I always assumed the 50% value reflected a "like-new" condition and it was the max. Once you start going above that it could really mess up how much money the group has and skew the whole wealth-by-level thing. For in-game justification, if you've ever watched Pawn Starts they always argue that, "Well, we have to pay rent and store upkeep so we have to make a profit and we gotta quickly sell the stuff otherwise it just rots on our shelves and takes up space."
I personally use a 10% resale value on normal gear to merchants for players 'offloading stuff'. 50% i use for masterwork and Magic Items because of the greater quality. basically 'normal gear' is treated like offloading to a pawn shop in value, to use a modern equivalent.
If a PC opens a shop, pays local fees etc, he can sell it for full price ...but that would be contingent on actual buyer demand. Odds are those "42 sawtooth sabers" aren't going to fly off the shelves...and could get you some unwanted attention...and the rest of the party can go off and adventure while the one character semi-retires to be a shopkeeper.
That being said, there is many different ways to handle it, and i am only sharing my own personal one.
I usually allow a diplomacy check (typically DC 15 or so, more or less depending on circumstances) to get anything more than 50%.
My take on the resale of magic items is that 50% is a convenience factor. Some things will sell for less, some for more, but consistently trying to get more will take time - potentially lots of time looking for an optimal buyer. If they wanted to hold off on selling something in order to get a better price, they're either out of adventuring time longer or they're hiring agents for their sales (and I think they'd charge about 10-20% for that service).
It depends on what kind of game you want to have. Sticking to WBL prevents lots of headaches later. Published adventures and the treasure charts are all designed to keep on WBL with gear sold at 50%. If you and your players like to haggle and all that stuff, let them have the extra 10%. Just make sure the shop keepers "clean up" their wares, adding 10% to some purchase prices. It means more work for you keeping track of all the adjustments, because you'll want to keep it all balanced in the end.
My players and I are more interested in the action and story, so we stick to you can buy it for 100% and sell it at 50%.
This.
Unless they have specific abilities that allow you to alter the price (negotiator archetype) or have a special relationship with a merchant (saved their life, family member, significant other, etc.), make them sell it at 50%. It's for game balance.
I'm actually running a WotW game right now where the rogue took a cohort who's entire purpose is to manipulate the market and get a price increase on sold goods. He is a bard with the negotiator archetype so he actually has a class function to alter prices. Between that and the wizard having 4 crafting feats, they're quite good at being merchants. But this is with significant effort and being specialized in doing this. Don't make it as easy as "make a diplomacy".
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My players have tried over and over to get better deals, and I keep telling them I am sticking to the rules, since it makes things a lot easier for me, and it keeps them balanced. Otherwise I have to increase CR more and more as they become more powerful.
I use the Reputation and Fame rules with the characters, and told them they could buy use the Fence Friend title to get a better deal. So far none have taken me up on it, they'd rather save their prestige points for the eventual resurrection. Other ways are to use the special archetypes or class abilities.
Retraining rules help here too, since the players then have to choose "you spend a few days of off time polishing old armor, or you can use those few days to increase your hp or change a feat that's no longer useful"
Tell them to ask themselves, are they adventurers or shopkeepers and farmers?
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I think the answer to this question has a lot to do with the players in your group. My current group HATES HATES HATES any kind of book-keeping regarding party resources. No-one wants to manage party inventory, and nobody really wants to role-play selling off mundane loot unless everyone knows that the focus of session is going to be shopping. Some players might get into that, in which case you can make a kind of mini-game out of it, but my current group has no patience for it.
I've recently turned to Ultimate Campaign's downtime system as an answer, and when the party asks about the value of loot which isn't plot-related, I give them an answer in "Capital". For example: "All of these ratty Goblin weapons and armor are worth 1 point of Goods", etc. It saves time at the table looking up the value of 50+ small sized short swords and sets of leather armor in various states of repair and while the party hasn't done anything with their capital yet, I'm sure once they amass enough of it they'll find a use for it.
This question makes me wonder. Treasure includes goods, more often than not. So say your four-member party comes across a like number of +1 longswords. A GM will of course figure some of these will be sold.
Then his group reminds him that they're composed of a dwarven wizard, a halfling archer, a scimitar-swinging cleric, and as a frontliner a well-built, well-played, but ultimately unarmed monk. Then the other group you're with is made up of a pack of elves who fall on the swords like candy.
How does one rate these as far as WBL?