Chef Archive

I like cpu pricing a lot. It's simple. But 3 cpu is too low. Here's why -

1) Foods require quality resources. It's not like a house where any qualty will do.

2) Quality resources sell for 3 cpu minimum. Obviously amazing quality items go for more as do meat. At a minimum, you shouldn't sell the finished product for less than you could sell the resources for. I understand that the cost of resources is low if you harvest yourself and I understand that you can make a nice profit at 3 cpu. But wouldn't a bigger profit be better?

3) Running factories =used lots (unless they are rented lots) = lost resource gathering.Here's the deal - a factory has a direct cost of around 3000 a day (power and maintenance). But there is an opportunity cost of 13,000 units of resources a day that same lot could be used to produce. The lost sales from these 13,000 resources should be factored into the cost of the product you produce from that factory in a single day (again, assuming that you are not using a rented lot).

Here's an example -

When I was producing medicines and selling product at 8 cpu, a single factory would consume 13,000 resources a day and produce product that I could sell at 104,000 credits. To feed the factory, I had to use a second lot for the heavy harvester. So 2 lots produced 104,000 credits a day minus the operating costs of a factory and a harvester.

Now, if I used both lots for harvesters, I could produce 26,000 units of resources a day. If I sell these at 4 cpu on average, this equates to 104,000 credits a day minus the operating costs of 2 harvesters. So selling resources at 4 cpu or selling finished product at 8 cpu netted me the same profit off of those 2 lots.

The key is figuring out what your real factory cost is. Once you know that, you can price your food so that your factory lot generates more money than a harvester lot. If it's not generating more money, than you are in the wrong business. Of course if you aren't in the chef business to make money, feel free to price your food at whatever makes you happy. I understand that not every merchant is motivated by profit in the game.

No one bothers with 3cpu anymore, hell, it's hard to find grind quality resources for that little. Fruits, berries, and creature organics... out the window. 150cpu for avian meat a few weeks ago on Kettemoor. Skies.

I started out with a cpu price, but it gets complicated when you start considering milk, and meat and hide, and stuff like neutronium steel or tattooine organics. Complicated takes effort. So I let my prices drift to meet demand. Stuff that rarely sells falls down to 10k a crate until I can unload it (and I know not to bother making it again - though I really prefer to have a little of everything, just to be able to say I support variety). My BE brandy still sells quickly at 200k-250k a crate. My city has no sales tax, and people like nice round numbers, so Ahrisa for example is 20k a box, which is just what I charged for the old Corellian Ice Cream (also +focus), and just the right price to make good money off my resources without selling out (and having to do more factory runs) more than once a week, and supports my bad habits of giving free food to guildies and stealth-deposting money into city hall (^_^). Letting supply and demand dictate prices seems to work better for me than a flat cpu rate, because I value my time/effort far more than stacks of resources.

Message Edited by CJadefire on 04-28-2004 12:42 PM

I guess I could quit rambling and answer the damn question too.

As a fighter - I'd pay whatever you charged, if you were my usual chef. Even as a fighter who spends more time roleplaying than actually hunting critters - they have plenty of money, especially this late into a server's age. When I go shopping for pistols and swords, I don't even LOOK at the price, I look to see if the speed/damage is acceptable, and click buy. If I didn't have a chef to cook for me, I can only imagine I'd do the same thing with food.

Typical Chimaera resource prices :

Herbivore Meat : 50cpu
Avian Meat : 50-250cpu
Grinding quality 3-6cpu
High PE - 20cpu

And people wonder why I charge 20cpu for my food :/

I could never afford to spend 300-500k a week on food or any consumable for that matter.

For an advanced combat class, 300-500k is a buff sessions earnings. I know thatif I want to make cash, I can do 31k every 5-10mins easily, and most Master combat professions can do the same, I find it boring, but if I'm low on cash, I know I can get it.

It's the lower end players, entertainers & some crafters that would have a hard time, but they're unlikely to be the ones needing a large amount of food and drink at a time anyway.

I try to stock some lower priced items - unenhanced or using a lower additive than the max or glasses instead of cask - so that lower players can afford something at least, and it tends to sell pretty fast.

Really...I wish we could answer these question..but each server to his own. I have seen bandy for 300k a crate on Bloodfin and 150k a crate on Intrepid.

It JUST depends on your server.

I know me and 4-6 other chefs talk all the time.