Artisan Archive

for ore i recomend the jtl ore. fermionic siliclastic ore. % goes up to 95.. but only spawn at 1planet at the time. but stays average for 15days. counts for all JTL resources

Thanks for the info Ordio! I really appreciate the feedback.

A mining biz andFS grinding? I didn'tthink both would be possible..timewise. That's good to know.

and it sounds like your doing very well andoperating muchthe same way I would like to go. Although, based on this....I may be thinking toobig with 35 slots then eh? I guess I can just keep it growing until I reach my level of comfort or make some 25cpu sales! Wow! and I feel bad offering that Fivum I got for 8cpu.....hmmmm. Much to learn about pricing still.

Thanks again and good luck to ya on the FS grind and hope your biz stays a success!

The best thing I see here is that you're making your own content--that's great!

I've run a mining company twice--once for subsequent sale of the resources, and once to support my shipwright business (was right after JtL opened, and to say the least, massive quantities of resources were need to keep up). The first occasion is more pertinet for you.

I operated just with my lots, which had 7 or 8 free, as I recall. I mined only minerals (if nothing good was spawning, I'd mine power with some fusion gens), no other inorganics or organics--was very specialized, obviously. I kept a very close eye on swgcraft.com, but that's not nearly good enough. You need to send up a survey droid every couple of days and survey each planet--or at least enough until you find something worth mining. This is why I specialized--I was primarily a pvper and had only novice artisan, which made surveying a pain, but what the hay, I needed those SPs for other things.

I did not run a vendor or shop, instead, I waited 30-60 days after the spawn ended and then sold the resources via auction on the trade forums. I only did this once--was moving on to Jedi afterward. I made about 15 million on that one auction.

Now, that was pre-cu, so I'm not sure how the changes in crafting have affected prices.

This was a very simple, low-overhead operation. I would also send emails to crafters asking them if there was anything good spawning at the moment for their profession--not so that I could mine for them, but so that I could keep abreast of what they needed. I knew nothing of crafting at the time.

So, if you're just going to start out, I'd actually strongly recommend that you start out as I did above. The reason being primarily that it doesn't cost much, and doesn't take a lot of time. That way if it fails miserably, you haven't lost much, either. If it succeeds, you will have such a high profit margin that you'll be able to go full-bore if you want, and you'll also have more knowledge of how to expand with your experience.

Good luck!

OOoverO,

Thats a decent strategy to hold some high quality resources back for those out of spawn times. I imagine good resources become valuable much quickersince they change the spawning.I like the trade forums as a tool as well...since its what the whole forum is for. Auctions are great! I will definately be running a few down the line somewhere.

Did the crafters recieve your emails well? I really dont like to solicit like that or be solicited like that...but maybe Im justoverthinkiingthat and could be surprised by people.

I'm definately ramping up slowlytho, vs. hitting the ground running. However..Failure is not an option..I will find a way

Thanks for your feedback!

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Seekyn wrote:

OOoverO,

Thats a decent strategy to hold some high quality resources back for those out of spawn times. I imagine good resources become valuable much quickersince they change the spawning.I like the trade forums as a tool as well...since its what the whole forum is for. Auctions are great! I will definately be running a few down the line somewhere.

Did the crafters recieve your emails well? I really dont like to solicit like that or be solicited like that...but maybe Im justoverthinkiingthat and could be surprised by people.

I'm definately ramping up slowlytho, vs. hitting the ground running. However..Failure is not an option..I will find a way

Thanks for your feedback!

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I only mined high-quality stuff, if there was none spawning, I'd mine power for myself and my friends--and the prices for the high-quality minerals go up practically exponentially the longer it's out of spawn. Every crafter maintains a stockpile of their best stuff--as they use it up, they start looking around for more. It's when they've run out or are close to running out and can't find morethat you want to start your auction You can tell this because they'll post asking if anyone has any--when you see those posts, wait another month or sofor them to use up their new supply.

I only sent emails to crafters I knew--either because I did business with them or because I just knew them (guildies,fellow forum nuts, etc.). I didn't need 15 WSs to tell me they needed atlantium ore and why and what stats are important--just one would do fine. I also sold those people those same resources for 2-3 cpu, and auctioned the rest getting 20-25 cpu, so I think overall they were happy to be asked a few questions.

Kethrym,

You and O seem to have similar philosophies on using the "Jedii Chokehold" method of selling to crafters

I agree with your stock market analogy too...but this is really more of a true supply and demand economic fundamentalthan hyped up sales pitches and fixed accounting (**cough, cough***Enron)

I will take O's advice and take care of my regulars and buds, and save some good stuff for the dry times. I guess I can just sell as much grind quality as I can till I get some backstock of the high quality.

Thanks for your input. I think I will edit my Biz Plan with all these great ideas.

Yes... I generally put more time into mining than i did into FS grinding.. but i've put the mining biz on hold (well, i have some of my harvies static for now until i have time to move 'em... for now they mine whatever i am on.. (so somewhat static... but they are mine)..

35 Slots is a good idea.. as long as you can get the good ones and know about them as soon as they come out... but if you have no inventory... the 35 lots is a good way to start and get some inventory. But sometimes you can get the really good resources NOW when they come out (high oq/cd) metals...

I am doing FS grind more now due to Double xp... and i just relisted all of whatt i had because 30 days just passed since i put them all up...

If so, please review my first draft business plan and questions at the end and provide comments below or PM me if you prefer. I've done a little homework on this one..I hope it shows. Thank you

BUSINESS PLAN for

S.I. Mining & Exploration (SIMX)

Iacquired this account in late July 03’ with intentions of starting some sort of mining business. I wasn’t sure how to go about it but have always liked the “game within the game” concept in MMO’s of creating your own profession. *Ask me about my horse washing business in Ultima Online some day for a good laugh Unfortunately, some personal real-life issues took much of my time and I cancelled the account within a very short time. I have re-activiated this account in this post-CU era to begin my journey once again.

As of today…I have acquired some working capital, a few pieces of heavy equipment, a shop location and have already began mining what I can. I am most proud of the “Fivum” Kammris Iron I grabbed last week…(wow, that’s some good stuff!) and currently have my 4 Heavies on 88-90% “Opiv” Copper spot grabbing all I can.

MISSION

To become a well-known and respected Mineral and Chemical dealer within my galaxy. I don’t need to be the biggest or the richest, just the best in the eyes of my customers.

PROPOSED EQUIPMENT/ITEMS REQUIRED

10 - BER 13 Heavy Mineral Harvs ( 4 currently in fleet)

10 – BER 13 Deep Crusters (2 currently in fleet)

10 – BER 13 Heavy Gas (1 currently in fleet)

5 - BER 14 Fusion Power Generators (2 currently in fleet)

35 – LOTS, 18 Spawn Chasers (secured), 17 Statics (secured)

10 – Vendors (secured)

1 – Shop close to a major Starport ( Secured, 640m W from Bestine Starport)

RESOURCE SELECTION CRITERIA

Premium Quality Stock

· Utilize SWGcraft.com and SWGiss.com listings of current resources and recent changes for spawn info and mine the highest quality resources with self controlled harvester slots.

· Interface with crafting community for feedback on current needs.

Low Quality Stock (aka Grind Quality)

· Construct static placed harvesters on borrowed lots for less inconvenience to slot owners.

· Mine the best available resource on these slots based on resource quality or survey percentage.

· Interface with crafter community for feedback on current grinding needs or non-quality based crafting components.

SALES

· Place 10 vendors (Master Merchant planned) to offer easy shopping of the various Mineral and Chemical types.

· Minimize annoying ad barking.

· Build up sufficient stock before launching marketing campaign.

· Make shop look cool but not cluttered.

MARKETING

· Network with crafters. Focus on respec chars and get em hooked early!!

· Make a cool forum sig!! And post like a madman

· List detailed resource availability on Galaxy Trade Board

· Register vendors on planetary map

· Make vendors searchable on Bazaar

· Place advertising items on Bazaar throughout galaxy

· Acquire barking droids to place on routes of entry/exit of major cities.

1. How do you price your resources? (very vague I know..any tips would be great) I don’t want to be an undercutter or be giving it away either.

2. How many LOTS are recommended to offer all types of Mineral and Chemical

3. Would it be a good idea to specialize in one resource type (ie. Metals or Fiberplasts) ?

4. What is your Static (borrowed LOTS) to Dynamic (spawn chasers) harvesters ratio? Will 1:1 work OK? Or perhaps its just a “take what you can get” scenario : )

5. Do you sell on the Bazaar at all? Or just make vendors searchable.

6. How many hours per day do you spend maintaining your business?

7. Tell me about your business experience…am I crazy?

Ask me anything..Im open. Im sure your comments will provoke many more questions from me as well. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read and reply if you do, I hope this post doesn’t tank tooo fast

Thanks again Ordio! I guess there will always be a gamble in stashing resources. I will do whatever I can afford until I've got better cash flow I suppose. I still have quite a bit of equipment to buy.

Another Question

Speaking of survey percentage concentrations.

Do some resources just have innately higher percentages built in (ie. the JTL ore), or lower capped percentages? I looked around for a resource last night and the best I could find was 39%. Do I just need to keep looking or could this be the max for this resource, its an Intrusive Ore.

Or do all resources theoretically have no cap and those who look hardest win?

Contacts. Get friendly with crafters like you said, make a couple real good contacts to deal with regularly. A friend of mine is going armorsmith and a couple other crafting professions, alot of my resources go to him and I sell the rest. We just put our lots together and started a small operation. Some other friends of mine are starting a pilots guild and I imagine we'l be equiping them frequently. Once some people get the idea that your place is the place to go when in need then you'l have a steady flow of income. And like the other guy said, its good fun makeing your own content.