In the last LiveStream and prior in some interviews from CR we know that CIG shoots for a complete Player driven Market.
That means that most components or goods will be selled and buyed by Players ranging from minerals over components to Weapons and Ships.
The only MMO with such a Market system is EVE Online so I suggest that new Players should download EVE to have a market roundtrip there.
Here some points of the marketsystem in EVE Online:
Blueprints and few things get seeded/dropped by NPCs (SellOrders, NPC wrecks, Missions)
Sellers need to pay a tax (Buy orders maybe too)
Buy Orders
Sell Orders
WTB/WTS/WTT Contracts
Delivery Contracts
CCP (the developers of EVE Online) had (have?) a Economist working for them to analyse the market in EVE Online.
He did made Quartal reports for the players:
ALL: http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Quarterly_Economic_Newsletter
Latest from 2010: http://cdn1.eveonline.com/community/QEN/QEN_Q4-2010.pdf
Lot of Numbers