Gangstaconomy

Continuing our thought experiment about an economic system fit for a GTA-like MMORPG, I'd like first to explore one of the possible sources of money in the game.

1. Selling Items
Rather than a medieval-like town/store/craftsmen approach to turning in items for cash, I expect pawn shops, fences and players to be involved in the exchange of items for cash.
The pawn shop can mirror the real-world model by giving a claim ticket for the player to use later when they are at more of a cash advantage in order to recover their item. This would be especially useful if the use of some items are skill or level-based so that a newbie can get some working capital until they're ready to use the item. Pawn shops will pay the "street" price for the item which may be higher or lower than it's "listed" value subject to variables like which town you are in or even which game world you are in - tied to the supply and demand of the item in that specific environment.
Fences could be NPCs or maybe even a player class. They would try to give the least possible amount for your item - maybe with some "negotiating" taking place during the sale transaction - and you wouldn't be able to get it back like from the pawn shop. But maybe, as opposed to the pawn shop, selling to the fence makes the item untraceable back to you,which is convenient if you are cashing in a stolen item that is marked with the original owner's ID. Keeping rival gangs off your trail should have some value in this kind of gaming environment.
Player-to-player selling would probably take place through the usual item exchange window. Maybe there are player skills that allow you to remove identification from objects so they don't trace back to you. If you are familiar with Second Life you will recall that in-game objects there have properties related to creator, ownership and the ability to give the item to someone so this would be relevant here as well.

Next topic - Payment for services