Hard to imagine this kind of trouble wasn't foreseen upon design. I'm all for free markets and the last one to blame someone who does all the pioneering and reaps the benefits for it. But some standard of transparency ought to be in order. It's just frustrating for those coming later who were led to believe that doing the badges is the only obstacle to getting what they were shown. Nobody ever announced with publication of the new missions (or did I miss it, too?) that stocks are limited. I didn't like this at the Calypso dailies either.
So, if it was indeed part of the plan to make people fight over it, then why not place the vendor in the hub? Let the fight play out in the game, not on the market. Let the badges missions as is, but additionally give access only to the avatar who survives a series of duels (I guess 3 would be just right). And then limit purchase to one set per instance (or give it for free then, if the fighting expenses already cover the revenue). Problem solved, plus it will draw people into the hub who haven't been too keen on it before (like me).
I could imagine this to be even more fun for the shiny, unlimited, account-bound armour which initially was at the center of this controversy. Here, after the badges again, limit purchase to just one piece per instance. This would require one to win 7 tournaments for completing the set. I would find this effort appropriate, if the stats are as good as Initiate's. It would certainly continue to be in high demand for specific missions with acid-heavy mobs on several planets.
!