I like gold as an item too.
I had no issue with the trade system, but that's probably because I played Divine Divinity not long ago, so some sort of tutorial is probably required otherwise at release, the internet will go full "I lost all my gold cos retard trade system i hate this game 0.5/10" and so on.
Oh and there is no autobalancing because you can make gifts to npc to improve their attitude toward you (the number below their level).
