Intrinsic

Use the merits to buy special salvage like enhancement converters or boosters, or buy Winter-Os (can't remember their name on the reward vendor atm).

Influence was an important part of the game when I had none. The struggle to acquire resources and gear is part of playing an MMO. It's fun to climb the power curve. Dropping new players on top of the curve robs them of any satisfaction in getting there on their own. CoH is already an easy game in that regard, it doesn't need to be made easier IMO.

The last 5 typically doesn't convey the full price range for an item. That said, if you're getting good prices, sell 'em while you can.

Most or all of the supply of Javelin proc enhancements in the AH is coming from other PvP enhancements that have been converted into Javelin procs, not from Javelin proc recipes. The price of the recipes is not going to increase the price of the enhancements. It's the other way around, the price of the converted enhancements is depressing the price of the recipes. If enhancement converters didn't exist, those recipes would be selling at a much higher price.

The few times I've bought 100+ of anything at 'buy it now' prices those orders filled in seconds. Granted I've barely played in the last few months, but are players nowadays experiencing longer delays?

Modern marketeers aren't like the old-school folks. Most markeeters nowadays spend their time converting unwanted (and cheap) recipes into desirable enhancements, giving a massive boost to their supply compared to natural drops. Converting takes time and effort, and the increase in supply of said enhancements means their profits are reduced, but if it wasn't for them we'd probably be paying 100 million for a single LOTG. So yes, thanks to the marketeers who supply enhancements for the rest of to enjoy. (and don't thank me, I'm a retired old-school ebil one)

The real jackpot in the super packs used to be the reward merits. Back when enhancement boosters were selling for 1.5-2 million inf each, a 100-merit card from a pack was worth 30-40 million inf. They're not worthless now, but the value of reward merits has been hit hard by long-term deflation.

My decision to sell a recipe on the AH is based on the demand for the recipe. If there are a hundred copies of a recipe for sale with no open bids, I'll just dump that one onto the NPC vendor. If there is competitive bidding for a recipe then I'll list it based on the last five sales amount. At this point I do it more to participate in the economy and help on the supply side than to make huge profits.

I used to sell them regularly for around 1.7-1.8 million. As you say, the long term has trended towards deflation. There is some buoyancy at the current price level for boosters, as other options for merits have become more attractive.

If I received 10 million emails with 75 inf each, I'd be very upset.

My career as a marketeer was built around buying stuff that other players sold too cheaply. So thank you Ukase. Also, no refunds!

I remember when CoH was first released. Some of the folks I knew who frequented MMO forums at the time bought the game, powerleveled their characters up to 40 or 50 in the fastest and most boring ways possible, realized there was essentially nothing to do at max level (exemplaring had not been implemented yet), and immediately quit while proclaiming that the game sucked. Their previous experiences with other MMOs had conditioned them to play in a certain way, race to max level ASAP and start grinding through the endgame. I was in a raid guid in Everquest, and we used to say that the real game began at level 50 (or 60, or whatever max level was depending on the current expansion). Twenty years later, I believe this mindset is still present in most MMOs. CoH is an exception to the rule in this respect, and it confounds veterans from other MMOs.

CoH does not have a typical economy. As Zect mentioned above, CoH's market is very inefficient by design. Increased competition serves to reduce those inefficiencies, or at least offset them. It's bad for players who want to engage in arbitrage (as I used to do). It's good for players who just want to use the AH to sell their loot or equip their characters.

Having a massive increase in market participation is pretty much the opposite of destroying the market. More competition is good for the market as a whole, even as it squeezes profits for crafters and middlemen.

Update: two days later, still no sale. I popped in on the character a few times over the last couple of days. Checking the last five, I did see some sales at 90-100K, but I also frequently saw 60-80K. Also, there are a lot of unslotters for sale. That's likely putting downward pressure on the price. Sorry OP, but I don't think it's a glitch. A 90K listing price is just too high right now.