Merchant Archive

You mention having someone survey for spots. I have charged anywhere from 50k to 125k for one resource, on one planet. For ore or water, a good spot is 50% or better, all others are generally 75% or better. For some spawns, have surveyed for hours and not even found that (except in cities, on mountains, and in middle of water). If you have someone who is quick to respond to a new spawn, can manage not to get killed too often, doesn't get sidetracked by wanting to get combat experience, and doesn't waste their time surveying on mountains, then it is well worth it to pay them for their time surveying. They will always keep one lot free, so that they can carry a heavy harvester, and "measure" the ground to see if it will hold the number of harvesters you want to put out. On your part, once a spot is found, you will need to get the harvesters out to it very quickly, possiblytaking out a regular combat person who can clear out dens of critters that are cluttering up the area, and preventing the harvesters from being placed.

It can be a marvelous group activity, and paying everyone for their participation is a good idea. You could even do it as a share-the-wealth plan, keeping track of who has participated in a particular spawn, and giving them a percentage of the value of the total spawn, to be paid after it has all been dug up and sold (or even before it is sold, if you are solvent enough). Some for the surveyor, some for the critter slayers, some for everyone contributing lots, and you skimming off the rest as profit. I've never heard of doing it that way, but if you are a group that does a lot of stuff together, there could be enough trust for that. In that case, make sure you always pay for the redeeding costs out of your part, as well as you paying for the maintenance and power. The downside of that would be that some resources, like ore, just don't spawn in large %'s, in which case you might want to share a % of total revenue, perhaps on a weekly basis. Could get really math-intensive, so depends on how much you like math.

However you do it, resources can generate a lot of revenue, so be generous with the people who help you out.

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LadyGrey

Don't let the negative AFKophobes get you down. Play the game however you want.

Is the beta testing almost over for this game?

This is pretty much how I run my business and have since the beginning. I'll post more later when I'm at work.. just woke up so skimming the boards right now.

when I initially started, it was myself only.. me and my 8 fusions.

I added a good friend and paid him for the resources at .5cpeu for power resource.. i resold at 1.5cpeu.. .triple what I paid him for it.. But i do provide the harvesters, pay the maint, provided the waypoints and collected the resources... they merely dropped the harvie and forgot it till it mailed them the cycle was over with a new waypoint. Now that may seem like alot I was making, and it is, but I also had high expenses... including the maintenance (having efficiency 4 really helps here when dealing with alot of harvies.. i managed up to a total of 180 fusions at our highest production) I also had significant expense with people just quitting or disappearing.... those harvies arern't cheap and were worth over a million credits per 10 harvies... a million credits down the tubes per person who quit and didn't give notice... plus there are expansion costs.. adding harvesters is expensive for new employees.. so lots went into reinvestment.

Then it just grew... i kept adding people....following the same format... up till i had 26 employees with 180 harvies pulling up to 18 million units of resource per cycle (best cycle ever was worth 54million total)

I pay all of my employees at the end of the cycle.. usually by having them offer an item to my vendor for their earnings.. I send an earnings report after each cycle.

That worked well for a while.. but it was ALOT of work trying to find every harvey and add maint and remove resources (they'll fill up typically before cycle ends.. at least most of mine did).

Then i got tired.... burned out.. it was all I did in the game... it was fine for a while but just the sheer volume became 'unfun'. Time for an operational revamp.

I now would only provide waypoints and sell offered stock. I sent waypoints, they planted, paid maint and collected resources which they then offered to my vendor. I increased their pay to 1cpu flat for any resource offer to me... still easy work for them and it covered their maint costs plus a few 100k extra. I then still resell the stock from 1.5-3cpu flat depending on pe value.

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my recommendations are that if you are starting small, you do like I did.. do all the work yourself.. and just have them place and pickup... if it's a fairly small op of 20-30 harvies, this should be easy enough. Even 60-80 is ok... but the longer you go, the sooner you will burn out on it.

I offered intially 1/3 of what I was selling product for in salary. It may seem low but you do have expenses like initial cost of harvies, destroyed harvies, harvies to expand and add employees...I'd say I lost 30M or so in harvies since I started.. it's a MMO.. it happens.

Definitely pay at end of cycle or a fixed time once a week.. don't let people pester you for advances.. it only causes headaches. The best form of payment is them offering a junk item to your vendor for xxxx credits. Anything that makes your life easier.. bank tips are ok.. but when you are talking 1million credit tips.. that 50k banktip fee can add up quickly. Why give it away to SOE?

If you are doing minerals, focus on the HQ ones and know who needs what... like what special resources weapon and armoursmiths need. Know who you will be selling it to before you start harvesting it. Power is ok, but not as lucrative as hq minerals, but it is easier... everyone needs power. If you have starting capital.. buy your power.. keep all your lots, and employees lots to actually harvest your product.. it's worth more than harvesting power is.

I used to spend a good four hours a day, every day, managing the business.. now I can spend about 5 minutes a day on average.. with restock days taking an hour or two.

This is mostly how I structure my operation.... if you have additional questions or issues, i've probably been through it, including firing people... just let me know if i can be of assistance.

(it's been a very hectic day here at work, so I hope this made some sort of sense)

Hello,

Bhasayate of New Kal'adin, Lok, on the Sunrunner server.

I am looking to expand my merchantness and want to hire people from my clan (New Kal'adin is an all Twi'lek clan and guild city btw) and I need some advice.

I want to hire people in my clan to place harves, which I'll provide, and have them go and get stuff for me, to survey for it, place the harv, give me admin. I'll pay for the mainetence and power,and sell the resources. Iwould like all the resources to resell, or give out to clan members in need, perhaps. I'd like my employees to get fair payment. I've heard of various ways of doing that, for instance, paying them commissions, etc. But I don't remember the details.

What is the 'going rate' for lot renting + moving harves around like that? Is it sensible to pay them a "flat" weekly or monthly check, say? If so, what amount would be reaosnsable for me to pay, and reasonable for them to accept? See, I don't want to pay out more than what the resoruces are worth to me, but I want it to be an attractive offer, and something simple, too.

I'm in 'brainstorm' mode right now, but i'm a little stuck. I could use some helpful models here, if you don't mind, from those of you doing this sort of thing presently.

Thanks!

OMG I'M BACK ON SWG!

OMG I'M BACK ON SWG!

Personally, I prefer to gather the info on available resources and let my miners handle waypoints, placing harvesters, and maintenance. They empty the harvester and offer the stock on my vendor. Since they do most the work, they get most of the profits. I pay 3 to 4 cpu for resources that I turn around and resale for 5 to 8 cpu. I only pay for resources that I am nearly certain I can sell for at least a 2 cpu profit.

Imadoh and Ikiecobi
Quality Resources and the Corellia Butcher - NoCo
NoCo Trade Center, Corellia (just northeast of Coronet) 796, -3076

happymob raises a good point. I only handle one resource.. so it's easy if i choose to to find the waypoints. If you are doing minerals/chems or a multitude of resources... then they are better finding their own otherwise you could be surveying for hours on end.. i did some full planet surveys on naboo before.. the entire harvestable area... 3.5 hours later I was done.. you definitely don't want to do that with multiple resources...... you might provide a waypoint to a specific resource for those who don't have survey skill though.

one other point... if you are providing harvesters to your 'employees', then consider that fact that some will go poofy due to their screwups... you'll have to replace those... i built that into my salary structure.. but it penalizes theresponsible employees to pick up the slack for the irresponsible ones. you might work out a deal where you 'sell' the harvies to your employees... One full cycle should be enough for them to buy them outright, or spread over a few cycles.. put the burden and responsibility on them...... if I had to do over, I would do it that way. Come to think of it.. for all future employees I will. Of course, I'd buy back harvies if they ever wished to leave the business. It smarter and safer and protects you from multimillion credit losses.

Happymob and Dingoboi (does that sound like a great band name or what? heh) both have excellent points, I'd definately listen to their advice. My own business model uses a mix of lot leases and sub-contractors for what I do. The lot leases I pay around 15k per lot per week, the sub-contractors I pay between 1.5-2.5 cpu, depending on the quality of the material. With the lot leasees, I contact them when its time to move the harvesters and that's about it. I usually throw in a moving bonus, especially if we're needing to shift to an adventure planet. With the sub-contractors, some survey their own spots, other times I might have one ready to go, so I'll forward it along to them. I've even had my subs drop me an occasional wp too, which helps out, as I've had those 3 hour surveying marathons myself.

Every servers economy is a little different, so pricing might be something you need to tweak a little. I'd also suggest contacting a few big crafters on your server and talk to them about providing custom resource orders. Don't overstep your production abilities, let them know right off the bat how many harvesters you have ready for use, and what types of materials you're able to pull up.

I've been harvesting resources since July 03 in this game, and I'mjust slightly less busy now than I was at the height of the holo-grind. I figure that proves I'm doing something right all on its own...

Federated ResourcesHork Haggis, Retired

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Elyssa Alexander (Elder Merchant Correspondent)
12pt. Master Structures Trader / Elder Jedi / Mayor, City of Metropolis
Shop Crazy Durni, Inc., now open in Metropolis, Corellia (885 -6605 Gorath)

"Why the big secret? People are smart, they can handle it."
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it."

Elyssa was 1000% correct
-Pawlin

I only respond to the DingoSignal after i've stocked my vendors and had a few cocktails. You can't fight crime on an empty stomach!

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Chataka Windae
Rifleman/Combat Medic
CEO, Windae Enterprises
Mesric Sanctuary Founder

I only have a glass of wine a day.

Some people call it a bottle... I call it a large glass...