Artisan Archive
Thread: Please Sir.. can you spare a quarter?
Hello Everyone, 
I'm having a hard time trying to get used to my pockets and bank account being empty. I'm an Artisan and I knew that it would be tough because my daily bread would come from the things that I make and not the things that I blast into tiny smouldering chunks. Are there any Pro's out there with some useful information for a new player to SWG? At this time I can only make common items and I have put them up for sale in the Bazar with the 1,000 other items just like it.. they usually dont sell. The main problem with being broke is that I'm unable to pay for training to further my skills with crafting. I've been forced to fall back on search and destroy missions to pay for my training. However, something seems wrong about an Artisan making a living by using his blaster instead of just making blasters.
Any info would be great! I'm pretty new so I don't have much of a clue about the advanced things.. I still don't even know how to get/use a harvester.
Thanks. 
I've mostly supported myself on crafting and things related to it.
Overall you want to live in a city that is large and vibrant, though a smaller town can work too, you just won't sell things as fast. If you have some money or time you can put items ofr sale in several towns.
You don't want to build things that everyone else is building, unless you can make something that is better than what they make or stands out in some way. Look for your niche. Look on the bazaar. What isn't on there that you can make. that is what you want to sell.
I tend to make a variety of things, never more than 2-4 of each item, and put them on the bazaar. Sometimes it can take up to 2-3 days to sell some of the more obsure items. Othertiems they sell right away. Most items tend to sell in primetime when players are on in more numbers.
If you are trying to mass produce your way to where you want to go, you probably can't sell all you make. I put a general crafting tool or two on the bazaar. I put some of the other crafting tools on the bazaar, tend to only make one of each. I'll make some fireworks and put them on the bazaar. I'll make a fishingpole (quality matters on those), just make items, price them reasonably. They don't have to be dirt cheap to sell. If your quality isn't there then you can sell some things like powerups for less than a high quality one. You might get a bite.
Resources sell and sell fast. Lots of people grinding. If you can find high quality resources and sample some, you can sell it on the bazaar.
If you enjoy doing destroy missions, by all means nothing wrong with that. Go talk to NPC's in town and see what other missions you can get. I've gotten some crafting missions. Survey missions are busted right now it seems, but others work. Look at your other professions you have too.
In the early stages of making and selling, I think it tends to work better if you craft casually making a few items a day and doing other things that might help you in the future. Nothing wrong with making items that you use as well.
I have come across rich samples of ore.. but what do I do to continue getting that? I thought it just meant there was more ore there than usual and used it to craft mundane things.. How about those harvesters.. are they expensive?
Can you just become a miner for a while and sell the resources on the market to buy your daily bread?
Iam finally to the point where Iam not having to do missions everyday. Unforutnally its because iam a novice at 2 elite professions. I also had problems when I was just in the Artisan trees. I have found a few things that helped me. I pick 2 cities on 2 differnt planets. The largest cities work the best. I find an item I can craft that sells ok and then before I log each night I put ietms up on the bazarr in both cities. Before reaching my elite class I used backpacks and clothing from domestics and harvesters from engineering. Fiberplast and bone armor segments also sold well. I also sold excess resources for an afforable price and that helped keep me funded somewhat.
The next morning when I log in I mail each person who purchased something from me and thank them for their purchase. It has gotten me a lot of repeat business. I often have mails with orders in them several times a day. I also discount items purchased directly though me so it is cheaper to buy from me then from the bazarr. The big thing is to build a customer base and to try and offer a wide varity of products from what you are able to craft.
Don't give up 
Its going to take a bit to find what works for you.
Jasarina, what clothes were you selling? I've only timidly made a few items of clothing with mixed results.
A very good idea on the two planets. Though its cheaper to travel to a couple towns too. Maybe a small town that doesn't get many crafters and put a few items up there.
Always look for customers
As for resources. Quality and quantity count. You find a 800+ overall quality resoruce that's often good. Making guns you need conductivity, so if you find good of that, get some. Better resources make better items.
Moving into harvresters is certainly the next step, but it takes a bit of a bankroll of several thousand credits to get going. Each harverster takes 720 credits a day and 600 power.
Man this is all confusing.. do I have to craft my own harvester and then how do I power it? ... because I'm a casual player maybe I should just stick to blasting stuff.. not near as fun as making things though imo
Oh one last thing.. I can only make a few different kinds of clothing and weapon powerups.. do I need to stand next to a crafting station to get access to those more difficult things?
How much does a ticket cost to go from one planet to another?
How much does it cost to buy a shop? .. Do you have to pay rent or do you own it outright?
The item description will tell you what you need to have or be near to create it, look them up in your datapad.
Depends on which planet your travelling to, Naboo to Rori is cheap, but anything out of system isn't.
A shop would be a vendor, if you are part of a PA that has a hall, then it's purely the vendor, otherwise you'll have to buy a house. No idea on costs for a vendor.
I'm a fully trained (all boxes) Artisan, Novice Weaponsmith and by the time you read this Novice Architect. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, and usually do things the hard way. I couldn't figure out how to make $$ and was always running missions (waste of time).
So I started selling (after advice from another player as I'm too dense to figure it out on my own) resources on the Bazaar. At first it was barely eneough to pay for the harvesters and running around. But gradually my skinny wallet grew, and my Bothan butt could actually afford to buy clothes (why the $#!! I didn't make them myself I don't know), and I had growing inventory.
I didn't go overboard and sell 250 units of copper for 3000 credits, but didn't sell for 2cr either. It's worked so far.
Now, if I could just figure out what I wanted to be......
I must be an oddity in the crafting world...I just made Master Artisan yesterday, and am a novice Droid Engineer and novice Weaponsmith. However, I'm also almost a carbine specialist and like destroying things. I never planned on making money from my artisan skills, if I can sell things great, but I'm in it primarily for myself and my group of friends. I make the stuff, they use it. At some point I may drop one of the skills to do like carabineer or something, but for right now I want to be able to make stuff to use.
Did you hear the one about the artisan who won 1,000,000 credits in the Corellian Lottery. When asked what he was going to do with the money he said...
....keep crafting until it runs out!
Sorry, couldn't resist. It's tough being a crafter. I am deep in the red. Stay focused on quality products. Don't sell anything you wouldn't equip yourself. Problem is, they will all sell at a loss once you figure in the cost of items you destroy that don't make the cuts. Supplement with weapon powerups and sell some of what you mine on the side.
I have a question about harvestors if someone wouldn't mind answering... No hijack intended.
Harvestors cost 720cr and 600energy a day to run, right? Is this an earth day real time? Sounds stupid i know but depending where you are on Rori a day lasts quitea long time or not very long at all. Thanks
Oocik Iko
Novice artisan, Novice medic, Novice marksman. Wanderhome.
Hey all,
Just wanted to add two things:
To the original poster. You should not have to pay for training. In fact the way things are now, people are begging to find people to train in order to get the apprenticeship points. You could probably charge people just for the priveledge of training you
About harvestors - Harvestors are the route to cash!!!!! Yes it takes a bit of cash to get started but you can mine the resources for less than one credit each and sell them for more than two. Each harvestor might pickup roughly 2k resources in a day. I am making about 10K per day running about 7 harvestors. Yes you need power. Put up a windmill or two in a windy spot. They make power resources that are just like other resources. You need to actually take these out and bring these to your harvestors. Or you can buy the power on the bazaar it just costs more. (in fact I sell my extra power too). WHy this futuristic world had not invented power cables, I'll never know. THere are some great guides out there on how to do this. Read them an rake in the cash.
On more thing. You can craft while you run! As you are going from place to place, craft!... Also, droids with crafting modules are cheaper than you think. That way you can be out surveying and crafting at the same time!
Just a few thoughts,
Syd Stitches, Master Medic, Tatooine, Tarquinas
[quote]About harvestors - Harvestors are the route to cash!!!!![/quote]
^This is the truth^
The sooner you can get yourself a few harvesters running the better. I'm a master artisan currently grinding my way up the weaponsmith line and I have run at mostfour lvl 8 difficulty missions for money. Once you get the harvesters up you can start selling the resources you harvest for a profit. Make sure you keep tabs on the market, you may need to throw your resources up on another towns bazaar to get the money you'd like to see. If you're reasonable with your prices and you are supplying a resource that is in relative high demand (I recommend low grade ore and maybe some aluminum to keep your local architects happy), you'll be making nice money.