According to what ive came up with, Auction houses in SRO would cause a major economy crash, why you may ask,
look at another game that utilizes the AH, World of Warcraft, how many items does WOW have? it has such a large quantity and variety their is always a way to sell something eventually, however in silkroad you have the same weapons for the same level, in an ah you may have 1 - 40 level 24 spears, each price undercutting the previous, very few of these would actually sell as players would choose the one with the lowest price based on the stats. thus in a desperate attempt to sell the SAME ITEM people continue lowering the price till its eventually cheaper to sell to a merchant...
In terms of crafting materials
Mithril bars in wow, tons of em on the ah yes they sell, but why o master senjai? well Mithril are used in a certain level of crafting professions, and are always in demand, also they take a certain amount of skill to obtain, you dont obtain these while you level just because, it is a seperate skill you have to level up.
Elements are used as the ONLY crafting material in SRO, thus you have everyone selling the same stuff, lower and lower and lower, as the supply can usually outnumber the demand
these are my opinions feel free to debate, but in the meanwhile no more AH posts
