Droid Engineer Archive

Just to keep price of market, to dont get too hi or too low

how much you guys are selling Probots?experimanted or not

Ok, we DE's we a pricing chart. These are the prices I've been selling my droids on Locwa for, I'm willing to raise or lower my prices based on what we all agree on. I don't have all the prices because I don't have master yet, but here's what I sell at.

Seeker Droids: 1k

Probe Droids: 2.5k

Level 1 Mods/Armor: 500

Level 2 Mods/Armor: 1k

Level 3 ModsArmor:1.5k

Level 4 Mods/Armor: 2k

Level 5 Mods/Armor: 3k

Level 6 Mods/Armor: 4k

Crafting Station Mods: 4k

Mouse Droids: I hate them, I don't even make them anymore

DZ70's,Tredwells, R5: 2k

Adv. DZ70, Adv. Tredwell, Adv. R5: 3k

R4, Power: 4k

Adv. R4, LE Repair, Surgical, Adv. Power: 6k

Probot: 15k

Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.

In other words, I'm willing to be that, just like every other profession with something to sell, some Bright Young Lad/y has come up with a pricing scheme to avoide undercutting, and just like every other such scheme, this will fail miserably.

The simple fact of the matter is, there will *always* be at least one person who will sell for next to nothing. ALWAYS. *ALWAYS*. Why? Because it isn't real money. There will *ALWAYS* be a child out there who thinks nothing of spending 8 hours a day grinding out widgets to sell for 1 credit a pop. ALWAYS. *ALWAYS*.

So, do what I did - don't ever get engaged in a price war. EVER. *EVER* I heard from people that there was someone else selling things for 1/10th the cost of what I sold mine for. That's nice - I was still selling my stuff at a price that was worth it for me. What do I care about a "lost" sale? (Which wasn't lost - it was just delayed by 30 seconds until someone else bought what the first guy didn't)

HK - MDE (First on Tempest, now retired)

What do we think the chances are of having guidlines that a majority of us out there aggreeded upon in regards to pricing of our wares. I was seriously considering setting up a sp called PA for DE's. When I say so-called I mean I was thinking of setting up something like a union structure, where you could be a part of the organizationj, but still be free to belong to other PA's. I thought that setting up something like tis would allow us to get together on a regualr basis to discuss our ideas and issues that we were experiencing. There would eventually be chapters set up on all the planets to help streamline our thoughts and ideas.

I figured if we had a lot of intrest in something like this it could really help out ggetting out profession back on track. And if we all stuck pretty much close to guidelines set, it may help bring confidence to others who are intrested in what we craft. I have seen this approach with miners, and it works pretty well for them. I have people who are intrested in this idea as well as other professions who are willing to get together with us and agree on setting up pricing for trade items that we all need. Sort of like a big Sams Club or BJ's depending on where you live.

Anyway please respond to this if there is intrest. I may start a new thread for this idea. Sorry Knives for asking for replies on your thread.

Geminii

DE located on Corellia outside Cornet.

Intrepid Server

Here's my rule of thumb price list:

Seekers: 1000cr

Arakyds: 1500cr

MSE: Craft station : 2500

R5: Craft station: 3000

R5a: Craft station + L4 module (or 2 L4's): 7000

R5a: Craft station + L6 module: 8000

Probot, protocol: 10,000

Probot-a: Craft + L4 + ar3: 15,000

Probot-a: Craft + L6 + ar3: 18,000

Probot-a: Craft + L6 + ar6: 25,000

R2: Craft + L4 + L4 + Ar3: 15,000

R2: Craft + L6 + L4 + Ar3: 18,000

R2: Craft + L6 + L4 + Ar6: 20,000

R3a: Craft + L6 + L6 + 2xL4 (item store) + Repair + Ar3: 30,000

Crates of Probots: 45,000

Crates of Droid Batteries: 3000

Crates of Droid Storage Compartments: 5500

That's what I keep in stock at any given time.

See, and I think you guys are just charging too much. It's not that hard to make a droid, nor does it take much time, especially with a factory pumping out parts. Now that I'm master DE and don't have to grind, I can put everything into a factory and make crates of Probots.

What would be good prices for droids, in your opinion? Perhaps you could give us a few examples, even.

_____________

> you

did someone "break" your thread? here is how to fix it

My pricing scheme is fairly simple:

Droids with Advanced Brains: 20 x Total Resources Used =price
Droidswith Standard Brains: 15 x Total Resources Used =price
Modules:10 x Total Resources Used = price

This allows me to keep all my harvesters running, pay for my trips back and forth to endor, keep up vendor costs, and still be able to put some away each day to use towards items in the future (vehicles, pets, new additions).

I've not had a *single* customer complaint about my prices. Everyone has *always* told me that the droids were worth the amount they paid. And I'll repeat my statement that those who just sell at a cost to cover the exact cost of their resources are hurting the other DE who are trying to run a business and actually have a modicum of RP in the game.

But, as always, it's your perogative to do whatever you'd like. Want to price low, so be it. Want to price high, so be it. I price at what customers will pay and that I feel is reasonable as well, it makes me happy...makes my customers happy...and keeps me with a constant stream of referal customers.

Mad Cat, I respectfully disagree. It's not that hard for a mechanic to wiggle a loose wire and get your car running again. Or for Doctors to figure out a lot of illnesses and prescribe a simple medication. Yet we pay gladly.

Why?

Because they went through the time to learn the skills we lacked. Same thing with being a DE, especially a Master! Why should we sell our time cheaply?

I fully support your right to sell your droids cheaply. However, I will not get in a price war, I know how much my time and effort are worth to me, and price my droids accordingly. So far, no complaints from customers. I ask what I believe they are worth, and people pay according to what they believe.

My house is PILED with factory crates of parts, of course, andwhen people want custom droids, I'm usually half-way across the galaxy. This meansI'm often tied to the shop. I've even made three factory runs of probots. Making the probots wasn't fun when you include the freaking glitchy factories. I make droids that people ask for andthen put a couple extra in the vendor, unless it's a really off the wall custom job.

I guess knives you have not had the pleasure of experiencing undercutting.

I was basically forced out of my home town by a PA who moved into town and brought their own DE with them - she was selling probots for 6k.

I had to remove my shop, quit my old guild (who did nothing to support me, or restrict competition), and move to another planet.

Undercutters will always be there in every profession.

For all of you undercutters (you know who you are) - you ARE a big part of the reason why DEs in general are suffering (don't believe it if you don't want to I don't care) - if you think your efforts are that worthless that you don't want to charge decent sums then FINE - sell your droids for pennies - just don't do it on another DEs turf.

Well demand alone does not set the prices. It's the equilibrium of supply (how many DEs there are and what they have available) and demand (what the highest price a customer is willing to pay for the item).

I put up an Excel spreadsheet here about a week ago, which allows you to examine different pricing structures. It is listed in the sticky threads under DE Guides and Websites there on the DE Profession Forum. It is good for at least a starting point and very flexible to where you can change multipliers to form your own specific price base and be able to see cost of obtaining resources to make each individual item. I'll put the thread here again for ease of use:

http://home.comcast.net/~cdmelvin/SWG_Droid_Pricing.xls

Nice thing about the way I set it up is you can account for skill level, different levels of resources, and manufactured items, all on an individual basis. This is not the end all of droid pricing, but at least will give you a good look at what potential costs can be and how they are affected on each item produced.