Droid Engineer Archive

Hi, I am working to Droid Engineer on Tempest and have a question about prices I should sell my droids for.

Currently I offer 10 free baterries with every order and my individual droid prices are as follows:

1. MSE-500


2. DZ70-1500


3. R5-5000


4. R4-6000


5. R3-6500


6. R2-8000


7. Probot-9500


8. Repair Droid -12000


9. Surgical Droid -12000


10. Protocol Droid - 18000


11. Power Droid-25000

There is also an additional $2k-$5k charge for ADV models, depending on which chasis it is. Beyond the 10 free baterries, I offer 100 crated baterries, 94% experimented for $5k.

Now, from reading posts here, I have noticed that some of my prices may be a bit low...I haven't seen any posts regarding prices on Tempest. I would like to see how my costs compare to other's on this server and others...perhaps get a general feel for if I were to change servers.

Thanks.

Whether or not your prices or low (for Tempest) I cannot say.

However, they don't really make sense to me. The R3 uses more resources and is harder to build than the R2, yet you sell it for a lower price? The R5 and DZ70 are nearly equivalent as far as resources and effort are concerned, yet the R5 is 3 times as expensive?

Also, why are your bipeds so expensive? They're easier to make (in most cases) than an R2.

You might want to go through all of your schematics, figure out how many resources you use on each droid, factor in assembly difficulty, factor in the need (if any) for factory made parts, and then re-price your droids. Right now your "curve" isn't very smooth. The R3 is waaay too cheap and your bipeds are way too expensive.

The Power Droid is a weird one. I presume you have it marked up so high because you have to buy Power Core Units from Architects and you don't have a friendly one who will sell them to you at a reasonable price?

1. MSE-


2. DZ70-


3. R5-
   
   I only sell those moddles by request.
   


4. Adv R4-8,000


5. R3-30,000 (why the heck do you haveyour R3'spriced underyourR2's?)


6. Adv R2-25,000


7. Adv Probot-15,000


8. Adv Repair Droid -15,000


9. Adv Surgical Droid -14,000


10. Protocol Droid -25,000


11. Adv Power Droid-40,000

Wanderhome...MY prices, can't speak for others.

1. MSE-500 (almost never make them though)
   
2. DZ70-2,000
   
3. R5-8,000
   
4. R4-10,000
   
5. R3-30,000
   
6. R2-24,000
   
7. Probot-22,000
   
8. Repair Droid -20,000
   
9. Surgical Droid -24,000
   
10. Protocol Droid -29,000
    
11. Power Droid-35,000


12. BLL-80,000 (Only ever sold 3)

Thats normaly including modules and armor. I know others on the server sell for a lot less than I do, but I sell about 1-5 droids a day from my vendor. All package droids. I only do Protocols and BLL only by custom order.

R2 units are by far the most popular non-combat droid I sell, at something like a 10:1 ratio over Surgical Droids. (I sell more Probots - probably the most alien looking of all droids - than anything else.) I sell basically zero LE Repair Droids. I sell occasional Protocols... actually I probably sell almost as many Protocol Droids as Surgical Droids.

I'm aware of economics. However, that doesn't mean that you should necessarily keep lowering your price until sales pick up. Given the economics of your situation, I wouldn't even sell R3 units. To me, it's just not worth making them for 6k. They take far too many resources, far too much effort, and far too many factory-made components for it to be worth my time and effort to make them for 6k. I suggest you simply not sell them.

I knew a game company once that had a particular game that they were selling below COGS. No one at the company had bothered to do a full analysis, and they just kept lowering the price until is started selling. At which point they were LOSING $3 on every unit they sold. The wholesale price they were charging was $22 but their COGS were $25 per unit. Funny, but they're not in business anymore.

Perhaps we both forgot one thing Kollos...Popularity.

I get way more requests for Protocol or other Bipedal Droids than I do for any of the R-Series Droids. I suppose by popularity, I mean how many of one type people have following them around. On Tempest server, not many people have droids, but when they do, it is usually a Surgical Droid or Protocol Droid. So 1 protocol droid standing in front of coronet starport attracts a lot of attention.

On your server, I am sure in front of coronet starport, there are 3 or more R2 units hangin out moreso than any other.

As far as R3, I agree...They are kinda pointless to sell...but...what I usually sell of R3 droids for are Door Stops... People want to buy the chasis only and have me name it something special so they can drop it in their house or shop as a greeting to visitors. I don't think I have had 1 request for an actual, useable R3 Droid.

Scylla Here - I'm only a Novice DE but I still sell:

These are the only ones I can make:

1) MSE/MSE Adv - 600/1000
2) DZ70s - 1600
3) Treadwell -3900
4) R5 - 4200
5) Case of Batts- 4500
6) Customization Kit - 150 per charge

Almost forgot:

7) Case of Seekers: 3500

I am a Temptest MDE and my prices are quite a bit higher, but I do use the best resources I can, and all have level 6 modules and I sell pretty good.

Adv R2 = 25k

Adv R3 The Works = 40k Data/Item/Medical/Repair and a Crafter

Adv R3 Crafter's Choice = 60k Medical/Item and all crafting stations

Adv Probot Level 6 = 25k

Adv Surgical = 25k

Adv Protocol = 30k

Crate of Batteries = 5k Experimented to at least 90%

Crate Seekers = 5k

Crate Arakyds = 10k

I don't sell the lower or unadv droids in order to give up and coming DE's some business.

Kewl, I guess I am breakin even so far, any Tempest DE here?

Kollos,

The reason I price them that way is because of Demand. With economics, you begin to realize the consumer creates the market, not the producer.

Most people who talk to me want a bipedal droid. They resemble humans more, they look kewler and attract more attention because of these facts. From a distance, you KNOW C3PO, but you may not be able to tell R2D2 from an R3, 4 or 5 droid. Human (the person sitting behind the keyboard) psychology has a lot to do with their selection also. The majority of the people would rather have something that resembles them as a human being. An R2 droid is soalien, it does not get much attention. People are drawn to what they are acustomed to, trashcans with 3 roller legs are not it....LOL. Why do you think the majority of players are either Human or Zabrak, because they look the most like us. You may also be able to describe it like a young boy wanting a baby brother or sister.