Architect Archive
Thread: How to stop the undercut....
Dayln, anyone whose fun is ruined by your business practice shoudn't be an architect.
You are 100% correct, this is business PvP war, and I will take enjoyment in burying businesses like yours. I would only hope that your intentions are the same. 
Dayln wrote:Right! Except in the current market I doubt you will bury me or me you, What will happen is those that simply cannot stand less than a 600% or 700% profit margin will give up being Archtects.
But if I do bury you ( or you me ) lets have a toast to a victory
Your confidence is so entertaining, I'm really glad that you make so many posts. I totally disagree with your business model and the logical basis you've given for choosing it, but its so refreshing to see enthusiasm rather than whining. Well ok, maybe the constant harping about .5 credit costs will eventually stop making me smile, but for now KUTMFW.
Tued the Master Builder
You gotta be confidant to be sucuessful, if you go in to a business expecting to fail, you will.
Heck I may totally fail, but I am having a blast trying to sucueed and making waves by bucking the current.
It is more fun to be different than to be the same as everyone else.
Profit = revenue - expenses
Technically, you could sell your items for 0.000001 times the resources and still make a profit, although it would be a very small one. It's really a matter of how much profit you determine that youneed to live comfortably. Some people like lots of "toys" and others are happy with a simple life.
Also, in marketing, there is a concept known as a "loss leader", where you sell something below cost just to get people in your store, hoping they will buy other items. Grocery stores do this all the time, they sell an item for a really cheap price, then put other items on display next to it hoping that you will also buy them.
In this sort of economy, you can make money by selling few items for higher prices, or by selling more items for lower prices. Which path you choose is up to you, so don't be too put off by someone who goes the opposite route. The economy will dictate which method works best for you.
Daylin it is nice to see you so enthusiastic. If you are on Bloodfin I will pay you 9k per wall module, as many as you want to sell.
I hope you retain your enthusiasm on the way to master. Every lowballing architect on my server has either raised prices drastically (I am talking 10cr a unit) on reaching master or gone out of business after a string of crit fails.
Good luck 
Dayln wrote:I understand how you feel, but I can decide what profit margins will work for my business, thank you. 2cr per resrouce price would be a400% profit margin, very profitable.
You're making 400% profit as a miner, and taking a 50% loss on architecture. As an architect, you're a failure. Play it any way you want, you're stupid.
Why anyone would sell a house for less than they could sell raw resources used in consturcting it on the bazaar is beyond me. I think it has something to do with:
Too much time on their hands
Low self worth
No business sence
But hey, do what you gotta do.
Frankly I'm getting rather fed up with Dayln spamming the boards with his/her so-called business approach. If I read one more post about "the rest of you haven't got a clue, I'm the next wallmart" I think I'm going to be sick.
In one simple -(long!) sentence... Fact: you sell too low -yes, you just about turn a profit, although your figures vary from post to post.Fact: You could make more money running newb missions. Fact: You could make more money seeling raw resources. Fact: Your grateful customers are queueing up - because your like some half-baked charity case who's prepared to work for peanuts while they enjoy the game. Fact: You claim to have to people working for/with you. Fact: They must be even dafter than you!
Let me stress I haveNO objections to how you play the game - it's yours to do with as you will. What I am starting to object to is your non-stop posts on this forum banging on about your "amazing" business skills and by implication insulting the rest of us for not realising your amazing gifts as the next Sam Walton.
Frankly, I guess I'm not alone in wishing you'd change the record or just go play the game and leave us in peace. Sorry to come across as harsh, but it's like hearing a scratchy record again and again, and I for one am bored of it. Please post about something other than your prices.
Skarra, Master Architect
People see no value in homes other then a pretty place to call your own and an ego boost. Because of this customers don't think they should need to pay a fair price by architect standards for thier product, because it's "not as useful" as other products.
I was talking with a potiental customer last night, who demanded a large house for 75K or less. Even after explaining the amount of work/resources/times/crits that go into a large house, this person insisted that my house was not worth the 150k i was asking because it was "just a storage space".
Customer's need to wake up, and see that what we're making arn't cheap little things. Your buying a HOUSE... I'll go out today and buy a really expensive gun.. then I'll go out and buy a really cheap home.. i still bet that home is gunna be 50x the price of that gun. We need to stop selling homes to customers for so cheap a cost. It's not so much to save our profession, but to give our profession a sence of worth.. A medium/Large house should be as cheap or cheaper then a really good gun, or a nice set of clothes from a tailer..
I haven't read the boards for a few days but I would note there's a record here that has many more scratches than Dayln's. It comes from all the whiners that expect to go to the bazaar,buy all the resources they need to craft an item, and be able to sell it at a profit. It's that group of people who can't take any hints and will never learn.
If there were any players here who had the slightest interest in fair trade there wouldn't be this crap about selling at a min of 3 credits per resource. That number only comes up because that is the typical price resources are being sold for on the bazaar. That really solved the issues didn't it?.... made it real easy for the lazy architect to go and buy resources for 3 credits each then sell for the same, break even, and build up the xp pool. Wonder what profit he made and why he would come here and write the kind of crap about someone who mines < 1 credit, sells < 3 credits and makes more profit than the whiner ever could.
Based upon the comments centered upon profit, Fair Pricing should equate to your cost of raw materials, plus a fixed standard markup. The player who can produce the product for less should be able to sell for less.
I try very hard to keep my prices a 5x, that yields a nice profit for me since I mine my own resources almost all the time. But I wouldn't whine if someone was able to cut their costs and lower their prices. Instead of whining I think I would try learning.
My guess is Dayln is maybe 1 box up from novice. All of his arguments are based around small homes. Something most of us don't even care to do any more. Heck, most of us could probably easily crank out dozens of small homes from schematics...it's just not worth the time to do so. The bottom dwellers lurk in the realm of small houses and they can have them.
I'm happy with my 6 cpu. It covers ALL of my costs, and serves to absorb any critical failures. No more does the assemble button cause me to hesitate.
Let the bottom dwellers absorb a few crits...no...not on small houses. Let's see howthey fairafter acouple crits in a row on a heavy harvester.
Dayln wrote:
I understand how you feel, but I can decide what profit margins will work for my business, thank you. 2cr per resrouce price would be a400% profit margin, very profitable.
Ive been reading quite a number of your posts about low pricing... and frankly... your a fool. No soloing architect can make a good living on such low prices, The quicker you sell your cheap items, the quicker you sell yourself out of business. Utterly stupid. Im glad your not on my server...