This is very true.Tadachini wrote: ↑06 September 2020, 15:43
When I have a Trading Post, I might sometimes buy a brown resource for 2 gold from a weaker opponent instead of for 1 gold from the leader. In that way I deny money (which is flexibility and points) to the leader - I have better position to become a leader myself. It's very rare (1 in 25 games), but it happens once in a while.
The remaining question would be, are you allowed to give 2 gold instead of 1 to the same player for the same good (by not using a Market card for example) ? i guess not