http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=109265#p1434185
i would just like to add to this discussion a little. i really don't understand the purpose of the (*) starred gold-cost at all. sometimes it's used to legit be a variable cost but most of the time it's presence is arbitrary.
Cavalry Escort says "Battle, (*): If this Follower is in your hand, Recruit your target Personality (paying all costs) for 5 more gold and attach this Follower (ignoring all costs) to him." but that's silly because the recruitment action already states that you'll pay gold. the way i think it should be worded to make the most sense is, "Battle, (5): If this Follower is in your hand, Recruit your target Personality (paying all costs because that's already how recruitment works) and attach this Follower (ignoring all costs) to him."
i don't understand why in Cav escort it specifies that you are paying all costs for your recruitment but on Second City Market is does not specify to pay all costs.
so either the (*) can be ignored completely because paying gold is already implied with the recruitment action (and equip action on some cards). or Second City Market already brings a holding into play for free because it does not specify to pay all costs (like cav escort does) and i'll just choose to pay 0 for the variable (*).