Bio Engineer Archive
Thread: prices?
Sell cheaply. Sell often.
SnowLeeper wrote:
I'm starting to get feedback from my harvesters as to real material costs. It's coming out to be about .89 credits a resource on 75% or better lot. Unless an item has more than 100 componets I'll make a nice small profit.
Sell cheaply. Sell often.
You know, we're Tailors, not Wal Mart.
"We're not walmart".
That's where you're wrong. With factories in game, it's only a matter of time until there is mass produced clothing on the market.
Enjoy your general short term high profits. They won't last. The only really profitable items will be during specific material shortages.
SnowLeeper wrote:
I see a few people complaining that things are too cheap. It's time to face facts. Resources can be harvested for less than 1 credit a piece. Add in materials you hand sample and that number drops even lower. With that in mind, my prices will be low.
...
Enjoy your general short term high profits. They won't last. The only really profitable items will be during specific material shortages.
You are correct. As factories come into being, more tailors (or at least DOM artisans) pop up. Prices will drop from where they are and stabilize where supply=demand.
That doesn't mean that we should start selling now at the stabilized price. If one tailor in a town sells items 25%-50% less than the rest of the tailors are, all you will end up with is a price war. Now if your objective is to drive prices down to the point where nobody else can, or wants to compete with you, that is fine; but in a general economy somebody lowballing prices does more harm than good.
I do not want to imply that you are doing that. Just an observationon the economy in general. If someone is willing to spend 200cr on an item, sell it at that price. Don't sell it at 100cr just because that is what it cost you to make it.
Now this is the point where someone speaks up and says "Well, I'll buy all your X for 50 and sell it for 15,000." Let's see.... You'll buy all my product, which I'm selling at a profit, and allow me to pay for my harvesters to feed my factories, AND produce an equal amount of items to the one you bought? Which will go back on the market at 50?
COOL! Thanks.
I've been selling most artisan clothing for around 100-200 credits and making great profits...not to mention all that UXP. ^_^ Travel packs are going well at 750, and military packs at 1000. Most novice tailor items are being sold at 300-500. These prices have been serving me well up till now, and I seem to be quite in demand.
May raise prices a little when my resources run low, but I currently am sitting on 5k fiberplast, 2k polymer, and 3k copper, so I'll probably keep the current rates for awhile.
I often accept hides in trade for my items as well, since I don't have an imput for them.
Be seein ya,
Farbo Median
But the value of an item isn't dependent just on it's resources. The time you spent earning xp training up, any money you spent to train, and the time you spend with each customer figuring out what they want is valuable. Maybe that price can run your harvesters. But can it run your factories, pay upkeep on your house and vendors,and let you afford high level items from other disciplines that will be selling for the most part at their going rate? Will you be able to travel the galaxy whenever you want to find new markets? Will you be able to afford to buy and keep up a starship once they're implemented?
I hope this doesn't sound mean, but you probably will have to spend a lot to train into high levels of Tailoring. I know once I reach Tailor, I'll be more than willing to train the folks that come behind me. But before I do, I want to get to know them a little (kind of like a real apprentice relationship). And if I found out someone wanting me to train them to get where I am was selling their Novice Tailor items for that much lower than what I think of as acceptable prices, they're not getting trained by me. And I'd be willing to bet that I'm not the only one. It's not that I mind competition, in fact I believe that there are probably more than enough customers on a server to go around! But selling high level goods at an extremely low price does hurt my business directly.
By undervaluing your own skills, you're undervaluing the rest of us. And I know we're not going to change your mind, and you won't change ours. I'm just pointing out that if you sell designer threads at thrift store prices you won't have many in-game friends in the tailoring community.
Sorry for the double, just wanted to point out one other thing. Once you hit tailor, you can up your prices for Dom level stuff. You have many more colors available, and will be able to change both colors on a two-color item, which makes it much more valuable (especially on things like the Frock, where you can only currently change the belt color at Dom IV).
Some folks will say that you should still be price matching the Dom Arts folks, but I won't. If they don't want the higher color selection and added customizability, they can visit the artisan and pay less. I know that the poor colors in Dom Arts seem upsetting while you're going up that tree, but they actually insure that artisan level clothing makers will keep some share of a low-end niche market, because I think my high level colors (once I get them) will be worth more, and some folks aren't going to want to pay extra for that selection.
Good point Kara. I think I'll be selling my artisan stuff for more now as well. Not only do we make it better, but it gives us no real benefit to make artisan items. Once we're in the tailor tree GCXP is useless to us. I'd much rather sell a novice tailor item than a artisan one. If someone's paying me enough though I'll happily sell the less advanced item.
I still feel 300-600 is fair for most novice tailor items though.
Be seein ya,
Farbo Median
As for training, I've been paying for my own. If I can find training, great! If not, oh well. I can make 1500 a shuttle trip and the time I spend waiting for shuttles is time to craft.
I'll train anyone for NO CHARGE.
Asmartic, 300-600 probably is fair for most of the Novice Tailor items, especially since most folks don't have a really large amount of money saved up yet. I'd probably charge more for the jewelry, becauseon my planet in beta crystalline gemstone was a pain to find, but if it'seasy to get when I start looking I may revise that.
My problem is with folks (I'm sure there will be some) selling much higher level (including Master Tailor) items for that price. I just feel like the highest level clothing in game should be something characters should have to save up for. It's a status symbol, an accomplishment, and it cheapens that if noobs can run one mission and buy a fleshwrap (just like it cheapens that if noobs can loot one thug and get a Robe of Honor, but that's a seperate issue). Of course not all customers are cheapskates, so all of them won't care about the best deal.
I've already had customers give me more than my asking price for dom arts level clothes that they felt were worth more than what I was charging (this is rare, but it happens), and I've never had someone turn down my services after hearing my prices, though I know there are folks in my town charging less. I had a guy last night give me 1000 credits for a travel pack as an add on sale after I'd already made him a complete outfit that he was very happy with. There was an artisan next to me who had been yelling that she was selling them at 750 during the entire time I was working with the customer on his look. I sent him a private /tell with my price, and said that I wouldn't at all be offended if he chose to get his pack from her instead since her price was lower than mine. He replied that he'd much rather give the extra to me and get one, since I'd put so much effort into figuring out his outfit. So at least some folks really will pay more for good customer service!