Bio Engineer Archive

Im not sure what server everyone is from beside the few that said where you were from but im from flurry and this is how we work it:

We all work on a tip bases ONLY - at first i thought wow i wont make any money at all.. but I had to follow the other IDs because that is what they did. I have to say the day i hit master i made 85k alone off tips and got stiffed zero times.. maybe it's because I generaly make the customer feel happy with whatever they get changed but that's what happend to me. Since then I have never been stiffed, not once, lowest ive been tipped is 100c and that was from a dancer and I dont expect them to pay a lot anyways.

You guys who pay 50k+ for a re-design should seriously rethink it because in all honesty ID is one of the most fun professions IMO and id like to keep it that way. I made a master ID mainly for me so the money is a side thing , but even if it wasnt I could easily make your 500k in a week if i tried...

I got ot master ID in 3 days from novice entertainer. Architect would take a lot longer than that... so don't even compare them... btw I am not telling you your wrong by charging) I'm just saying what we/I do on flurry and i still make a ton of $$. The ONLY thing i would think of actualy charging for in the near future would be skin color change and that is because you get it at master which is an accomplishment.

Zig'Ga Zigg'Ah - exceptional post.

All that you've stated is how I approach Image Design and it works out quite well.

That's great that you guys are getting by on tips. I have loads of fun doing ID, and with the price list, not only do I always get paid, but I frequently get tipped OVER that amount. The Lowca price list helps to keep everyone on the same page and actually encourages referals to other IDs. We all charge the same, we're all getting paid, so those of us who have ID as our main profession (me) don't feel the need to horde all the clients to ourselves. I think our price list is the same balance that you get with the amount of great tips,a nd the amount of crappy ones. Anyway, good luck over there!

-Soon Mot

Master Image Designer

Lowca, Naboo, Theed

Basic price list I "try" to stick to.

Hairystyle change 2k (will include coloring for free)

Markings 3k

Face/Body 4k

Master Level stuff (ie. skin color) 8k

Im pretty tough on my prices I will hardly ever budge since I had to pay for "all" of my training from my pocket even the entertainer ID boxes lol. Since I hit Master ID and I think im the only one on tempest I try to keep my client list small and only do complete redisigns. Im finding people bitch to much about the price so if there not willing to pay a resonable price I send them to one of the younger ID's that will change the style for allot less or most times for free. Anywho I don't want to get into a rant on how people are so cheap in this game when it comes to services. I feel for every Doctor out there.

My image designer relieson tips and she has been very happy with what she has been getting. You know what boggles my mind though. My main is a combat medic. I got more tips on my ID than my CM blowingseveral thousand credits worth ofwound kitsin several hours. Both my characters relies on tips, and no, I never spam or demand tips. People must appreciate their looks more than their health

Good info in here. Had a problem at one time..had a beginner ID change my appearance to awful , laugh and would not change it back. I am a entertainer but never level ID enough to change myself back. Cost me 5k in credits to get it fixed and never really got back to normal. So since have never let less than master touch me. However when i created char somehow missed ermm chest area lol so plan on looking Rebecca up on intrepid. Hope can catch her on when I am on lol. Anyhoo I say all in all you guys do great service and I hope new ppl in this service remember to not play jokes on ppl. Best of luck to all of you and thanks for sticking it out to master level . Also think some ppl in thread accepting too low amts for services...you are worth more !

Playing jokes on people is definitely bad buisness for all of us. Oddly enough, that is how I got started as an image designer - I let a friend practice on me and they rearranged my face and refused to put it back. They laughed, I didn't. I don't even joke with words about doing such a thing.

As for fees, I work on tipsand have been able to financemy training (all done from the npc trainer) with credits to spare. At present I am one skill tree (facial) from master. This said, I occassionally receiveno tip for a lengthy design session with many changes. The generous tippers balance outthe bad ones but it can be aggravating todeal with a lot of 'non tippers' ina row - especially if you are on your waysomewhere and interrupt your travels for them.

tipping in general been down lately but i plan to tip well for the project i need done if i can catch rebecca on at same time as me lol. As an entertainer myself i know how a tip dependent profession can be. If someone heals me in cantina i thank them for them and try to always return tip they try to give me as i feel its beneficial to us both. occ cant return tip as i miss it with all the dang exp spamming my screen or someone grrr macro afk with dang tip begging. soz but that a sore point with me lol...and one yesterday angered customers to point of them leaving to go to another town for bf healing. had no tips either cause of him and customers were shouting that was why no one would get a tip...like we could do something bout it.

Oddly enough, I am a licensed cosmetologist in real life. Much of the discussion here regarding pricing and the belittling of the profession sounds very much like some of the discussions we had in school.

So, from my 'professional' perspective, Image designers are educated professionals. Our education comes from hours of mouseclicks and dealing with volunteers and paid customers who help us learn our trade and benefit from it.

When one becomes a Master Image Designer, you have put an awful lot of your potential into providing a service that is impossible to get from anyone other than another Image designer. One of the things that people seeking free service will mention is that you don't use resources to perform Image Design.

Not true. You have used your time to learn the skill. You have sacrificed learning another, possibly more lucrative skill to take the time to provide them with the improvements that they want to their appearance. You put up with all sorts of customers, from the "I want cut #22 from Alakazam's ID webpage", to the "Well, I'm not sure... um...." You take time out from whatever you're doing to help your customers get their 'look'. You may have had to pay 'models' to let you practice (raise xp), and you may have used spice to make the grind go quicker. You might have a shop or home that needs upkeep.

There are a lot of great suggestions for pricing, and I'd suggest being up front with your customer... even if you plan on collecting just tips for your work. If they don't mention a price, you could say something like, "The going rate for a haircut is between 1k to 5k and I usually throw in the color for free." I've found that customers will usually understand and don't grumble about the cost.

Frankly, if someone asks you to do your services for free, I would politely decline or perhaps see if they would be happier with barter for an equivalent amount of resources or other items.

You are a professional, you deserve to get paid.

I also just charge tips. I did actually have another image designer approach me recently to get my opinion on a price list, but although the prices were reasonable I find it suits me better to work for tips.

I also tailor, so spend alot of time in my shop. I tell people that if they come to my salon, there is no fee save what they can afford to tip.

This serves the purpose of saving me time running around after people, and also brings customers to my shop. It has the downside of creating queues of both tailor and image customers at busy times, but that happens wherever you are. And at least in my shop they can browse the displays and the vendor.

Also, I think that by offering the service free and only suggesting a tip, both I and the client get to feel generous. I had one customer who raved on about how great it was that I was reasonable enough to work for just a tip and how other Image Designers had tried to rip him off. I was surprised, as all Image Designers I have met are nice and generous people. But back on topic, this same client tipped me 50k when I was done. Which is alot more than I would have recieved from a strict pricing system. And both he and I got to feel good about it.

I think I've made as much, if not more, from my Image Design tips as I would have from a pricing list. I can see how you might be wary of getting a run of bad tippers, especially if you don't have savings to fall back on for the bad days. But overall, most people tip for image design, I think beacuse it requires direct interaction and communication. And the good tips seem to outweigh the bad, for me anyway.

Hello. Novice Doctor here, as well as Novice Pistoleer, bad dancer,and Master ID. I take tips only, and only when I feel like doing ID. I do get the occasional indecisive customer who will want to keep me for 20 minutes (missing three shuttles) while I try every color, every nose width, every hairstyle -- and then get tipped 100 credits. I also get grateful people who tip 4K or 5K because I was patient and I gave them exactly what they wanted.

Frankly, I make as muchmoney selling stimpacks and running baz missions on Dathomir with friends. My first day as a master ID pulled in 25K credits in tips alone. My standard response is "I'll gladly take a tip, but I don't have set prices." It has worked so far in most cases, and for those people who insist on being cheap, getting angry is probably exactly what they want me to do.

I'm waffling right now on a set price scheme. There are 3 new IDs on my planet alone so it might be difficult to stick to one. Compared to other servers, fromthe messages on these boards,Starsider seems glutted with IDs.

Escia

Note to Kyree-Sunrunner... The hairstyles I put on Warcry (not Allakhazam's) are in order of appearance in our user interface. So if someone asks for #22 for example, it would be the first hairstyle on the eighth column.

I have been working from tips ever since I read Zig'Ga Zigg'Ah's post.

I've gotten more referrals (not that I didn't get plenty in the past =D) and I'd say the money is about as good.

Overall, I consider it a success. I continue to run off of tips and have gotten a few 10K+ tips for design sessions. I like the idea that the person pays within their means, not by a set amount.

Added bonus: those that overtip out of generosity tend to be my biggest fans. They come back time and time again.

Here's a question. Where do you find your biggest tips coming from? My biggest tips have been from someone with an idea in mind.. a specific look they were going for. For example, one of my biggest tips was from a Twi'lek who was switching careers from an artisan to a scout and wanted to LOOK more like a scout.