Economics of magical items

How Adventurers Acquire Permanent Magical items

Successful adventurers that do not want to retire from adventuring often come into large quantities of treasure and many opt to buy magical to make them better at adventuring and thus able to earn more treasure, rinse and repeat.
Or they just steal the magical items from other people.

How Everyone Else Acquires Permanent Magical items

The only non-adventurers who have a reasonable shot at acquiring magical items are mostly landed nobles and high ranking ecclesiastical leaders. Wealthy merchants and guild leaders might be able to afford lower end magical items.
Unless these people dabble in adventuring or are retired adventures, they probably do not have access to financial windfalls to let them have the money and resources to commission magical items, but they have fairly large and steady income stream.
If a rich person wants a magical item, it is very similar to a rich person constructing a castle, a masterpiece of artwork, a top of the line sailing ship, or a rare piece of jewelry. In other words, he or she is going to have save up money for months or even years or maybe take a large loan (which will then require saving and scrimping later to make the installments and interest payments).
During this time of savings, the would-be magical item owner may or may not have to sacrifice routine creature comforts or public flexes of wealth (feasts, festivals, patronage of the arts, etc). After the necessary scrimping and saving is done, then the rich people can commission the creation of a magical item.
Or they just steal the magical items from other people.

You got the money, What next?

Unless the would-be magical item owner has the ability to make magical items herself, she is going to find someone who can make the item.
This is not as hard as it sounds. Most people who can make magical items and are not especially picky about whom they work for are fairly well-known and accessible.
The magical item crafter may have to do some research to figure out how to construct what their client is asking for, but if the item is fairly commonly sought out item like Bags of Holding or magical armor buckle, then the crafter probably already knows how to make the item, or at least knows which book has the recipe.
Then the would-be magical item crafter will probably gives the would-be client a list of requirements for specific types of reagents required for the item, then tell their client to come back with the reagents and additional payment.
Game Master Tip: reagent hunts make good side quests.
The reagents are usually non-negotiable, but the payment is very much open to negotiation. Given that the mages and theurgists that can make permanent magical items are usually powerful and well-established, they often already have a steady stream of income for their magical services, thus the payment they require is not always monetary.
Game Master Tip: Non-monetary payment for a magical item could involve another quest.
Once all the materials are collected, most permanent magical items can be completed in a couple weeks or a couple months at most.

You have the magical item, What next?

Earlier, this article made a parallel between castles, rare jewelry, masterpiece artwork, and fine sailing ships with permanent magical items in terms of expense and budgeting. There are many other parallels.
Castles and sailing ships are primarily seen as investments. Jewelry and artwork are status symbols. Magical items are usually seen as investments and status symbols.
One thing all these valuable items have in common is that the owner almost certainly intends to keep the item for his or her entire life and almost certainly intends to pass these treasures off to his or heirs, be they offspring or ideological heirs tied by a lineages of wisdom. Most magical items, like castles and masterpiece artwork are built to last essentially forever or at least are built to last for multiple generations.
So this means that while it is fairly rare for a new magical item to be crafted, magical items themselves are not as uncommon as one might think because so many noble houses and religious institutions happen to have heirloom magical items.
Going back to jewelry, let's say that the Royal Crown of Fumaya has 350 gold pieces worth of rare gems and precious metals in it and long ago, a master jeweler was paid 50 gold pieces to craft it as a work of art. In theory, the Royal Crown of Fumaya is worth 400 gold pieces, but effectively the crown is priceless and priceless is not that different from worthless.
There are a small number of people in Scarterra that have 400 gold pieces of discretionary funds, but none of them are looking to buy the Royal Crown of Fumaya.
If hypothetically, the king of Fumaya decided his kingdom's cash shortage was a such a serious problem that he was willing to sell the crown, he might find a wealthy noble or eccentric adventurer willing to pay him 200 gold pieces for the crown, but that is not the full value, and a king selling his crown would be a huge source of shame and dishonor.
Heirloom magical items are very much the same as crown jewels. Just because your grandfather paid 500 gold pieces for your house's magic sword doesn't mean anyone is willing and able to pay your 500 gold pieces for it, and if you sold your grandfather's magic sword, you would bring great shame on your family, even if you managed to sell it for it's full value.
There are many lords and ladies, even whole noble households that are deep in debt with empty coffers who happen to own several priceless heirlooms they cannot sell.
When heirloom jewelry or heirloom magical items do change hands, it is often part of a non-monetary transaction of great importance. Perhaps it is signifying a royal marriage or the signing of a great alliance or is ransoming a captured prince.
That's not to say it's impossible to buy a used magical item. Magical items of 150 gold pieces or less are quite valuable, but they are not priceless. Rich people can buy and sell items like this without causing a major scandal. Also, jewelry and artwork of this level can be sold without causing a major scandal.

Example, Duke Cezerary Zimoz

Duke Zimoz has to pay the wages of many servants and soldiers. He has to feed all his soldiers and servants. He has to pay masons and engineers to shore up the wear and tear on his walls and castle. After all the expenses to his realm, he might have a few hundred gold pieces left over at the end of the year if he's lucky, but Duke Zimoz owns four very valuable things.
Duke Zimoz has a ducal crown that originally cost 150 gold pieces to make. The crown sits on the duke's head. He would still be duke without the crown, but he would never sell it because that would dishonor his realm and his family.
The Bow of Zimoz was wielded by his illustrious ancestor Zimoz the Archer and namesake for House Zimoz. The bow has amazing accuracy and penetrating power and can strike at incorporeal targets. His ally, an adventurer named Neshik was able to study the bow and make a near perfect replica for 500 gold pieces worth of Reagents . That doesn't mean Duke Zimoz could sell the Bow of Zimoz, it would be a huge dishonor to his family to sell their namesake bow. The Bow of Zimoz is usually locked inside a vault and only brought out for ceremonial purposes.
Duke Zimoz has a magical sword crafted by his grandfather who spent roughly 200 gold pieces on it. Duke Zimoz usually keeps the sword sheathed on his person as a badge of office, but since Zimoz is getting a bit too old for fighting, his son and heir is actually the one leading his men into battle. When his son goes off to war, Duke Zimoz loans him the family sword to show that he is acting on behalf of the family and the realm. He would never let anyone other than his son use the sword. It is not as important as the Bow of Zimoz, but it is still a heirloom of the House and part of the badge of office.
Duke Zimoz has a magical armor buckle worth about 100 gold pieces. When the Duke's son is leading men into battle, he is wearing the buckle, but when the Duke's son is not in danger, Duke Zimoz does not lock the item away, it's too utilitarian to not use. Usually the buckle is worn by his marshal or by his knightly bodyguard. If Duke Zimoz loss the buckle, he would be upset at the loss of a valuable item, but he wouldn't be dishonored and humiliated.