Doctor Archive
Thread: To docs who think we should charge 10k minimum for buffs
I dont advertise my buffs ever. If someone asks me I say yes and qoute the 10k price. Usually i get three tells before my screen even logs in of people asking for buffs. Until three days ago I had never had anyone complain about the 10k price. I told them they can always find someone cheaper, and went about my business. Its the rude ones that say "nice $%)#! ripping people off." (I have my profanity filters on, I dont play to hear and read people curse) . You can say too rich for me or no thanks but, why get agitated and curse at me? You can bet they dont have a second tell when the /ignore command is entered. 
Charge whatever you want to. No true doc would say that buffing is thier sole income. I run missions, and make buffs for me, my pa, and friends. I dont make stims for sale because i dont care to gather the resources for 400+ stim b's. I have a very limited time to play and when i do I want to hunt, and do things fun,
I don't advertise my buffs either. My regulars know the price is 10K and some insist on paying 15K or more. I've still had 4 /tells before I was fully logged in asking for buffs. I've been to Dantooine and seen other Doctors charging 6K or 8K, but when someone asks me I still tell them 10K. I'm not competing with other Doctors for buff services, I make more money selling medical resources than I do buffing others. It's an open market so if someone wants to charge less than me, that's their deal. I personally don't have a guild backing me up, I make my own packs, I have BE clothing, and I value my time. I might change to a credit per point system, with an average of 2000-2500 buffs that's 12K to 15K.
When someone is rude and complains about the price it doubles, no excuses. If they keep complaining they don't get any buffs, my time isn't worth it. I try to be polite and understand peoples situations, but when someone demands buffs for 6K or less (it's happened), I'm not nice anymore.
- Travin
I think that the Docs who don't advertise buffing services shouldnt even bother posting, " ... Well I charge 50k a set...", its pointless since you dont advertise so why post here? No Im not saying you dont have an equal share in what is said.. but if you dont buff whats the point?
Also there is ALOT of MATH going on in here and none of it really means anything to anyone but the user who made it. I could lay down some math that would astound you to see really low costs but I see no point in it. Now we're getting math about the wasted time we spend looking for cheaper buffs. I already said I see no problem with more expensive buffs on advanced planets. But in the spirit of this thread... Whats advanced to some isnt advanced to others.
My problem is with Docs who charge the 10k+ on a non-advanced planet (we will assume that Corellia and Naboo are safe bets) only because they are the only ones there. Yes simple economics sure... butwe dont see you holding to your set $ for buffs then do we? You wanna advertise for buffs sure.. just dont /tell me and whine at me cuz I stole your line cuz your gouging them.
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Mosheg you forgot wasted time gabbing... plug that in to your equation...
Actually price gouging is the case... yes they will continue to get business , but not near as many as me if they charge more. I understand that they value thier time and resources... so do I. It boils down to if they cant compete fold... that simple.. a very realpart of businessand it happens to more than half of them every year. Designer jeans arent a very good arguement since they are a product not a service such as buffs.. just like all the crying about armor and such.. you want real crying about resources? Try being a masterbio... my wife has to pay 3k cpu for milk to get from a regular supplier.. and thats a decently cheap price if you've ever bought milk.
And not thank you I dont need an economic lesson.. Iwas top of my class in economics so I think Im good there. Gouging is more a term usedto describe the business practice of over pricing an item/service because you have a shortage or firm control of the supply market. I think that over-pricing iswhat should be used to describe most Docs. Im just happy that whay fewDocs I have been able to befriend and talk with about this matter have decided to be a good Doc and buff for a reasonable ammount not some silly 20k crap.
"And as for non-advertising buffers not even bothering posting, where is the logic in that?! Just because we don't advertise doesn't mean we don't get spammed with /tells everytime we enter a decently populated city"
Its called taking off the Doctor's tag for something else if you wanna just say oh poor me.. I have to do this and that. I sell cheap buffs.. thats all I do I rarely heal thats what the med center is for.. why should I heal everyone when there are 3 non-master docs sitting in the med center wishing they had someone to heal for exp.
Like Ive been saying.. you wanna charge a crap load for buffs? Go right on ahead I cant and wont stop you.. I wont even try to stop you. Ill just go on ahead charging my normal price and keep the line close to me...
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As for the Driver analogy... very nice I like it. Also untrue and unfounded but thats not suprising.
See one complaint with public forums is there are alot of people that just cant leave well enough alone.. they really dont have anything good to say.. but just have this urge to get in a hit when they think someone is down...
purplebooks wrote:It boils down to if they cant compete fold... that simple..
So because we charge more than you and hence don't get as much business as you we should quit buffing? LMFAO! Imagine the hate tells we'd receive for this!
TheGrifted1 wrote:
purplebooks wrote:
It boils down to if they cant compete fold... that simple..
So because we charge more than you and hence don't get as much business as you we should quit buffing? LMFAO! Imagine the hate tells we'd receive for this!
I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that one. I think you aboutgot it though..
Caliwyrm wrote:
Second, on the stockpiling.. You're still not convincing me. You've claimed to be a Master Doc for 5-6 months (shortly after release), you've claimed that on average your buffs are 66% above 3k, 33% above 2k and 'rarely' get under 2k buffs, and you belittled someone who mentioned tinkering on subcomponants and the buff packs themselves. Now you're trying to convince me that your server has had all the neededHIGH OQ/PE ingredients in the past so you could stockpile them and still be using them? High OQ Petro4, Dolovite, Lok Wheat, Domestic Oats, Herb and Avian meats? On top of that, it was only recently that some schematics were fixed to use stats even available. If you're buffing as much as you claim wouldn't you be using dozens of packs a day/night? That's a crate of each every few days which means. you'd have to have had MILLIONS of these resources stockpiled.
I know its possible to have resources stockpiled from past shifts, I'm doubting that you have enough high OQ/PE resources to do what you're claiming to do. Taking into account your glib response to the poster who mentioned tinkering on Advanced subcomponants and then on the buff packs themselves I also have to question your claims of the vast majority of your buffs being 3k+ (you claimed that on average 4 out of 6--66%--of your buffs are 3k+)
I would have to step in here. Gorath has had good spawns latley and I have been novice medic now master doc since start. I have ALL the stats needed to make good buff packs all resources are over 900 OQ and or 900 PE as well. class 4 we got was over 900oq and pe. Reactive gas that hit two days ago over 900 oq and 900pe. Avain meat which is going for 100cu current is 971OQ (would have to check) and close to 900pe. Domestic oats. Just hit over 900 oq and over 900 pe. Herb meat just hit as well over 900 oq and 800pe. Domesicated what over 800 oq nad 500pe (best to hit our sever we mostly get stuck with crap wheat). Dolicate iron. I have 900/800 stuff old spawn. Taluson water 997 Oq pe ?. So yes it is possible if you hoard all these items to get it =).
Its amazing how if I mention the Economics you guys wanna whip out I get attacked by jokers.. He was mentioning business concepts but left one out... so I filled in the blanks. Shall I fill in another for you?
Its also not an issue about who has more money, god no... we dont need a virtual peen contest in here... Its about charging a fairprice for a fair service. Not hitting customers with a huge charge for something so cheap to make and easy to do... and yes they are cheap to make.If you cant make LOTS of money selling them for 5-6k then you need to take a look at your cost to profit ratio and rework how you acquire your raw material. See thats the problem with people in online games they have no concept of the "You scratch my back I scratch yours".. not I charge the hell out of you.. I scratch your back...
purplebooks wrote:
Its amazing how if I mention the Economics you guys wanna whip out I get attacked by jokers.. He was mentioning business concepts but left one out... so I filled in the blanks. Shall I fill in another for you?
Its also not an issue about who has more money, god no... we dont need a virtual peen contest in here... Its about charging a fairprice for a fair service. Not hitting customers with a huge charge for something so cheap to make and easy to do... and yes they are cheap to make.If you cant make LOTS of money selling them for 5-6k then you need to take a look at your cost to profit ratio and rework how you acquire your raw material. See thats the problem with people in online games they have no concept of the "You scratch my back I scratch yours".. not I charge the hell out of you.. I scratch your back...
So you are saying that we should not make a good profit? I know lets all go buy guns a rocket launcher. Hmmm whats the markup on that again? Oh oh oh I know lets by a force give out FREE force cyrstals to everyone since they were FREE to get. I still dont understand you here. If I can get payed 10k for my time and service I will. In my oppionin 10k is cheep. Hell go run 40k missions on dant for an hour buffed come back a millionaire =). sell resources at 5cpu when you get them at .5cpu thats a higher marckup. Oh I know I know lets give out FREE everything. I want a FREE gun so I am going to give you a FREE buff /grin
Im slowly switching over to doc now so I'm pretty uneducated from the buffer side, but from the buffee side I think I'm practically an expert.
I've never been asked for more than 10k, usually I get my buffs in coronet before I head off to whatever planet I'm going to hunt on. As a few people pointed out it's usually cheaper there as you would expect. I pretty much get 6-8k requests for buffs and never really thought much about it. We all know for serious elite profession folks that's nothing. But there are people that cannot afford the 10k, and it seems odd that the only people who EVER buff are the master docs. I think the way the system was intended to work was if you only want to pay 3-4k for a set, you find a novice doc to do it and get weaker buffs. As it is (with the grind putting the G in SWG) people make master and then start to buff. So by then they are giving the highest quality buffs you can get.
Like I said, this is fine to charge 6-10k for, whatever you find makes you happy because 4k difference isnt much when you're off to the piket hunt. But when you are a newb just trying to make pistol 3 before you fall asleep, maybe you cannot afford it. I don't think I bought a weapon for more than 3k before I made novice BH.
I'm not proposing any changes or disagreeing with anyone. Just pointing out a goofy little twist in the buffing system.
I think the problem that people have purple is not with the price YOU are charging for your buffs.. If you want to charge 6k that's fine.. The problem that some have is that just because someone chooses to charge 10 or 12k or even 20k for a buff you label them as "gouging" and "ripping people off". This is simply not the case.
Lets look at it like this. Lets say for sake of argument that you own a business and I own a business and we both provide the same service. Now you charge $50 to perform this service but I value my time more than you and I also THINK I can do a better job (the validity of this thought is irrelevent) than you can at this task so I choose to charge $100 . This is for a SERVICE, no products are involved so I'm not even taking into consideration costs of materials. As a rule I'm still going to get business. People are ALWAYS going to be willing to pay the higher price. If you CHOOSE to attempt to undercut everyone elses price that is your choice and there is no problem with that. Now, if I CHOOSE to charge my higher price this is again my choice and although my customer base is going to be smaller than yours there will still be those that pay my higher prices, always. Just look at Tommy Hilfiger. He takes a $10 pair of jeans and puts a logo on them and makes them into $70 jeans instantly. Yet no one has a problem buying those jeans because they are "Tommy jeans."
You sound old enough to not need an economics lesson and I usually am not one to flame, but I have no choice but to assume that you need a lesson because your posts indicate so. It's not called "gouging" it's called "you charge what you think you're worth and I'll charge what I think I'm worth."
And as for non-advertising buffers not even bothering posting, where is the logic in that?! Just because we don't advertise doesn't mean we don't get spammed with /tells everytime we enter a decently populated city.
Doctors have no business even attempting to base their prices on how much it costs them to craft their materials! Does YOUR doctor base his office visit fee on how much your medicine is going to cost you? NO! He has a set fee that he charges no matter if you have the clap and need a penecillin shot or if you just have a little cold and just need some bed rest.
The fact is, doctors get shafted so much on other healing that they SHOULD be charging high prices for buffs because it's the only **edit** thing we actually get to charge for.. Everything else is FREE!
Don't go flaming people just because they charge what they think they are worth.
wujiwak