Image Designer Archive

plz tell me you are joking I am making an IDers/Smuggler/stripper and do you really think anyone is going to pay for your Lvls your nuts. I dont know were your servers is and who your chargeing but i have yet to have anyone willing to pay 5000 for a change in the hair style or Tats. You ever get these people hoped up on spice to feel you have the right to charge someone this. I mean really you use nothing and get exp. why do you feel your owed anything more then the xp you get from doing it

Sorry for the double post. Tarris, we're masters, experience is useless to us. And no one blinks an eye at 5K for a hairstyle. That's maybe 30 minutes of running delivery missions if the shuttles are meanto you. Doing double missions from Kadarra to Moeina can net you 10K in an hour. This is howI was able to afford training whenI was the only Image Designer on Lowca.

-Soon

I don't joke and the population pays me my prices. Image design is a luxury. If you make your money doing destroy missions, great, just kindly consider those who do things like image design, dance and music as a living, and respect thier price guides.

Many of the Masters on Wanderhome follow my price guide. The full over hauls are just that... total overhails of teh head, torso/limbs or entire body. You pay for my time, as a full overhaul can take hours to complete, time that could be spent tending to other customers willing to pay for my services.

I didn't become an image designer because I thought it was a neat side profession. I did it to make image design my source of income. I have no fighting skills, I have no HAM bars to even compete with a nuna. I sit in a cantina ALL day every day for the community. I dont adventure much, the only time you see me outside a cantina is to check the bazaar for clothes or if Im in a party of my friends and allies who can protect me.

Some of you make it sound that I am a bad person for charging for image design. I find these people to be:

1.) People who cant afford the luxury of a unique avatar

2.) Crusaders who think they are helpingthe community by being image designers and chargiung for free.

If you are #2, why would you do this? Why would you maliciously ruin another's business by doing it for free? If you had a problem with the price, why not discuss it with the other masters on the server? If no one has a problem with paying my price why should I subcomb to lowering my rates?

I was never firm on all of my prices, and I do do charity for advertisement. I give discounts for repeat business, and better discounts for GCW participants. I give handsome discounts for doctors and entertainers. most of the time entertianers for free. I'm not exploiting anyone with my prices, as image design is not a service you need to exceed in advancement, like weapons, armor and housing.
I provide a luxury service, and much like a plastic surgeoun, expect to be paid upon services rendered. When was the last time you saw a plastic surgeon remove a tatto for free or gave breast implants (cosmetic puposes not due to loss thereoff), for free?

I don't need to justify my pricing as it is more than fair, and anyone who has an hour a day to run destroy missions can afford 80% of my menu including a 50k overhaul. A single player with expert brawling can make 12k every 15 minutes doing close (800-900m)destroy missions; thats about 48k an hour. Based on from what I have personally seen one man do, I developed my price guide (Thanks, Damon Mott).

Next thing you people will be asking is that people give resources away for free. I mean it doesnt cost them anything but action pool to sample them, right?

Lady China
Wanderhome Server

Thanks for the encouragement, Soon Mot.

Alexi may have told you that she visited me one day on my server when your server was down. I showed her my price guide and we spoke a good deal. I even designed her for free! =) We ID's stick together.

Lady China

If you weren't master allready I'd tell you to come over to Lowca! And I too am an ID for my MAIN profession. I'll have a bit of dance and hopefully at somepoint in the far future I'll hit Novice Carbiner. (I'd go crazy with no battle skills!) But ID is my main profession. I've made some decent cash off it, but no where near as much as the taliors, architects, weapon/armoursmiths, or even droid engineers in my PA. And the only reason I have as much cash as I do, is soley because <GOON> takes care of it's own. I'd never have been able to afford my armour and probot with the PA, evenwith what someof you see as my horrible price gouging. I think what it comes down to is differing personalities. I do give away styles for free. I give half off to imperials, repeat clients can get discounts, people who know exactly which color or marking style they want get discounts.

-Soon

am glad you guys are up on you RIF but I did say I do this too. I just feel that chargeing for it is nuts. But hey if you get it great. I could see chargeing money if and when the time comes that player bounties are started and you need to look different or if you can mask a name or something truely worthwile. But really how can you sleep at night knowing you charged someone 5000 for a hair cut.

I sleep very well knowing that Image Design is a luxury and not a necessity. If you sampled 10,000 resources by hand would you give them away for free? Its the same thing, it only cost you action, so why charge?

People dont need a custom look to function in the game. It is a luxury that reflects status and acheivement. Our prices reflect that. If every designer gave it away for free, then image designs would lose thier value as no one would have a unique look to them anymore.

Image design is for people who want to look special and understand that it is a luxury, not a responsibility for us to perform.

Lady China
Wanderhome

Again let me point out that I am an IDer and I dont charge for my service. Is a right to have your image changed no its not. But you use the example of harvesting resorses and as a Bh on another acc I know all to well the plight of harvesting and selling it But how dare you compair resorce harvesting to clicking on a grouped person and then clicking some other thing you want to change. There is no danger no risk no travel I mean realy I could see that if you did a bad ID you would FLaged and able to be shot but its not. You click on people and demand 5000. Thats it you should feel good knowing you brightened someones day by changing there Tat.

Pricing is definitely still an issue, at least on Eclipse. There are too few ID's and too many newbies, which results in a whole lot of people who will gawk at being charged thousands for a new haircut, even when they are requesting the top master hairstyle. It doesn't help that there are several ID's who work for tips only.

On my way up the hairstyle line, I did have a stint where I just worked for tips, and let me tell you, it can be unbelievably frustrating to work for thirty minutes and then have the customer walk away without tipping. Most sessions were really fun, and it was a nice break from the typical routine, but the few bad customers ruined it.

So I shifted to a price scale of 2k for a standard style and up to 5k for a master style. This worked perfectly fine in the majority of cases, but again, a few people ruined it for me. They would take up all my time, then sit down and log right in front of me without paying. I am a hairstylist as a secondary profession, so losing out on 5k isn't that big a deal, but it just bothers me. I don't want to start charging upfront, but until more people know about ID's and prices get more standardized, pricing will remain an issue.

Natalia
Tailor/Expert Hairstylist
Coronet, Corellia - Eclipse

I personally don't make a big deal over the pricing. Basically do the job and tell them I work from tips, then I tell them the tips that I usually recieve. If they choose not to tipat all (Which I don't MIND exactly... but I take offense to it.) then I simply tell them to never even bother coming back to me and their name goes in my profile for customers I wish to not work with. This has only happened once and I suppose they changed their mind thinking it might come back to them, no idea.

Best thing to do is not be rude to your customers, if you do what they ask and be patient you'll be rewarded. My usual tips range anywhere from 3000-20,000. Depends per person, per job. My suggestion to any is to simply be understanding with your customers and provide what they came to you for. Hope any of that was remotely interesting or helpful

So far I haven't really charged anyone for anything, that is going to change as of now.
The people that tip well are rare and inbetween, and after spending close to 2 hours on someone today, changing hairstyle, makeup, facial features.. I get tipped a whopping 10 credits. My time is worth more than that, let alone the time and credits I spent on levelling my skill, considering I haven't found an ID on my galaxy yet. In these 2 hours I could have gotten 20k credits doing missions. Sadly these bad tips are the norm rather than the exception.

As for the comment that the xp should be our reward, that's nonsense. The xp I get from doing customers is not going to get me to master any time soon.

All of the Master IDs on Starsider pretty much agreed on a system now. We don't have set prices.

I'm tip-based, and after experimenting on other servers a bit I find that I get a TON more credits than when I charge. Maybe you guys are just rushing through your customers?

You must remember what it would be like if you weren't an ID and you wished for the services of one. You want advice, is your look good or bad? Why is it your character looks too much like a monkey or looks stoned? A good ID will not just take orders, but make suggestions.

Whenever I do designs for someone and I am finished, I let them know, "This is no charge. I rely on donations to pay my extractor taxes. My average tip has been 6k, but it is not expected."

Guess I gotta keep in mind that all servers are different, but on Starsider....My pockets are saturated with cash, and I never charged there. I have at least 30 recurring customers for repeat business. Let the customer tip you, and pretty much the higher your tip, the better you can tell you're doing at your job.

Im not an image designer but I am willing to pay and I think you should charge for service. I hate people who expect service for free. How inconsiderate of them...they charge for their service, hides, guns, etc. I think you should charge anyone who refuses to pay double.