So, you are a hero wandering round in Tamriel, doing good/bad/neutral acts. You do a quest on behalf of a Daedric prince and they reward you with one of their special artefacts (e.g Goldbrand, Masque of Clavicus Vile, Spellbreaker, Ring of Khajiit e.t.c)

Some time later, you spend all your gold and you attempt to sell your magical priceless artefact. What happens to you? It's pretty major disrespect to the Prince who gave it to you...

Long story short, could you actually sell a daedric artefact in Tamriel without getting a can of whoopass opened up on you for your disrespect?

The pre apotheosis CoC or any hero before Morrowind besides Cyrus would. But the Nerevarine and Dovahkiin don't take [censored] from Daedra.

Depends who you sell it to, I suppose. I would imagine that the Princes would be more miffed if you kept it unused in a chest. Mephala might be pleased if you sold the blade to some assassin, Dagon would be quite happy if you gave the Razor to some feuding lord in High Rock, etc.

EDIT: Pretty sure the CoC wouldn't take [censored] from the Daedra either. He did pretty much singlehandedly fend off an invasion from the Deadlands.

Clavicus Vile probably wouldn't mind.

*giving Dawnbreaker to necromancer with trollface on*

I wouldn't worry about Daedric Princes feeling ill-served. They don't watch over mortals, sometimes not even over their own servants , though it would make sense that they know of the whereabouts of their artifact at all times. Powerful items change their owners pretty often. I don't think most Daedric Princes would mind having theirs sold, especially if that means spawning more misrule. And if I choose not to use them...so what? Your fault, Daedroth, for gifting me, a flamboyant questing hero, with your junk. They give 'em away only to mortals worthy of them.

Selling them is most likely illegal. Keep this in mind if you're playing a lawful character, but anyway, before selling your artifact, think of the consequences. The merchant you sell it to might not use it wisely, or as it was intended to, or a thief might snatch it later, and then a bunch of dumb bandits would get their hands on, say, The Razor. I never sell my artifacts for this reason.

Generally the Daedric Princes like for their artifacts to have continued use, which is very difficult when somebody doesn't want it at all anymore or it's owned by someone who won't use it.

As for the Skeleton Key...

They wouldn't care. Their instrument to effect Mundus still exists, and will still be used to further their ends.

Or the Wabbajack.

Outside of game mechanics, would a merchant even buy a Daedric artifact? I imagine an honorable merchant wouldn't want to touch such things, but that's assuming he even knew what it was to begin with. Sell a guy a little ring with a doggy head on it, how is he supposed to know that it belongs to Hircine?

I imagine incidents like the staff of the everscamp arising. Minus the Sheogorath deucebaggery attached to it. It would escalate until they find some unsuspecting dope the player character to take it off their hands...which would end up in a quest of some sort. Either that or they toss it into the ocean/deepest part of the lake they find.

poor nocturnal.... gets stuff stolen, then sold....

Staff of Everscamp was so fun. I maxed my sneak blunt and h2h on that thing. Plus you can get a AoE frenzy spell and hit the scamps with it to make crowd control distractions. It was a very fun toy overall.

I was going to make a post refuting the implication

But I suppose it would be more fitting if I didn't! This shall remain even more a mystery to you than it ever would have otherwise been.

They probably wouldn't be happy, though it depends on the buyer. Say you sold it to a wealthy collecter, who would keep it locked up in a glass display case forever. This certainly defeats the purpose of the artifact. They give them to adventurers for a reason: so they are used.

Has anyone tried dropping one on the ground of a crowded marketplace like in Riften? That would reveal the answer wouldn't it? Not only are you giving the artefact away to some non person, you aren't even wanting compensation for doing so.

Though I'd image some Princes would be rather pleased to see the chaos as the plebs fought to the death over who got it...

Some might be disgusted others wouldn't care, but there really isn't a lot they can do about it. Azura drove the person that used her star mad, but it took her quite some time to do it and it didn't work out exactly as she hoped, because she still had to send a champion in to finish the job. Boethiah also hated the one wielding her articact and yet she did nothing, until you came along and she also decided to send a champion. Molag Bal his mace was rusted and he did nothing until a champion appeared that could release the curse on his shrine and then he gifted you the mace. Mehrunes also needed a champion to rebuild his dagger, though to be fair he didn't seem to care until you came up to him. Still you'd assume that if he had the ability he would have taken it back and restored it by now. Anyway, I don't think you have anything to worry about as long as your character remains one of the most powerful people out there, there isn't a problem.

Just beat the [censored] out of the Daedra Lord champions that come to hurt you.

The shopkeepers might face a different situation however, they're screwed.

Explanation? <.<