Chef Archive
Thread: Pricing and why I charge 75K for BIO-enhanced Brandy
Well, I guess I can throw in my 2 credits as well as the next guy.
Heres the way I run my business and pricing. First off, I like to go out and fight with friends or just sit around and yuk it up, ect. With that in mind I resource nothing for myself and require everything I do buy to be delivered to my vendor. I pay anywhere from 2-3cr for machine harvested resources. Hides and Meats range from 5-15cr delivered in bulk stacks over 5k units. My BE components I have been paying 50k a crate and I am well aware of how bent over I am on this deal but he is consistent with crates after crates after crates. The BE said it best when I asked for a lower price...."Sorry no discount, if you don't buy these I know other Chefs that will".
With that in mind the moment I can find a BE that sells the same high quality and can provide 100 crates a week to me then I will make the change, until then I pay the price. Last night a BE told me he would do 50 crates a week at 15k a crate. If he can actually deliver his commitment then guess who just lost 50 crates a week? However, did he really lose selling those 50 crates a week or does he just sell em to the next Chef? You see though that is exactly the point, BE #1 sells at what the market will bare while BE #2 sells at what he deems a reasonable price. Me personally, I would rather do business with someone who prices fairly when items are hot, he will get my business when things cool off too.
I price just like that too. Yes I could charge 200k+ for my goods because the market will bare it however the day a customer finds it cheaper or hears it is cheaper at Joe's shack then I would bet my WP gets deleted. By always pricing my goods at a reasonable price I will always have customers who are regulars and they are the foundation that my business is built on. This is the way I do it and if you want to price to what the market bares go right ahead but ask yourself this. When your customer runs across a well-stocked vendor with a lower price and just as good if not better stats whose customer will that be in the future?
Yes, I am well aware that allot of people come to my shop, buy my goods and then resell them at a higher price, I don't have a problem with this. Incidentally, I sell allot more than just Bivoli and brandy, Synthsteak is pretty hot as well as Citris snow and many others too. I do also sell the poor mans mad dog 20/20 brandy as well and it goes just as quick.
I do play this game for fun and I am having fun. Good post.
PS – The BE selling at 50K a crate gave me a price break when he saw that I only sold my brandy at 100k a crate. Though he did not say, I think he saw that I wasn’t out to gouge anyone so he wouldn’t gouge me either.
synthsteak too
Brandy is about the only thing I 'have' to charge this price or else I'd actually be losing money per crate due to running costs of factories, time involved, resoource/supplier costs.
If all these happy new customers of yours come back looking for more brandy, are you going to be able to keep up with the demand?
Many of us charge the amount we do simply to curb the demand on this food, so that we're not making brandy 24x7 and are able to keep our vendors in stock.
There's nothing a customer hates more than finding an empty vendor after taking the 10-20 minutes to travel out to your shop.
Now, the food you sell to customers gained through your bargain pricing of Brandy may support you, but your Brandy sales will dry up, and quickly at that.
Saitek wrote:
People definetly are marking up for the demand, but I am with you, my current brandy is 90k a crate. I make a nice profit, a great reputation, and lots of good customers that keep me going.
I think before anyone gets argumentative over prices...you need to take the container into account.
small glass BE brandy at 75k is a fairly high/decent price...cask BE brandy at 75k given the stated stats...is very very low (and honestly I can see why other chefs would say you're ruining the game economy).
if you're selling cask BE brandy at 75k a crate...be very very careful how often you advertise that...even given the current state of demand for brandy...you may very well be forced to spend a lot more time making just brandy than you're willing to.
the other warning is this...many chefs both can/will buy out your entire stock if its sooooo much lower in price. meaning that your customers won't be able to buy anything as your vendor will be empty. this is not done simply out of being mean...but to make things easier for the chef buying you out too...if they can buy someone else's brandy at a lower price to keep their vendor stocked...its a very appealing course of action.
another thing to keep in mind is this: not all chefs can harvest their own resources, or have people willing to harvest for them at reasonable prices. not every chef has a good BE to work with...while these chefs may not be out to price gouge...they may not have a choice. having common curtesy for the other chefs is something that was lost with the sudden influx of new chefs...not just because of the new products...but because of the lack of understanding as to how much work chef can really be. even if I could sell casked BE brandy for 75k a crate...out of respect for the other chefs I wouldn't, not because I'm greedy, not because I'm mean...but because I don't like undercutters as much as I don't like price gougers. if you're not sure what to do with all the extra credits here's some things to do with it: help newbies (give em some free product, or credits to get them started), pay your BE more (or pay more for your resources i.e. share the wealth), etc.