Merchant Archive

The character limit is unfortunate. I never get enough into my barking. Of course I quit using it because my vendors rotate to face the customer... who may be outside the store. No thanks, it took me forever to get the angles right (they're in a naboo house, main room, so in a circle).

Well in my own shops I have well dressed, sharp looking vendors that usually have a polite greeting. Once in a while I will change the bark to something rude or off the wall but that is just to give them a little depth of character and hopefully to entertain some of the regulars. If I am the one doing the shopping however, the bottom line is "What do you have on the vendor?" All other considerations are secondary. I would prefer a well designed shop with professional looking and sounding vendors, but if I just visited ten empty vendors and number eleven has stock but is speaking leet, well I can overlook that.

Instead of barking, I have a backpack next to each vendor that states the content of the vendor. Use colors, use arrows, and use line breaks, and it looks cool!!

For example:

Athena --->
Casual and Field Gear
Backpacks, Bandoliers, Boots
Camos, Dusters

Yes, it automatically centers. It really works well because it's changeable easily - but doesn't make your vendors turn, and the customer can have it around as reference (as opposed to when the vendor barks while your customer is still outside.

Totally agree with all these posts on professionalism. One post hit on using attractive women to seat customers. All my vendors are women and are easy to look at. They greet with the "polite" or "respectful" mood and just tell a little bit about what is on their particular vendor. I take my business seriously and make sure my vendors reflect that they can trust and depend on my service. I sell droids and a few other miscellanious artisan items so repeat customers and word of mouth are vital for me.

Great idea! I will try that!