Limited item

Limited is a label given to catalog items available in finite quantities. They are initially sold by ROBLOX for a set price until they are discontinued; they may then be traded for other items or re-sold for Robux.

Concept
Limited items are classed as 'collectibles' by Roblox, which means that multiple copies of a specific Limited item can be attained and stored in a user's inventory. They are a quintessential part of the trade system, and in practice function quite similarily to tradable and/or sell-able items in other virtual economies such as the Steam Community Market. Limited items can be quite volatile in their values, e.g. one day the Beautiful Hair for Beautiful Space People could be worth 3,000 Robux in RAP and the next day go down to 2,700 (this type of volatility also depends on how highly demanded the Limited item is and how many copies of it are in circulation).

Rare
Users consider an item rare when it has both a low stock and high demand. Although some items may sell for a high price, they may not be considered rare because it has low demand. Due to the low stock, the recent average prices (also known as RAP) may be low, and the item is thus perceived of less value. Rare items make up for some of the most expensive items and the reason for their low RAP is because hardly any copies are ever sold. Two notable examples of rare items include the first Limited item ever made, the Green Bow Tie, as well as the most expensive Limited(U) item ever, Dominus Empyreus.

High demand
A limited with high demand is wanted by a large number of people, which is why many of these items have moderate stocks but are worth considerably more than you would expect (such as Valkyrie Helm).

Projected
A limited that is projected is intentionally sold for a very high price while the RAP dramatically rises extremely high. They mostly vary with low stock (around 10,000 or less) and are not sold as much by users. These limiteds are not as favored by the community and are considered to be 'foul' or 'scamming' items, to commonly fool traders.

Poisoned
A limited that is poisoned is an item that has been stolen from a user's account. These items contain risk of the owner of that limited to be banned without awareness. They are not commonly traded around but can be traded for without notice. Being banned from a poisoned item can be appealed, but it depends if you intentionally or unintentionally traded for the item.

Controversy
Although Limited items follow the general rule of supply and demand after they sell out and change price according to that rule, many players still dislike this because of instances like an item being sold for 50 Robux rising to 50,000 in a short span of time. Some players also criticize Limited items because there may not be any resellers of certain items, making it impossible to obtain them even though they aren’t actually offsale. This issue is exacerbated by 'hoarders', a term used to describe users who buy or trade for a high quantity of a specific Limited item in order to take those copies out of circulation in the hopes of increasing the item's value to be resold at a profit.

In terms of the market, price-warring is an issue with Limited items. A price war initially consists of a player wanting to sell their Limited item, so they put it up for sale at the cheapest price. Then, another player wants to sell their copy of that Limited item so they put theirs up for an even cheaper price. This results in the first user becoming agitated and taking their item off the market, then putting it up again with a price that is usually 1-10 less Robux than the second person. A loop of undercutting then ensues until one person gives up and stops lowering their prices. This behavior is criticised because it hinders people from selling their items and is also quite toxic.

Trivia

 * SpammedPrivateSales.jpg users with at least 10 copies or more of the same limited item may spam the "Private Sales" section of the limited item's page, with each copy usually costing the same price.
 * When a user purchases a limited item, it will appear next to the last item the user bought after it became a limited item.