Droid Engineer Archive

Greetings. Im fairly new to the DE profession. So I would appreciate a bit of advice. I joined a good guild, its the same clanners Ive been FPS'ing for the last few years. They've really set me up well, lots of resources, storage etc.

Well Im finally in a cash flow situation, I have none. I need to sell some stuff.

What do the majority of DE's do for cash? Do you put up generic droids on the bazaar and sell them or take special orders. Being only 3 0 0 4 Im not that good at special orders, but I cant see someone just buying a droid off the bazaar unless it was a seeker or arkayde probe?

Any advice? I also dont want to "flood" the market with a bunch of cheap droids cutting off the cash flow of other DE's on my server either.

(where do I sign up for the union!)

Please o' wise ones, guide a young and foolish DE in the ways of Droidism!

- Account: Master TKA (cancelled)
- Account: Master Doctor (cancelled)
- Account: Smuggler (cancelled)
- Account: Master Chef (cancelled)
- Account: Master Droid Engineer (activity suspended pending developments)
Total loss of annual revenue (SOE): ~$715US to ~$900US
- Bad press: Priceless
Should Sony and Lucas Arts be worried? (15000 users * 5 accts = ~$13MIL in potential lost gross annual revenue) If I were the CEO for either LA or SOE, I would certainly be worried.

1. You need to find your "niche". SomeMaster DE's have stopped selling Medical droids with anything less than a110 medical rating because it's easier for them to mass produce "the best" stuff and ignore lower quality items. So, as just an example, try to find that market of lowbie new players and sell the lesser items at a more reasonable price than what the masters are selling their "best" stuff at. You're not stepping on their toes (since they're not selling "sub-par" stuff) and you're still providing a service to the community.

2. Location. You really ought to consider having a shop, but location is super, hyper, mega, eclipto critical. It could mean the difference between 5 droid sales a week to 15 or morea day. Try to make a deal with someone who has a very popular shop close to Theed or Coronet, and get your vendor in there. You want LOTS of foot traffic and planetary advertising.

3. Use the bazaar strategically, but not constantly. Use the bazaar for "specials" and advertising. Sell rarely, but make a splash when you do: Instead of a droid deed called something like "MSE Blah/Blah/Blah", call it "Squygxicus's Bargain Medical Droid: Limited time only!" and be sure to include the location of your shop and all the details in the description of the droid when you sell it on the bazaar. Something like "Other great droids and sales are at my shop at -1234, 1234, come on by and take a look!". It's not the bargain droid that you're selling, per se... it's your shop and your "real" droids.

4. Stock your vendors. Always, always, always, always, have items on your vendors. Nothing turns a person off more than travelling 500 or 1000m somewhere only to find a handful of leftovers. You'll lose that customer permanently because of it

Oh, and ignore all this advice if you're on the Corbantis server.

"You Droid Engineers have had to suffer through some tough times. The Devs do not hate the profession and have plans to address some of the larger concerns."
- Q-3PO 10/23/03 1st Annual Droid Engineering Academy Awards
- Fortium - Master Droid Engineer - Master Artisan - Grumpy Advocate for Droids and DE's -
- Proprietor of CF Industries Droidworks -
Naboo: -6600, 3450; Tatooine: -680, -4290; Dantooine: -772, 2860; Corellia: -140, -5500;

Thanks all. It looks like its going to be a little bit of everything and that I wont be getting rich anytime soon! (Im not too fond of the combat system, so far its all economy for me)

I think Ill hold off on vendors till I get master, then only if its well stocked.