Artisan Archive

If you do you're an idiot.

Thank you, this is the point I've been trying to make. The fact that it cost you a dollar to mine them and that you profited $2 an ounce wouldn't make your investors very happy, that's for certain.

The only reason this would work is that the gold, platinum and lead are, in SWG, infinite. Their value in the real world is dictated by demand, and how hard it is to get them. It's HARD to get gold and platinum, and there's not much of it.

DeBeers really knows how to maniuplate supply and demand. They are sitting on a large supply, larger than most people realize, and all those ads they show are increasing demand. THAT is good business. I may not respect it, but it is good business. And diamonds certainly aren't cheap!

If it was selling for 2.5 dollars an ounce sure

Um so what exactly is 'platium' I have never heard of this mineral. Is it used for armoring gocarts? Is it for assisting bowel movements in Platipi (plural platypus)? Well tell me what it does and I will give you an answer...

Oh and BTW lead goes for $0.20 per POUND

Silver is $3.27 per ounce...

so YES is it a flat rate depending on market shifts much as in SWG...

so get off your high horse and COMPETE instead of whining...

Otica (the wookiee with the most)
MAW Industries
(Intrepid galaxy: 4660 -3545 Moenia, Naboo)
First Wookiee
"YES, I AM a yeti, and I AM from Yavin 4"

Master Artisan
Brawler 4/0/0/0
Medic 0/0/0/3
Marksman 0/4/0/0
Scout 4/0/4/0
Smuggler 0/1/0/4
Creature Handler 1/2/1/1

Also true if you could make a finished product for less than your competition, would you make sure your price was lower than his? If you wouldnt you are likewise an idiot.

The not so subtle point he is trying to make is that while allresources costs aboutthe same to mine, they do indeed have a different value to customers. It takesa little time to educate yourself in what are valuable resources and what stats they need to have for the different crafters. Time well spent.

I know the point hs is trying to make, but this is not a one point issue.

Would you call a business man a total idiot if he intentionally sold some things at an absolute loss? ( something I have never done in SWG ). The original posters answer would be yes, and he would be calling the largest and most successful retailer in the US ( now deceased ) an idiot.

It is not a one point issue, and you cant make it that.

The key word you said, Dayln, is 'some things'. In that, I agree, it's a good tactic to put some items up as a loss to get people into your shop, say. 'loss leaders', they're called. Best Buy sells things cheaply sometimes, far less than the competition, in hopes that you will buy other, more common, and MARKED UP items. The theory is that the people you get that buy the more expesive things will outbalance the loss you take on the items at a loss.

BUT...the items are usually low ticket items, not big-ticket ones. The big ticket ones are often the ones marked up. So, I'm not sure about the practice of using vehicles as loss leaders, unless you sell really high ticket stuff (which is quite possible -- expensive armor, weapons, houses, PA halls..). Not if you were selling drugs, food, clothes and the like.

And further, it does NOT make sense if all you're going to do is stand in public and sell the things at a loss (from the perspective of what the resources are WORTH, not what you paid for them, I still don't agree with that) without providing some hook for that person to be a longer term customer.

'nother example: if you were out on a beach, with a metal detector, looking for lost quarters for a cup of coffee, say...and you found a diamond ring...would you trade the ring in for that coffee? Of course not. Even though your effort was the same for the ring as it was for the quarters, it's intrinsically worth much more. To view it purely from the perspective of what you paid is short-sighted. Technically, if someone GAVE you a million resources, anything you sold at ANY price would be profit, but I bet you'd not be selling those bikes and speeders for 50cr, UNLESS it was as a hook to get them into your shop.

So it's all situational, and the economy of SWG tends to throw a wrench into 'normal' business practices, but some things people are doing just don't make much sense. If it makes you happy, great, keep doing it. I've read of people literally giving them away. More power to them. Horrible for business if you're a vehicle dealer, but if you're rich and want friends (maybe you're trying to be mayor?) it may make sense to you for other reasons. Or like me, you could just mostly be crafting for your PA-buddies.

Whatever makes sense. Whatever makes it fun for you. But at least try not to spoil it for everyone else. It IS a game, not a real-world business simulation program.

If everyone was selling it at 4.

If I could goto an ATM, have it tell me to walk down the street a mile and get paid $1000 for it I might

No no no. In today's market people. For the record, incase you misunderstood.

Guy goes to the doctor and says "Doc it hurts when I do this!"

Doc Says "Then don't do that!"

If you can't sell something for a profit that is acceptable to you then find some other way of making money. If enough people do that, then thethings that once were not profitable will eventually become profitable because very few other people are doing it an you can demand a higher price.

Resources are a dead end with personal and medium harvesters anyway. Only a heavy harvester on a 50% or above concentration with a fusion generator to supply the powerwill really get you a profit. The people who are selling 1000 units at 3000 on the vendor are doing so because they have 50k worth of that resource and nothing else to do with it. The rate at which they pull it out of the ground makes their profit margin huge. Then you have the coops that belong to PAs and forget it, you're not going to compete with them. They have huge harvester farms and they sell things and realistic prices on their vendor and riduculous prices on the bazzar.

I joined a PA specifically because I knew that there was no way to make a profit as an independent crafter. I help my PA by supplying equipment and supplies and they help me out by giving me a free house, resources, and protection. It's easy to turn a profit then because the only expenses I have is time and my property tax and home maint cost.

Also with money as easy to manifest in this game as it is, after a while you don't need more money so you sell crafted items for ridiculously low prices so that people will buy them and you will get xp when they use the items. Credits for XP is what I call it.

Not saying that it's all realistic or fair, but then again what in the real world or these fantasy worlds we retreat to is. SWG is a place where I can go around to take it easy and relax, getting worked up about things or treating these games as if it was a real business defeats that purpose.

If you want a realistic economy, save up the money you would spend playing this game, take out a loan or grant and start your own business. Hell, hire a bunch of programmers in a country that has extremely cheap labor and come up with you own game and your own realistic economy.

Erom Irack
Master Artisan / Novice Droid Engineer / Novice Flower Child

Q:If you mined gold, platium and lead would you sell them for $3 flat an ounce?

A: Yes I would, if upwards of 50% of the population of the entire planet was doing so at $4 an ounce, and only 10% of the world population actually wanted to buy the stuff. Or I'd start looking for Silver instead