In my opinion, there is something fishy going on with val hammers. I was just approached by a newbie looking char wanting to get a vendor at my shop. I asked him what he was wishing to sell, and his response was only valorite hammers. I told him sorry, but no. I then saw him in the bank spamming selling val hammers and when someone asked him how much, his answer was how many you want?
So yes, something is fishy and they are not using any of our shops to do it in.