Bio Engineer Archive

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FlereImsaho wrote:
Just shows when the deal suits the principle vanishes though. Eh?......aye!

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If you sell all your rolls on your vendor for a tidy profit, though,you may prove me wrong

Message Edited by droid327 on 03-22-2005 02:14 AM

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FlereImsaho wrote:
No it doesn't hurt your profession. It is how the game is supposed to be played, don't listen to the Trade Unionised BE's, they'll jsut say as long as you got 500k worth of pet food it is ok.
Just shows when the deal suits the principle vanishes though. Eh?......aye!

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and go away troll *pokes with a stick* we dont want little undercut-loving schematic monkey breeders soiling the newspaper in our forum

the principle is "you worked hard to master BE, get what you deserve in return" - the deal should always suit that principle. If you dont respect your fellow players enough to agree, then drop chef and go loot

Message Edited by droid327 on 03-22-2005 02:17 AM

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droid327 wrote:

Anytime you're trading your schematics at under market cost - that is, for anything less than what they're worth on the open market credit-wise - you're hurting other BEs. Trade for a brandy schem, sure; brandy is expensive and a brandy schem is probably worth as much as a BSN schem, but a sweesonberry roll schem might not be.

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HOW do you KNOW when you are undercutting other BE's? I mean ... what seems expensive to one player is tiddlywinks to another - so how do you know? this is an honest question. We don't have price fixing - we don't have list of recommended prices (do we?). I hunt my own meat so I don't pay for it - does that make it undercutting another BE b/c I can sell more cheaply than one who buys their meat?

I personally set my pet prices dependent on my own needs and the speed at which I can comfortably make the pets. I realize making pets takes a lot more time than burning lots of schematics for the same stuff, but I still am not comfortable with the idea that I might be perceived as trying to undercut someone else for the same item. Having said that, I recently saw a similar pet on our server going for twice as much as I sell them for. Am I selling at a reasonable price? Or is the other BE selling at the reasonable price and it is ME that is undercutting? (Originally got the price from someone else posting cost for a similar pet on the forum - seemed to work and stuck with it).

And, just to add, I'm not disagreeing with the above poster - I just think that it is hard to know the 'real' value of something. Take for example petstim D's. Compared to Enhanced Health packs D made by doctors they have the same components and the only difference is actually fish meat in the petstims with avian meat in the buffpacks and fiberplast in the petstims compared to reactive gas in the buffpacks. Now, on our server, a CHEAP set of buffpacks costs about 60K for a set of 6 - ie. 10K for the single buffpack. Should I charge 10K for a petstim D? Should I charge MORE because it is actually way harder to get fishmeat than avian meat? Should I charge LESS because petstim D's do not have as much USE or VALUE as a buffpack. (OK before you ask - I'm NOT selling petstim D's I can't be bothered fishing - it's just an example).

And another point: if I were hunting my own meat (which I am) I am free to set my own prices. If I am buying meat to make petstims, I have to compete with all the doctors (and chefs) competing for the same good spawn of herbivore meat. On the flipside, someone who is buying meat probably will end up with a larger quantity of itthan me so when I run out of petstims, people will go to them. Or, more likely what will happen is that the poor BE will not be able to compete with the chefs and the doctors and will end up not making petstims at all

And to change topic COMPLETELY, I also think part of the reason that chefs prefer schematics or their own BE alts is because of space limitations. With your own schematic you can simply pop it into your factory and let the output hopper fill up and not worry about storing crates and crates of BE stuff.

Sorry for the ramblings - i'm open to all comments - no flames please I'm very flammable

-- Dorelli

master BE - bloodfin

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Dorelli wrote:

HOW do you KNOW when you are undercutting other BE's? I mean ... what seems expensive to one player is tiddlywinks to another - so how do you know? this is an honest question. We don't have price fixing - we don't have list of recommended prices (do we?). I hunt my own meat so I don't pay for it - does that make it undercutting another BE b/c I can sell more cheaply than one who buys their meat?

This is another one of those dead horse issues but I'll beat it one more time. "I hunt my own meat so I don't pay for it - does that make it undercutting another BE b/c I can sell more cheaply than one who buys their meat?" That meat still have a value. You can sell that meat on the open market and get paid for it. That market value must be incorporated into your retail price for your tissues or you're losing money. Simple truth is, you could have sold that meat by itself and made more money. Why even bother making the tissues if you're going to sell yourself short?

I personally set my pet prices dependent on my own needs and the speed at which I can comfortably make the pets. I realize making pets takes a lot more time than burning lots of schematics for the same stuff, but I still am not comfortable with the idea that I might be perceived as trying to undercut someone else for the same item. Having said that, I recently saw a similar pet on our server going for twice as much as I sell them for. Am I selling at a reasonable price? Or is the other BE selling at the reasonable price and it is ME that is undercutting? (Originally got the price from someone else posting cost for a similar pet on the forum - seemed to work and stuck with it).

Great statement here. Pricing in general is subjective. The thing to consider is market demand and the value of your product. If you want to give away free pets you can do that, even if you are borking the market place. The question you have to ask yourself is why? If your product has a market value that people will gladly pay why not sell your animals. If the market value is 20K for the animals you make and your selling for 5K you're losing money hand over fist. Is this a grand issue? When it comes to pets I would say probably not. They aren't a product that can be mass produced in a factory. Each one is hand made. At the CL10 level they are easier to craft, using one of the standard recipes, but when you get into the creature handler custom pets, you selling a few very cheap pets is probably not going to impact the economy a whole lot. You'll also have a heck of a time keeping your vendor stocked.

And, just to add, I'm not disagreeing with the above poster - I just think that it is hard to know the 'real' value of something. Take for example petstim D's. Compared to Enhanced Health packs D made by doctors they have the same components and the only difference is actually fish meat in the petstims with avian meat in the buffpacks and fiberplast in the petstims compared to reactive gas in the buffpacks. Now, on our server, a CHEAP set of buffpacks costs about 60K for a set of 6 - ie. 10K for the single buffpack. Should I charge 10K for a petstim D? Should I charge MORE because it is actually way harder to get fishmeat than avian meat? Should I charge LESS because petstim D's do not have as much USE or VALUE as a buffpack. (OK before you ask - I'm NOT selling petstim D's I can't be bothered fishing - it's just an example).

One thing about this statement is anyone fresh off the noobie shuttle can use a pet stim D. You must have medical skills to use a health pack D. The demand for a pet stim D will be much higher for that simple fact. Just wait till the no-skill medical packs come out. I make stim pack D's. They are my number one source of income, followed up very closely by CL10 pets. I set my prices. You set yours. What will happen is, I may see you selling your pets and packs for less than market value, I walk over to your vendor and buy it out, then I turn around and sell your products for a profit. No, you haven't undercut me. You've made money for me.

And another point: if I were hunting my own meat (which I am) I am free to set my own prices. If I am buying meat to make petstims, I have to compete with all the doctors (and chefs) competing for the same good spawn of herbivore meat. On the flipside, someone who is buying meat probably will end up with a larger quantity of itthan me so when I run out of petstims, people will go to them. Or, more likely what will happen is that the poor BE will not be able to compete with the chefs and the doctors and will end up not making petstims at all

Good point. Or, they may just buy out your vendor and resell your product for a profit.

And to change topic COMPLETELY, I also think part of the reason that chefs prefer schematics or their own BE alts is because of space limitations. With your own schematic you can simply pop it into your factory and let the output hopper fill up and not worry about storing crates and crates of BE stuff.

Sorry for the ramblings - i'm open to all comments - no flames please I'm very flammable

LOL! No flames. You make some very valid points. I don't think there is a right and wrong. Just be careful when you start selling cheap products. There is nothing to stop anyone from buying you out and making a profit on your labors.

-- Dorelli

master BE - bloodfin

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