Chef Archive
Thread: Are my prices too low???
ChefEddy wrote:
Jonzun, if you are making your Ryshcate with Aludium, I believe you arepulling in126 credits per resource unit (40 units for aludium, 6 carbo, 20 rice, 10 berry), if you get 800 credits per charge for a stack of 12. I would guess the bufffor a Ryshcate like thatmight be 220-230 per stat for 300s or so, if good materials are used.
No real point here, I am just freaked out by the math on that, getting 126 credits per unit used is...interesting...
Eddy, Bloodfin
Yep, that's about right.
I also set up a vendor called PetFood InBulk and slapped him up on the world map. There I sell 10 serving stacks of stewed gwouch (20 water + 30 any organic) for 500 credits. I can't tell you how many thank you's I've gotten from the pet owners for making this available. And, while they are in my shop, they buy some other of my better foods.
I am probably the biggest pain in the arse craftsman to deal with on the entire server in some aspects. People ask "can I get two crates of this?" and I quote them a price of 375,000 credits per crate of Breath of Heaven. Needless to say, they freak. So, I have to go through the mutliple-times daily ritual of explaining the food factory bug and that creating a crate requires 8x the resources to create the same number of servings that I could make in stacks. The fact that each crate of BoH uses 6 crates of aludium p36 which represents 8 to 10 hours of factory time, THEN the factory time to create the crates of BoH. By the time I'm done explaining things, we agree on loose stacks and everyone is happy. Only thing I'll create in crates is Sunburns as a favor to my very best customers.
Secondly, I set specific rules for submitting orders. They have to be in writing via email and the subject has to be Food Order so that I can sort them by subject. I'm kinda like the Soup Nazi in that but you get so many spam emails each day from vendors and factories and misc people that this has been the best way of dealing with things. This email also serves as a contract as sorts as I reply with the fixed price for that order. All nice, clean, and professional... but I think people appreciate that.
I let the customer know that they are privileged to be a customer of mine. However, I also put every effort into making sure that every dime spent on food and drink is going to help them excell and let them know that I appreciate their business and am privileged to be their chef. It's an equal partnership where neither one of us has to beg the other or feel subservient. I take an interest in how my food and drinks are performing in the field... especially the new dishes I gave to the person as a free sample. Thus, I have all of them on my friend list and check in with them somewhat regularly. It's kinda like having a second guild in a way. My biggest customer is a Master Carbineer. I recently took on another Carbineer customer that was having trouble understanding foods and spices and armor/weapon penalties. I hooked the two of them up so one could mentor the other. I'll toss a free stack of BoH on the Master C's next order and he feels like the hero and everyone comes out a winner while I have increased customer loyalty with two customers... for the price of a stack of BoH.
I can't express how much fun I'm having as a chef in this game. Chef is so little about the food and so much about the relationship. Our recipes are adequate in most cases, good in others, and piss-poor in the remainder (vegesparine). But, you get that "Woot!" from the guy that was able to put on his new composite armor because of the food you gave him or that "OMG! This stuff rocks!" from the guy who tries burnout sauce for the first time, and that's where the real reward comes in. If you're not getting the "Woots" or the "OMGs" you're probably not getting the "$$$".
Add value to people's experience and you will find money flowing your way. What else is there to spend it on after they've maxed out their lots and have the best armor and weapons?
Cheers,
Kaizen Jonzun
Proprietor of The Drunken Jester
2380 3819 Radiant-Keren
and new location outside of Coronet (check the world map)