Unlocking lower level dyes

When you get an Unidentified Dye that is neither account nor soul bound, your best bet is to sell it on the Black Lion Trading Post (default key "O") and use its profits to buy the lower level dyes that you have not yet unlocked.

For example, at the time of this post an Unidentified Dye will sell right away for 15 silver and 27 copper; while identified dyes start as low as 1 silver and 1 copper. So, you could probably get at least 10 dyes for selling the single unidentified dye. I've been recommending this method to my guild-mates for some time, and thought I would share this with the community.

Also, be aware that your character's birthday presents can involve some sort of dye unlock (which tends to be account bound). I recommend checking the Black Lion Trading Post (BLTP or sometimes simply TP) before opening and unlock the one that is most highly valued there.

The GW2 wiki is also useful for determining dye value as it usually indicates the current BLTP value along the right side of the screen.

While we are mentioning the BLTP, it is also useful for getting rid of recipes that you have already learned (sometimes at a profit). In the case of recipe books (e.g. Viper's), you can type "viper" in the search field and will find the items with "viper" in their names (mostly recipes) and can check their current TP value to figure out which one you want to open and then sell on the TP.

Good luck! Have Fun!

Good advice.

Math details

Based on the drop rate data for unID dyes I've seen and assuming all dyes within a category are equally likely, it's almost always true that selling the unID to buy the colors you want is best, even if you don't have any unlocked. Typically, the difference is substantial: when unID dyes were 50-60s, the average value of opening them was closer to 40-45s. On the whole, this also includes any value you'd get from salvaging the dyes for pigment (which is sometimes worth more than the dye itself).

Today, because dyes are cheaper and pigment is momentarily pricier (due to the upgrades you can buy for the Enchanted Snowball), the difference between opening and selling on the TP is the smallest I've noticed since I started tracking nearly 5 years ago. The average value of opening is ~15.5s while you can get about 16.5 from selling outright (using custom sell offers).

However, as @"Invisible Pete.7290" implies, "average" isn't the only way to look at it. Common dyes are much, much more common than uncommon and if we compare the median value of dyes (taking into account drop rates), then the likely value from opening a few dyes is closer to 8s.

Or put more simply (taking TP fees into account)

• You can get 15-17s from selling the unID dyes (the higher price if you use custom offers)
• If you open stacks of unID, on average you'd get 14-16s.
• If you only open dozens (or fewer) unID, it's more likely that you'll get 8s

Or in the simplest terms:

Sell unID dyes, use profits to buy the colors you need to unlock

I may be wrong but I think this is generally true for any container - the contents are highly likely to be worth less than selling the container because there will be one or more extremely rare but disproportionately valuable drops. The majority of the time you'll get the lower value drops from it, but people will buy the container to attempt to get the better drops which pushes the price up.

With unidentified dyes it's also influenced by the fact that they're used in some crafting recipes (Bifrost for example needs 100 unidentified dyes), so people will buy them regardless of the other ways to get the dyes.

On the other hand I actually enjoy opening unidentified dyes, and when I was making Bifrost and had to save them I found it surprisingly frustrating. Because they drop for free and the difference between even the least valuable dye and the unidentified version is only about 15 silver I don't mind if I open them and don't get a good drop, but I still get that moment of excitement thinking it might be something good which other people get from Black Lion Chests and other higher stakes gambling. (And very occasionally it is something good. Although I went through a phase of unlocking as many dyes as I could afford, so it's rare I get one I don't already have now.)

@"Danikat.8537" said:I may be wrong but I think this is generally true for any container - the contents are highly likely to be worth less than selling the container because there will be one or more extremely rare but disproportionately valuable drops.

You are correct: it's almost always true that the contents of containers with rare, high-value drops is worth less than the container themselves. For those without rare/high-value drops, the market prices of both are nearly always close.

So it's very unlikely that it's financially efficient to open containers rather than sell.(There are plenty of exceptions, but they all require paying attention to markets. GW2 Profits is a website that tries to help you figure that out.)

Of course, there are other reasons to open: it's fun; it's nice to pretend that the next drop is going to be a game-changer for you. (Spoiler alert: it won't be; it's just cool to imagine that it could be.)

Resources

• GW2 Profits: just containers
• GW2 Profits: Dyes: salvage or sell? (search for Unidentifed Dye to see specifics on sell-vs-open values)