Sounds like you have low Speech Speech will directly affect the prices paid when buying from and selling to merchants, even without the assorted perks.
At 0 speech, merchants will sell items for 3 times their base price, and buy for a third of their base price.
At 100 speech, merchants will sell items for twice their base price and buy for half.
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/2986/Robb
The value in your inventory is the worth of the item.
Vendors will give you a percentage of that value based on your speechcraft skill and other factors.
Likewise they will sell it for a multiple of that value.
Specifically the price is: Sell price = [ value of item ] /
[ 3.3 - (1.3
* [speech skill]/100) ]
*
[(1 +
Haggling %)
* (1 + Allure %)
* (1 + Fortify Barter from potion)
* (1 + the sum of Fortify Barter from equipment + Fortify Barter from Blessing of Zenithar)
From the UESP Wiki.
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/12704/Canageek
Are you using your perks on speech at all?
You need to pick the basic speech improvement perk at the bottom of the tree.
It'll get the vendors to sell at a much better rate.
Simply ramping up to 100 will help a bit, but not nearly as much as the perks.
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/19978/Tim
You can easily get the true value without the speech perks ( accounting for 100 speech skill).
Some ways: Mask of Clavicus Vile, a deadric (daedric?)
artifact -> 20% betterprices (also known as Fortify Barter - FB) Thieves guild helmets 10% nooby ones
15% better set (I think) Cicero breast piece -> 20% better prices
Amulet of Zenitar -> 10% better prices An necklace of another deity (which I don't remember) - 10%.
I found it with my first character ever Sometimes you can find necklaces in general stores with FB up to 20% With all the best items above you can get 60%+50% from 100 speech, that gets you 110%.
I'm not sure if you can actually get more than the true value for items but you could always try.
I'm fairly sure I didn't listed all FB equipment in the game.
Now say can't get all the equipment listed abover or, for RP reasons chose not to, then there are FB potions;
which would be "random of haggling" and the higest I've seen was either 30 or 40% in the game.
Then there's the fact that many skills can be used to make large amount of cash such as: Normal Enchanting Alchemy (easiest I think) Blacksmith
( after the first 60 levels it starts paying off itself I think) For those shadey characters, you can pickpocket everyone in Riften.
If you get caught - and you're in the Thieves Guild - you only have to pay half of the bounty normally is.
And guys if you're having trouble with money try doing a bunch of petty quests or some factions Quest line.
Faction Quest lines are always very rewarding.
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/24935/user24935
I have gotten at least 61% confirmed sale value out of my x360 legendary edition of skyrim with all expansions and patches that were given for consoles.
My speech is only about 69 or 70 right now, I have only one rank of haggling, another 35% of fortify barter from equipment, and no bonus from allure.
I did not calculate buy value just now but the 2/1 ration should roughly hold so I should be buying items at around 125-135% of actual value depending just how specifically the math works out.
I'm not sure what that last 30% of speech penalty does to affect the other math without sitting down and doing it all longhand.
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/136634/Nosir
When you pick up items in Skyrim it tells you the value of each item. However when I go and sell the items the merchants are only paying 30% of this value, at best.  Discounting any perks or other effects, how high does Speechcraft have to be before merchants start paying full value for items?
When do merchants start paying the actual value of items without bonus effects and perks?
gaming.stackexchange.com
<the-elder-scrolls-5-skyrim>
gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/38173
gaming.stackexchange.com/users/1561/jwaddell
Pick up the basic speech improvement perk at the bottom of the tree. To improve bartering skills and sell at higher value, the most simple way is to advance the speech improvement perk.
Player suggesting a perk.