if i were to replay my started game, i'd skip Identify completely and go lvl5 repair instead. Both are money savers. But it has been my observation that the cost for Id is fixed (100-150gp) while cost for repairing goes up with item value(had to pay 400gp to repair a crappy shield 60%>100%). Also, so far every merchant i met can Id. and very few can actually repair.
id:free + rep:400=400
vs
id:100gp + rep:free=100
i can imagine the difference will be more and more with higher loot value.
