Chef Archive

I don't value the product right now because neither does the devs. Most of these buffs only last a few minutes. I think the longest one is six minutes or seven minutes. That is not much value.

Right now I am charging for 50 credtis for DOM IV items, and I am having trouble moving those.

Thanks for the replies so far.

I tried the 2 creds per last night and had no problem selling items at the bazaar, even got a bulk order. I think maybe my strategy will be 2 creds per easy resource, but as much 5-6 or more for the rarer stuff, and extra if the recipe takes multiple steps. I suppose the value of resources might be higher if you're buying on the market, but I've got a farm going and can run two chars sampling for hours, so the resources are easy enough to come by.

I think this strategy will be profitable if I can get a factory going and a better storage solution... So what's the problems with factories and food?

Hmm. I charge more than 2-3 cr per resources and get by ok. I would lose money if I sold for less. I take into account what I paid for the resource (and factor in maintenance and power fees on my one and only flora harvester). I can't buy a wooly hide to save my life for less than 10 cr a hide! I've only made 1 Jawa Beer; it sold pretty quickly for 200cr on the bazaar. I sell fairly well on the bazaar overall. The few times I set up in a cantina (in Moenia and Theed) I received little to no response.

Okay, you guys charging 2-3 creds per resource, you need to think about the time value of money. TIME = MONEY is a basic business fact. How long did it take you to set up your factories/harvesters? To maintain them? How long did you spend getting those resources? I'm betting that the time to gather enough resources for ONE food item is way more than running one delivery mission...it's just not worth it. Granted, you have to factor in that you're earning XP, harvesters can run while you're away, etc. But I think if you really run the numbers, selling for 2-3 creds per resource puts you WAY behind just about every other class in terms of efficiency. But don't blame it on the developers, blame it on yourself because you're not charging enough!

Interesting discussion, and one that needs to happen. There are probably as many pricing mechanisms as there are chefs.

The simplest answer is that you should charge what people will pay. The only way to find that out is to learn from experience and be prepared to adjust your prices up and down depending on location, etc.

In general, I think people charging 2/3x could do better. I also think 10x is too much - and when I say "too much", I mean that a) I don't think the market will bear it, and b) I wouldn't pay that much myself. (I'd sell for 10x if I thought the demand was there)

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of charging a multiplier of materials used, but it's the easiest way to do it. I've spent some (probably too much, heh) time trying to come up with a formula that defines a "fair" price for an item based on the enhancements, penalties, duration and stack size. That way, an experimental K-18 Ration with 5 charges and 220s duration is worth more than one with 3 charges and 190s. The downside is that you'd have to run every item through a spreadsheet or pricing tool, which gets cumbersome. I think that is probably the "most fair" way to do it, but even if you came up with the perfect formula, almost everyone would just use material-based pricing anyway because it's easier.

As far as what I charge, it depends on demand. I currently sell a lot of K-Rations and Starshine Surprise. K-Rations sell steadily at 150 credits (6x materials). I am able to sell Starshine Surprise at 250 (6.25x). I'll admit that I haven't really tried too hard to push those prices up.

I find that working/bartending in a cantina *sounds* lucrative, but I have a *very* difficult time making sales, even at a flat 100credits/item rate (which is 4x for rations, but only 2.5 for SS).

I also have spent some time catering hunts and expeditions. In those cases you need to negotiate terms with the leader - usually some/all travel costs and either agreed upon price/item or a flat rate. These aren't very good for making money, but they are *very* good for getting repeat business.

All said, I can generally make money more efficiently by doing destroy missions than by selling food - that is partly because I have decent combat skills, and partly because many of the buffs are not very useful. Most of us would agree the chef skill tree could use some work.

I dont agree with resources for the price in the long run.

because some foods cost less but have alot beter benifits.

Look at k-18 rations , they cost more to make the Exo-Protien Waffers .. but Exo-Protein Waffers Give beter +Willpower and Constitution ..

Exo's also are a lower Domestic art food.. and you get a larger quantity usualy for most resources.

then look at chef food.

Almond Crisp Munchies , well they take hardly anything , and with Experimentation can be very high in +quickness ..

They should be worth alot because the buff can be very good (experimentation helps CHEF alot.)

but if you charge based on resources

2meat

4cereal

4fruits

thats not worth anything..

Sence your a Chef I say you can take on alot of money to the price.

Because no one else can make unless there a chef .. Resources were good for domestic arts food and they worked well for unloading non experimented things..

Those prices wont cut it once we all have the art of cooking to level 2 or 3 because hey the food is going to be about 4x as good as it is now.