Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: To be Honest: WE NEED TO UP OUR PRICES.
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Jebebara
Mon Apr 26, 2004 6:57 pm
#2
(OK,I don't post often here, but THIS topic really gets me going...And I am sure this will draw some fire...)
I agree!!!. I see droids selling forFAR too little all the time, and it pissses me off to no end!
On Tempest server I have seen the ADV R3, loaded for combat selling for as little as 45k. This is THE most capable droid we have. It holds the most modules, has a lot of sub-assemblies, and takes a while to build. Selling it forthat kind of pricemakes every otherdroid chassis useless. What good are all the lesser chassis ifnoobs can afford the best we can get a week into the game?Whether we talk about armor, weapons, or harvesters, most of us didn't start out with the best or biggest ones out there right off. We couln't afford to. So I really hate it when I see or hear of DEs that arebasically ensuring that we won't get return business.
Armor, weapons, vehicles...they all wear out....they all need replacing. But our droids do not. Once it is sold it is out there for the duration. It won't wear out, and it won't die. Shouldn't its cost reflect that?
I will not name names, but I have talked with a couple of DEs who I have seen selling droids at very low prices. They really don't seem to care that they are drastically undercutting the market. They really don't care that by selling the best droid we can make for cheap they rule out the sale of any other kind of droid we can make. I don't know about the rest of you, but my first car was a $450 1969 Dodge Dart...NOT a $65000 Corvette. If GM sold the Corvette andEscalade for only $10000 do yo think they would have a market for any of their lesser products? I think not. So why should any of us be offering the ADV R3 (Our Corvette) for that little?
So what do I say about pricing? I have gone with the pricing guide developed by a friend of mine on Tempest, Swampsurfer. We have talked quite a bit about this pricing system (which you can see on his web site: http://www.swampsdroidshop.latest-info.com/). Take a look. It lists out all the components, sub-assemblies, chassis, and droids. There is a nice equation at the top that lets you see just how the prices are derived. (And let me tell you, customers REALLY appreciate being able to see all the prices, and how they are derived. They see that you have really put some thought and effort into your profession, and aren't just pulling some random number out of your...er, power coupler.) Take a look for yourself.
And before some of you start saying these prices are too high or insaneconsider thesetwo things:
1) Look at other crafting professions, I have seen armor sell for over 300k, I have seen guild halls sell for 175k, I have seen high level pets sell for over 100k.....Why shouldn't our best products command similar returns?
2) In the three months since I have been a Master DE, I have have made almost 1.5 MILLION in droid sales using this pricing guide. I have not had a single customer tell me to bugger off because my prices are insane. Sure, I have had a couple of people ask me why they cost as much as they do. But after explaining the pricing guide, they they had no problems buying a droid from me.
Now don't get me wrong, competition is good.Location and demand will always play a key factor in how much we can ask for a product. But I think that DEs need to think a bit more about their pricing, look at what other professions can charge for their upper end products, and then scale their pricing accordingly.
We worked damn hard to get to Master DE didn't we? We run all over the dang map to get nice resources to build our droids right? We have to spend a LOT of time making factory parts and piles of sub-assemblies right? So let's start getting back what we deserve! (Especially now that we have some products that people are actually wanting!)
Jebebara
Master DE, Tempestserver
rockmusicnerd
Mon Apr 26, 2004 7:13 pm
#3
Before I left for a few months, I was trying SOOOO hard to accomplish this...
So let's do it now! Let's rally and get the prices to what the deserve to be!
So let's do it now! Let's rally and get the prices to what the deserve to be!
rockmusicnerd
Mon Apr 26, 2004 7:15 pm
#4
Wow.. I'm going to start using that price list as a basis as well!
HawaiianLord
Mon Apr 26, 2004 7:30 pm
#5
Fellow DE's,
I'm on board with the price list. I shall stick with it.
Rekssk
HawaiianLord
Mon Apr 26, 2004 7:37 pm
#6
Need some help with the web site price list. I'm not able to open it. Has the site changed? Please send a new link please.
Rekssk
Mafukie
Mon Apr 26, 2004 9:54 pm
#7
well, I am charging the following for the new droids
10k per survey droid ( going to put all exp points into uses )
10k per mse boom droid ( since tolium is in the 900+ and I've seen the stuff sell for 30CPU on my server )
30k for just an R3 chasis
I usually charge 7-7.5 k for my level 6 stuff armor/storage/med/data modules
the only thing I was cheap on was my R3 droids, but thats because the market is low and I am trying to get rid of them
80k for an R3 combat droid (adv) 1619 HAM 590 combat rating 2xlvl 6armor modules, was selling them for 100k
Its just about quality and having good marketing stratagy
psikobunny
Mon Apr 26, 2004 10:07 pm
#8
Prices shouldnt be higher because you want them to be or because you think they deserve to be. That is the voice of pure and simple greed talking. Charge based on how useful your product is. Charge to get a fair return on your investment of materials. Don't charge outrageous prices because "everyone else is doing it" thats how so many servers got this way in the first place. If we gouge people now, then we gain a rep as bloodsucking money grubbers who charge more than their stuff is worth, and our already low potential for return business goes even closer to the planet core.
Don't be Greedy. Be fair. This is how I do business and I am happy as well as prosperous. I make friends as well as customers.
Mafukie
Mon Apr 26, 2004 10:12 pm
#9
tell that to the armorsmiths, DE's have been undercut for a long time Droid are very useful, expecially with the new publish
BentheStampede
Mon Apr 26, 2004 10:52 pm
#10
Hopefully with update 8 we will be able to raise prices with actual useful products. You know why armorsmiths are able to charge 300K? They have almost everyone on their server looking for good armor. So far, most of what I sell is for cosmetic purposes. If Publish 8 is what it's cracked up to be, we should be able to be good businessmen and businesswomen and sell for a good price. So until I get a good feel for how well the demand for the new droids will be, keeping reasonable prices for something that isn't really worth much is the way to go.
YodaMac
Mon Apr 26, 2004 11:00 pm
#11
I agree about not being too greedy. I prefer to make my customers WANT to return their business to me. And a customer who gets a really good deal on his first droid is sure to return. I cater to that % of players who want to buy droids, because not all do.
Lets face it, after each and EVERY patch that has improved droids, it has meant crafting NEW droids for those customers because the old ones wouldn't "upgrade" with the patch. So they've had to buy ANOTHER droid. I cant look them in the face and tell them I'm charging full price for another combat droid that doesnt cost me anything more than the last one did a month ago, but is twice as powerful.
And since I'm the Head DE of my PA, It's my duty to see that all my PA brothers are outfitted with whatever the best is that I can do. That's my pledge to my PA. And I find that once a player gets to use a droid, they usually want to get some more to fill up their datapad slots. So I end up selling them more droids anyways.
This game isnt about eaning credits for me. The PA takes care of me, and I take care of them. This makes it easy for me to sell at prices that make outsiders happy to travel (even from other planets) to buy high quality droids at "reasonable" prices. I've made a reputation for myself. I've made friends. I've made a good neighbor and PA brother. And I keep getting to make droids, which is the only reason I'm here anyway.
Yod Amac - Head DE, Syn City, Naboo, Radiant Galaxy
Rippen208
Tue Apr 27, 2004 1:00 am
#12
I think it's a good idea to raise prices for those reasons cited, but let's also look at some other considerations:
Why do some DEs lower their prices? To sell droids!!! Don't forget to consider what a previous poster referred to -- the usefulness of the droid. As I see it, the main market for these combat droids (at least those before patch 8) is lower-level players engaging in lower-level combat. Do higher-level players use combat droids against high level MOBs? Not really, something with a 1600 HAM and 100-150 dmg will not help much even if it's used properly as ranged support. Can lower-level players (like mid-level marksmen or brawlers) afford 60-70k just for a 1600 HAM pet? Not usually. And why would they buy a droid with average stats for what is to them a small fortune, when they can probably get a BE pet with better stats for less? There's something to be said here for making the droids more "accessible" to customers who actually use them.
I have also felt recently that the more visible our droids are in the game, the more "exposure" they get, and thus the more popular they become (hopefully in tandem with an overall improvement in their quality). I love seeing more and more droids running around. And that, in my opinion, can lead to an overall improvement with regard to the involvement of droids in the game. I think that (demand/popularity) is a better and more long-term way to get prices up than simply raising them because we "think we should."
Just today, in my first full day of selling droids (in Coronet, Theed and on Dantooine -- no shop yet), I made 157k, not counting costs. Call me an idiot, but I was selling R2 combat-only droids for 40k, lower-HAM R3 combats for 35k, standard surgical/crafting droids for 30k, and MSE storage droids for 10k, just to name a few. Sure, I could probably raise prices just a little higher, but I sure feel better about selling so many droids, than I would if my prices were high but I didn't sell anything. I know this is obvious, but I think we do tend to forget: this is a game. And selling things that help people is fun. I had one new doctor buy a surgical droid off me, and when he started buffing, he was amazed to make like 200k in a very short time. I told him how good it made me feel to have helped him take off like that.
Yes, I'm all for raising prices, that would be great. But I'm almost sure I'd sell less droids, and that is the bottom line. Let's look for a middle ground between the two extremes.
Rippen
Why do some DEs lower their prices? To sell droids!!! Don't forget to consider what a previous poster referred to -- the usefulness of the droid. As I see it, the main market for these combat droids (at least those before patch 8) is lower-level players engaging in lower-level combat. Do higher-level players use combat droids against high level MOBs? Not really, something with a 1600 HAM and 100-150 dmg will not help much even if it's used properly as ranged support. Can lower-level players (like mid-level marksmen or brawlers) afford 60-70k just for a 1600 HAM pet? Not usually. And why would they buy a droid with average stats for what is to them a small fortune, when they can probably get a BE pet with better stats for less? There's something to be said here for making the droids more "accessible" to customers who actually use them.
I have also felt recently that the more visible our droids are in the game, the more "exposure" they get, and thus the more popular they become (hopefully in tandem with an overall improvement in their quality). I love seeing more and more droids running around. And that, in my opinion, can lead to an overall improvement with regard to the involvement of droids in the game. I think that (demand/popularity) is a better and more long-term way to get prices up than simply raising them because we "think we should."
Just today, in my first full day of selling droids (in Coronet, Theed and on Dantooine -- no shop yet), I made 157k, not counting costs. Call me an idiot, but I was selling R2 combat-only droids for 40k, lower-HAM R3 combats for 35k, standard surgical/crafting droids for 30k, and MSE storage droids for 10k, just to name a few. Sure, I could probably raise prices just a little higher, but I sure feel better about selling so many droids, than I would if my prices were high but I didn't sell anything. I know this is obvious, but I think we do tend to forget: this is a game. And selling things that help people is fun. I had one new doctor buy a surgical droid off me, and when he started buffing, he was amazed to make like 200k in a very short time. I told him how good it made me feel to have helped him take off like that.
Yes, I'm all for raising prices, that would be great. But I'm almost sure I'd sell less droids, and that is the bottom line. Let's look for a middle ground between the two extremes.
Rippen
JediMindslayer
Tue Apr 27, 2004 1:33 am
#13
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