Architect Archive

It's been said before, but I'll repeat it: There is a lot of good info in this thread.

I'm actually impressed that most people are giving out honest, thought out explanations on their pricing.

Someone on page one of this thread came up with a list, and I think it is a very good list. I wanted to join a guild a few times, but I think it's more complicated than that... you obviously need to find the right guild. I was approached by another one 2 days ago. They wanted a guild hall and a bunch of housing ASAP. They wanted it faster than I could produce, and never offered to pay anything. They did however mention that they would dearly love it if I could outfit their new city for them.... long story short, they wanted an Ore grinder for a month and I started to see where this was going. So again, I'd mention you really need to investigate the guild. If they're pure PvP and just want an ore donkey, I'd advise against it.

Although I know there are people that swear by guilds; free stuff, free resources, vendor management, high traffic player cities, and that sort of thing could make it much easier for me.

I am getting more business than I can handle for the time being, although quite honestly I"m not sure why or how long it will last since it comes and goes without warning. I got 'desperate' and paid 3 CPU for some junk ore, now I know this will once again lead to me pricing a slight margin higher than my competition.

So it's a viscous circle. And at the end of the day, if I have to price my stuff so lower than I want because joe blow has free resources, so be it. I'll just rev up my other toon and do something easier... because let's face it, there are other avenues in this game to gaining financial freedom that are far less time consuming.

The other point on that list about hooking up with a resource person is very true. I had a guy who's since quit the game who I gave harvs to and just asked for as much ore as he could gather, and I paid 2 CPU. This gave me some breathing space (fun time) which I really miss. And is was super easy, and reliable credits for my friend.

And the other point I'm glad you bring up about lot trades, well I'm glad you did. I am desperate and was considering it, but now I'm not so sure.

Thanks for all the great feedback.

---

LonelyGhost wrote:

Just curious, but why do you retrieve your stock before re-listing it? It seems easier to just use the Stockroom "Sell Item" combined with the Enter key to put stuff back on the shelf....especially since large batches of things are the same price.

Man, I would LOVE a restock button. I cant believe it would be that hard to do, either. I have started making smaller batches of everything because of this. So many of our products are saturated in the market, I only make runs of 25 or so in any furniture, and I dont use factories to make anything outside of the furniture tree.

---

It's a two fold reason, though the second reason didn't come into being until after the merchant update.

First, time and number of click and number of windows. I find it simply faster to restock from my inventory, than from the stockroom itself. Next time I'm in game, I'll do it both way and see if I can explain it better.

Second, now that you have to either have a sale, or put up new stock (not from the stockroom) in order for it to reset the time counter, doing it from my inventory means I never have to worry about it. The business I run has 16 vendors. I'll spend a few days on specific stocking areas, such as working on furniture and deeds. It is not uncommon for me not to put up new stock on one of those vendors in that 30 day period. Some vendors also simply do not sell items regularly (such as the droid vendor). It's a failsafe now to ensure my vendors never get deleted.

I guess there might also be a third reason, psychological. Restocking from the stockroom is a chore, something I think all merchants hate. However, putting up new items from your inventory, at least for me, is a lot more fun and satisfactory.

Mistress Kyphi Makarha

---

Niklesnitz wrote:

It pains me to see people still charging by pure CPU alone. 30k for a factory????? Ok, that is about 3cpu or so. Is a factory that allows a crafter to make up to 1000 items by making one lousy schematic worth only 30k to you? You just saved them sooo much time not having to craft all that by hand. And, you also gave them the ability to make subcomponents with identical serial numbers which they need to make other more complex items.You also justsold themastructure which will now never crumble, even if they neglectto maintain the structure. Is this only worth 30k to them? This is what I talk about in what the value of the itemis to the customer.

While I use CPU in my calculations, I also add on a few CPU for the value factor.

---

It's a good place to start. I prefer to do market research first then adjust my prices accordingly, then find out what it equates out to in CPU so I know what my cap is on purchases resources when I'm forced to. Of course, if I hate making something, the price goes up dramatically. My husband hates crafting a specific type of droid, thus, all those up on the vendors are significantly higher than competition.

Mistress Kyphi Makarha

---

CPA wrote:

I'm surprised no one is using the bait model. Example:

You have 10 BER 13's you want to sell, and normally sell for 120K. You put 2 on for 120K, and the other 8 on for 140K. People will see that 20K off on the 2 and be COMPELLED to buy one because they think they are ripping you off or getting an item from a price list that is expired but the Merchant overlooked the repricing.

It's an odd tactic, but it definitely works.

As far as my pricing goes, I never pay more than 2-3 cpu for resources, so I just mark all items up 1 cpu and get my base price from there. 25-33% markup is decent, then I keep an eye on what sells and mark it up a bit more, maybe 1 cpu more on hot items. I use the bait model on cold items to keep them moving.

And before you call me unethical or and undercutter, I also have a vendor of nothing but stuff for 1 credit. Mostly looted stuff, but things new players can use like mid-level weapons that you only use for one skill box, clothing, travel packs, +1 volley fire AAs (who the hell uses those?), etc.

---

I have seen that effect happen, but it usually happens when I decide to change a price and don't feel like going back and relisting all the previous items.

---

Niklesnitz wrote:

It pains me to see people still charging by pure CPU alone. 30k for a factory????? Ok, that is about 3cpu or so. Is a factory that allows a crafter to make up to 1000 items by making one lousy schematic worth only 30k to you? You just saved them sooo much time not having to craft all that by hand. And, you also gave them the ability to make subcomponents with identical serial numbers which they need to make other more complex items. You also just sold them a structure which will now never crumble, even if they neglect to maintain the structure. Is this only worth 30k to them? This is what I talk about in what the value of the item is to the customer.

While I use CPU in my calculations, I also add on a few CPU for the value factor.

---

Apart from the Bestine Paintings.... can u name me some loot schematics that allow u to make factory runs ???

Frank

---

Piechucker wrote:

Apart from the Bestine Paintings.... can u name me some loot schematics that allow u to make factory runs ???

Frank

---

---

Niklesnitz wrote:

I was not talking about the value to architects, but for those other crafting professions. They wouldn't be able to make large runs of schematics without a factory. So, isn't the value to them a lot more than just pure CPU that some architects charge?

---

Yes, yes it is, but we have to compete with people who charge 3-4 CPU for them. If we were somehow able to bring the price up, the demand would never go away. Our products are critical.