Hehe - there is so little dialogue in the camp in act III compared to Act I. No one says anything even if the most crazy shit is happening right in front of them. Seems like such an unfinished act. Much like playing Act I in Early Access.
I never had him function as a vendor - how can you make him do that?
In the previous acts, since you get dialogue options, there is a button icon on the lower left corner where you can select trade during a dialogue. The catch is that dialogue must have a response option so the dialogue doesn't automatically end and kick you out of the dialogue cutscene like it does in Act 3.