Architect Archive
Thread: Just made master (wewt) now I need some advice...
Now that I'm done crafting for XP, I'm switching gears to crafting for credits
I'm not sure what to charge for my wares, though. I was figuring 4c/u or so on houses and vehicles, that seems pretty standard. But when it comes to furniture and harvesters I'm at a loss.
What's the general rule of thumb for pricing High-rate harvesters and master furniture?
Thanks so much for your help.
From the FAQ:
Q-5.1: What should I charge for a building/harvester/piece of furniture??
A-5.1: Copy/paste from ZenDragonMLS -
"Find the vendors for many of the Master Architects on your server. Go visit them. Copy down the prices. Talk with miners and ask them where they get their harvesters and how much they pay. Check the Bazaar for furniture prices. Check the Trade Forum for your server.
Then sit down and figure out what kind of business *you* want to run. If you want to be a low-cost / high-volume guy, then figure out how you can keep your operating costs as low as possible and yet pump out lots of stuff (high-volume means you will need extra lots and/or people to mine for you). If you want to focus on furniture, then you need to make sure that your vendor always has a large selection on it and you need to advertise a lot. If you want to only service miners by making high-end heavy harvesters, then figure out the economics of *their* business and charge for your harvesters based on their payback (e.g., selling someone a money-making machine that never decays for an amount that they can earn back in 2-4 days is not a recipe for long-term success.)
You get the idea: price is only *one* aspect of your whole business model. Think through how you want to play and pick your prices to fit that model. Whatever you do, don't take some "rule of thumb" like "charge X credits per unit of resources that it takes you to build it" and call it a "business model". Take more control over your business than that."
I very much disagree. I feel that the FAQ answer is much more usefuland helpful than random price quotes from people on random servers.
If someone on the server in question ever does actually respond to such requests which barely ever happens then its more than likely that they'll just give their own pricing scheme which may be high, low or dead middle for the given server. Without doing the research yourself then you won't know what the range is. Its not too hard to skim through the trade forums to find some data and you get better results than asking here where 95% of the people aren't on your server. Furthermore someone else's pricing scheme may not fit your desired business model. Do they want to be the Walmart or the Nordsroms or the Sears of their galaxy? That is something they need to figure out on their own and our price quotes from the wrong galaxy won't help.
Master_Mavric wrote:
..The best advise i can give, because I dont play on Bria, is try selling some stuff at differnt prices. See what price sells best and if someone says wow i can get it from so and so cheeper then tell them fine get it from them. I do business this way and so quite well. ...
Thats pretty good advice.
Master_Mavric wrote:
...Also the "rule of thumb" above your post that you totaly flamed is more help the this portion of the FAQ. ...
Listen Pawlin, its like I said,
Im just sick of "Quoters" and spoke my mind. Many of your posts have been vary helpful.
I intended noting to you directy. Im just sick of seeing the boards cluttered with "the FAQs say this" and "the FAQs say that." I personaly find the FAQs helpfull and maintain a copy of them on my PAs boards. HeckI contributed to them and said nothing about the lack of crediting. However, I also take intrest in what other people charge on my serverand others. A inter-galatic price generalization is very usefull to me. So are credit/unit rates. I think its to bad that somepeople dont take the time to look for posts similer to the ones they make as soon as they hit the boards, and its to bad that the boards are cluttered with this same questions over and over again. But i dont know that a direct quote from the FAQs on every one is a total answer eather. There has to be an answer to how to save all this but I dont think eather of us have found it yet. Again sorry for taking out my frustration on you. </bows>
Master_Mavric wrote:
Listen Pawlin, its like I said,
Im just sick of "Quoters" and spoke my mind. Many of your posts have been vary helpful.
Thats fine, but I really don't understand why you dislike someone quoting an existing answer. Whats the harm in copy/paste? Do we need to change the answer ever time or write it by hand each time the same questions are asked??
I intended noting to you directy. Im just sick of seeing the boards cluttered with "the FAQs say this" and "the FAQs say that." I personaly find the FAQs helpfull and maintain a copy of them on my PAs boards. Heck I contributed to them and said nothing about the lack of crediting.
I'd be happy to give you credit for any unique contribution you made to our FAQ. That goes for anyone. Just ask.
However, I also take intrest in what other people charge on my server and others. A inter-galatic price generalization is very usefull to me.
How so? I'm not sure what the price on Bloodfin matters to me on Kettemoor. Just curious why you think that is "very useful" information.
So are credit/unit rates. I think its to bad that somepeople dont take the time to look for posts similer to the ones they make as soon as they hit the boards, and its to bad that the boards are cluttered with this same questions over and over again. But i dont know that a direct quote from the FAQs on every one is a total answer eather.
Quoting the FAQ's isn't meant to be a "total answer" I'm certainly not saying it is and it should never be assumed that is my intention. I'm just sharing the already existing answer from the FAQ. It has no more or less weight than any other answer that anyone else gives.
There has to be an answer to how to save all this but I dont think eather of us have found it yet. Again sorry for taking out my frustration on you.
I don't see why you should be frustrated. I give an answer just like everyone else. Just happens that I copy/paste mine. I fail to see why that would bother you except that you might disagree with my answer. If thats the case then I'm ok with you having a different opinion. Feel free to post your viewpoint just like I post mine and if you want to debate it then thats fine with me, I welcome different viewpoints. Course doesn't mean I'll ever agree with some but I am not required to.
Ok, that works for me.
Master_Mavric wrote:
Lets just agree to disagree on this one then. CAD starts soon so im runing outa time to debate this one and im to lazzy to go try to find this thread later.
Xohamz wrote:
I'll give you what I think is a specific answer on Bria prices.
Medium harvesters:
fusion 180-200k since these pay for themselves so fast, it shouldn't be hard to move them at this cost.
mineral 50-75k (I choose 55)
water 50-75 (I choose 55)
others, because they use walls, 75k+
houses - there's no money there so I don't sell them. I consider 3cpu to be a loss (let's not debate that).
furniture - 10 cpu for master stuff, more for anything that uses wooly, torches 800-1k, a little less for medium level furniture but still more if it uses wooly.
Seriously, I think you should consider sticking with medium harvesters, fusions, city buildings / PA halls, and master furniture, in that order of priority. That is my opinion specifically relative to the Bria economy. If you are in it for credits, change to a different craft like AS, WS,CM, BE, or Chef (again, my opinion, let's not debate that). Look in our "Top 5 issues" threads and read about "consumables" and you will understand what I mean.
Hehe, which just goes to show that even server specific prices can vary wildly.
I am also on Bria,
I have seen fusions as low as 140k and as high as 210k - I price mine at 175k
Med Mins from 50-90k - I am at 50k
Med Water from 45-70k - I am at 50k
Other Meds from 75k - 110k - I am at 85k
BUT, these are my prices, they are set for various reasons, which are not always consistent, but are the way I think, others will most definitely not use my model.
1. Fusions, why 175k ? - Because I can. People will pay this, it is as simple as that. Why do they not go and buy them at 140k from somebody else ? Because I offer a range of harvesters, they can buy other stuff at a decent (competetive) price and can get everything they want in one stop. If I only offered fusions then the price might be nearer to 150k.
2. Med Mins/Waters why 50k ? This doesn't make sense when you consider the arguments I use for pricing my fusions ? Oh really, well I probably sell about the cheapest med mins in the galaxy (at least I have not seen them cheaper except for resales), I have hundreds in stock at a time, they are what brings the customers to my store in the first place, I would call them a loss leader if it were not for the fact that I make my biggest percentage profit margin on these! I sell them by the hundreds as well. Waters I simply price at the same as they use roughly the same resources, so make an equally high profit margin.
3.Other Meds why 85k? Because of how much they cost me to make, I would like to sell them higher, but that would mean my customers would not feel they are getting value for money, the price of these is held down somewhat by the price I charge for my med mins.
4. All my prices are set in line with a range that is
a) apparently accepted on my server
b) acceptable to me
c) linked to resource costs (i.e. I must make a profit in orer to survive), and
d) able to generate return business and word of mouth recommendations.
e) reflects the fact that I keep my vendors well stocked at all times, I can do this because I specialise in mediums
I do not overcharge my customers, but neither do I give the stuff away, and I most definitely do not get involved in haggling, bargaining or undercutting.