half price, or will be sold for full price on the AH to fund the gbank.

As the resident druid healer, I get slight priority in buying them. In fact, I feel rather pressured to do so. The estimate given was 15k, and I've got double that in the bank, with 20k or so spread out across other alts. Strangely enough, although I would (and will) spend that much when I finally scrape together my chopper, I'm balking at the price. Fifteen thousand gold? For a BOE purple? That's ridiculous!

What's the difference, though? The same amount of gold for a ground mount or epic shoulders. Sure, the mount will never be replaced or upgraded, but it is a vanity item. It won't buff my, and by extension, my raid's gear. And it would give me one less slot to worry about filling. It should be a no-brainer to grab the piece, equip it, and never look back.

And yet! Fifteen thousand gold for one single piece of gear!! Oddly enough, my first reaction is that it's somehow not earned if you buy it. But here I am grinding rep to buy epic necklaces and trinkets. And I'll probably buy mats to craft the LW chest. As far as working for gear, for every piece I win off a boss in a heroic, I'm earning points to spend on more pieces.

So it comes down to price - assuming I expend no effort to earn a piece, how much gold am I willing to pay for it? Like I said, I can afford it. And aside from the big ticket mounts I plan to buy and the various chants and gems I will always need, what is the gold for? It's mine to use as I please - I could hoard it like a dragon, sitting gleefully on my glittering gbank. I could (and am!!) expend it on materials for profession or reputation grinds (/lick Darkmoon). I could even throw it down on these sweet new shoulders and get a head start on my sick purpz.

I mailed the bank manager to indicate interest. I decided to try to grind out at least 10k by whenever the due date is to buy. It's off to a good start - cleaning out my enchanter's bank netted me about 2k, and I'm slowly selling +10 stats to chest scrolls from her leveling (note to self: save one for myself). From there, I'll work for the gold - doing dailies in addition to selling whatever I can farm up. If the other druid beats me to it, so be it. If not, well, guild repairs are on me!