Architect Archive

The last threadabout this degenerated into name calling and business plans, so here's a fresh one.

This is something we all need to stand by as a crafting community, so please hear me out.

We all are aware by now that the harvester installations can be experimented up to over 40% more pulling power. I've been charging the same price for the new mediums as for the old heavies. Why not? They have the same production for less maintenance and power draw. If I still bothered to make the old heavies, I'd have to charge more for the new mediums, because they are such a superior machine. Why then do I still find architects charging medium prices for them? Is this because they are blinded by the label of 'medium'?

While there are few masters who are poor, I offer that the architect profession is somewhat constrained by the fact that charging more than 3-4 credits per unit of resource used to drive us right out of the competitive market. When we can't keep ourselves in ore or steel without buying from resourcers who charge 2-3 per unit to start, that gives us a puny profit margin. Sure, it's still a few thousand per item, but it's not a large percentage of the total price, and then there is thecost of critical failure to factor in. Why not use this marvelous idea of experimentation to start charging what these installations are actually worth? We've established prices for 7 spec machines already - why charge only 10% of that for more efficient onesjust because they cost less to make?

I agree with you. Seeing people charge 30k for mediums pulling in 7 kg/hour is sad. If they were willing to pay 80-130k before for a heavy mineral miner, why wouldn't they pay the same for a medium? Sure you have less resource costs, but their willingness to pay should never be based on YOUR costs. Their willingness to pay is based on what they want and how much they are willing to pay for what they want. In this case, they want extraction rates of 7. Do they care if its a medium or a heavy? Only if capacity matters. For most it doesn't.

The problem is they know our costs, we can't hide that. They know it takes way less materials and they know someone will happially sell a medium mineral for 30k when they could only get 10k before.

Heavies are a different matter. They know how much it costs to make them and if you can make the 11k/m harvesters, that is the best there is. People pay top dollar for the best. Still 3x more for medium isn't bad.

Charging anything over 5CPU is price gouging and nothing more than greedy architects.

Tell ya what, you charge 80k for a medium harvester and I'll continue selling at what I sell for.

Trying to have an inflated price that everyone agrees to is just wrong.

You can call me whatever you want, I really don't care. I sell to my customers what I think is a FAIR price and they appreciate it and I get constant business.

I really could care less what you think of me for selling at FAIR prices so say whatever you want, doesn't bother me. The ONLY thing that matters to me is that I treat my customers FAIRLY. My customers are what's important to me, what you think isn't.

My solution is that I don't sell medium harvestors. I don't sell small houses either. I'm consistently getting 135k for 10 base rate heavies. Too much effort to worry about selling mediums when I can do that. I just agreed to sell these great, new heavies for 105k each, but the buy agreed to buy 50 of them.

Anything over 5cpu is gouging?

Have you asked master tailors about this? Or weaponsmiths? How much per unit do you think is fair across the board, for any and every profession? How about creature handlers, who sell very expensive pets for noresource investment at all?

Everybody but architects seems to understand that they can charge what an item is worth. Worth is defined by how badly the customer wants a thing, not the material investment. An excellent point has been made that the customers know our costs - true, but not really relevant. You won't see a weaponsmith dropping his prices for light lightning cannons by 90% just because he can suddenly make them cheaper, even if it's publicized.

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Scortch wrote:

Charging anything over 5CPU is price gouging and nothing more than greedy architects.

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Remember that for the 'greedy weaponsmiths/armorsmiths/doctors/etc' that make 20+cr/u value...

You will never get architects to agree, first off 80% of them have never been to this board. The market will determine the price, the more supply or the less demand the lower the price will go. This is a fact of business life.

Exactly Dayln, most don't read these boards so getting everyone to go along with a set price will not work. Heck, out of 5 master Architects a guy asked, none of them knew that a generic stayle 2 floorplan 2 was listed in the structure tool as a Corellian floorplan 2 style 2 and he couldn't find anyone to make the house he wanted till someone told him about me. I made him what he wanted cause I knew of the bug. Point being, it reinforces the above statement.

As far as Heavys go this is how a price, the extraction on a heavy is 7 without exoerimentation, i sell at 7 base extraction at 125k from there i go up 10k for every higher rate, so base extraction 8 is 135k 9 145k and so on

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Scortch wrote:

Charging anything over 5CPU is price gouging and nothing more than greedy architects.

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lol, go into the weaponsmith forum and say that again. =) thank gawd this man's a rebel.

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Darkflinx wrote:

10cr per resource on my harvesters.

8kg/hr medium mineral 35k

11kg/hr heavy flora/chem 250k

11kg/hr heavy gas 230k

11kg/hr heavy mineral 280k

17kg/hr fusion 265k

Experimented parts so that any architect can match my harvester extraction ratesfor 10k each.

I've made 30 million in profits since the experimentation patch went live. I was doing well already, but since the patch I make about 1 million per day now in profit. In the last week I've bought about 5 million in resources, bought a Holocron for 2 million, gave a friend 4 million, and I still have millions more than I did at this time last week.

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Wow. I wanna be like you Seriously. I wanna have that much credits, except I dont wanna craft.