Merchant Archive

• Listings only - no prices, no details, no ability to purchase
  This helps the consumer a little, and the merchant more. Consumers can find vendors with the items they want, but they have no idea of price or quality (unless stated in the name of the item). Merchants can be found much more easily.


• Listings with prices, no details, no ability to purchase
  This helps the consumer more and the merchant less. Consumers can find vendors with the items they want at the prices they are prepared to pay, but have no idea of the quality, probably discouraging them from going for the cheapest items where quality matters. If they find a shop where the quality is too low they can keep a note so they know not to visit in the future. This reduces searching. Merchants can be found more easily, but suffer increased price competition.


• Listing with details, no prices, no ability to purchase
  This helps the consumer about the same as prices with no details, but helps the merchant more. Consumers can find the items they want at the quality they desire but may find that they are too expensive. As before they can keep a note of expensive stores and avoid them in future. Merchants can be found more easily and are now competing directly on quality, with price as a secondary issue. The ability of crafters to put prices in names becomes an issue at this point. Is it against the rules to misrepresent the price one of your items? What if a crafter puts a price in the title, you buy the item and then resell it at a profit. The price in the title is now incorrect, but this is not an intentional misrepresentation.


• Listing with details and prices, no ability to purchase
  This is closer to the current proposal. It helps consumers more than merchants. Consumers can find the items they want at the quality they desire and the price they can afford. Merchants are now competing directly on both price and quality, making all other considerations virtually worthless.


• Listing with details, prices and ability to purchase
  The current proposal. It helps consumers far more than merchants. Consumers can find the items they want at the quality they desire and the price they can afford and purchase it with no risk of being beaten to the vendor. Merchants are now competing directly on both price and quality, making all other considerations virtually worthless. They also lose the ability to control access to their stores, or else open up a whole host of griefing opportunities by banning people who have just spent 10 million cr. before they can pick up their items.

Message Edited by Knocky on 02-12-2005 03:23 AM

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EnigmaBSc wrote:
The question now is: what is the best balance of functionality for both the merchant and the consumer? The initial proposal was tilted far too much in the consumer's favour. Even with item delivery removed many feel it is still tilted too far in the consumer's favour. Lets examine some possible alternatives:

• Listings only - no prices, no details, no ability to purchase
  This helps the consumer a little, and the merchant more. Consumers can find vendors with the items they want, but they have no idea of price or quality (unless stated in the name of the item). Merchants can be found much more easily.
  



• Listings with prices, no details, no ability to purchase
  This helps the consumer more and the merchant less. Consumers can find vendors with the items they want at the prices they are prepared to pay, but have no idea of the quality, probably discouraging them from going for the cheapest items where quality matters. If they find a shop where the quality is too low they can keep a note so they know not to visit in the future. This reduces searching. Merchants can be found more easily, but suffer increased price competition.



• Listing with details, no prices, no ability to purchase
  This helps the consumer about the same as prices with no details, but helps the merchant more. Consumers can find the items they want at the quality they desire but may find that they are too expensive. As before they can keep a note of expensive stores and avoid them in future. Merchants can be found more easily and are now competing directly on quality, with price as a secondary issue. The ability of crafters to put prices in names becomes an issue at this point. Is it against the rules to misrepresent the price one of your items? What if a crafter puts a price in the title, you buy the item and then resell it at a profit. The price in the title is now incorrect, but this is not an intentional misrepresentation.



• Listing with details and prices, no ability to purchase
  This is closer to the current proposal. It helps consumers more than merchants. Consumers can find the items they want at the quality they desire and the price they can afford. Merchants are now competing directly on both price and quality, making all other considerations virtually worthless.



• Listing with details, prices and ability to purchase
  The current proposal. It helps consumers far more than merchants. Consumers can find the items they want at the quality they desire and the price they can afford and purchase it with no risk of being beaten to the vendor. Merchants are now competing directly on both price and quality, making all other considerations virtually worthless. They also lose the ability to control access to their stores, or else open up a whole host of griefing opportunities by banning people who have just spent 10 million cr. before they can pick up their items.

I'm sure there are other issues that I've missed, hopefully people will point them out. Personally I prefer listings with details, no prices and no ability to purchase, but it does still have issues, as noted.

EnigmaBSc

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However Merchants can fool everything by names without details. You can easily name a personal harvester as 98% Swoop that way. Not all merchants are honest. We already see PuP weapon sales...

Message Edited by gera on 02-12-2005 12:25 PM

Message Edited by Akaara on 02-12-2005 05:35 AM

• Mayors get the ability to place a bazaar terminal in their city. Otherwise people will be spending more time shopping in NPC cities.
  
• Buyers can either travel to the vendor for collection or take deliver option (see proposal below)
  
• Only the following information is displayed for each item in stock,
  
  
  
  • Item name
    
  • Item description and stats (normal examine window)
    
  • Name of vendor
    
  • Access fee (need to guard against those who list an item cheaply but extort through door access fee on collection)
    
  • Planetary location and way point
    
  • Price display
    
    
    • As a merchant I think this is a bad idea and will have the following effects:
      
      
      
      • Hurt merchants starting out as they just won't be able to compete with the big conglomerates.
        
        
      • Limit impulse purchases as stores will not be able to easily differentiate themselves based on range, service, store atmosphere (decoration), etc.
      
      
    • As a buyer, it would be convenient to see the price as you don't want to trek around all the places that stock the item you want only to find they are expensive.
  
  

  
  Remote Delivery?
  
  I have seen some people propose that a delivery fee be imposed for those that want instant delivery. I would rather see a proper delivery system in place to enhance rolelay.
  

  
  Upon purchasing an item, the buyer would select a delivery option from:
  

  
  
  • Collection from the vendor
    
  • 1 day delivery
    
  • 3 day delivery
    
  • 5 day delivery
  
  Delivery companies would need to register in the appropriate categories depending on what they can realistically service with their staff.
  

  
  

  
  
  1. Interface (similar to existing delivery terminals) for Delivery Companies to register and receive delivery requests.
     
  2. The delivery request would appear on the companies delivery terminal
     
  3. Someone takes the delivery mission
     
  4. The delivery person travels to the vendor to 'collect' the item, though this would just be a flag trigger or datapad entry - NOT the physical item.
     
  5. The delivery person travels to the buyer to deliver the item and trades the datapad entry which turns into the actual item once in the buyer's inventory.
     
  6. This would then deliver x amount to the delivery person. Fee based on set fee of say 5k or 10% of the item cost, whichever is higher.
  
  

  
  There would need to be an addition to this system that says if the item has not been delivered within say 3 days, that the item is auto-delivered to the buyer at a reduced fee.
  

  Message Edited by Kyorlana on 02-12-2005 03:24 PM
  

  
  
  

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