Merchant Archive

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Bethya wrote:

I don't understand why some are so upset about this. It actually gives me heart that they don't understand the dynamics of business very well at all, which means that those who do (and I would humbly number myself amongst them) have an instant advantage.

Understanding the dynamics of a real world business and an in game business have many similarities - But quite a few variances that change everything drastically.

What does this new development actually do?

1. It provides a new way for making your goods known... that in itself is always abusiness plus.

Agree - But later in your own post, you ask for this feature to be augmented to the point that it WOULD be the ONLY way. I wil address it down there.

2. It makes clear the prices being charged for goods galaxy-wide. It means you can see what your competitors are doing (if you have any) and what they charge. It means you can provide a good deal for your customers and they cancheck themselves and discoverthat they aren't being fleeced. It builds trust, loyalty... all important torepeat business.

It isn't making that very clear at all. With the randomness of the system, and the attention span of people who "Don't want to spend hours looking for that certain item", people aren't going through every possible page. They are remembering what they paid BEFORE the GWVS for a Swoop, and after the first few pages, setlling on the first one they see that sells sufficiently BELOW that "base" price they have in their mind. What builds trust and loyalty are PERSONAL relationships with your customer - Not some search on the bazaar. I'm glad you must have time to greet all of your new customers - I'm too busy playing the game.

3. It should mean that prices come down. Okay, so your swoops at 20k are being undercut. Guess what... next time you buy metal, I bet you will be prepared to pay less for it.As a result, the resource prices come down. If the resource prices come down, the harvester prices come down... and so on and so on. Ultimately, I would guess this is why it's being done... to take heat out of the economy and lower prices.

There are certain items throughout some professions (Shipwright, Architect) that CAN'T come down any more than they already have. But the ILLUSION will be that they can - I can't WAIT for the posts of how greedy Architects are for selling their Harvesters for the very SAME prices they always have - They are practically at BASE prices as it is. Sure, weapons and armor have plenty of leeway - But please stop using your wide brush to paint a pretty picture - It just ain't true.

Anyone remember Luke Skywalker's comment in ANH?

"Ten thousand... we could almost buy our own ship for that"

Not in SWG at the moment, he couldn't.

Apparently Luke never had to mine his own resources, or pay anyone for the resources he'd need to BUILD that ship. Luke was talking about a bulk freighter. Well, that bulk freighter in SWG, if mining your OWN resources and make ZERO profit from it is base 75,000 - So, it will NEVER be in SWG. Luke was a farmer - Not a Merchant or Artisan. Nice quote though.

What does this new development not do?

1. Customerscannot buy goods without visiting your shop. You can still provide a customer experience for them on site when they turn up to buy goods. And hey, guess what, new customers arriving who have heard about you from the bazaar. Again, a business plus.

I have never, not once, from day ONE as a Merchant bothered with a pretty mall, a "great" location, or a shopping experience. Yet I still do incredibly well. Many of us are WAY overblowing the importance customers are placing on a "well decorated shop".

2. Is the map still important? Of course it is. Someone gets a waypoint and visits the shop next to you. They check the map... ooh, there's XYZ goods next door. I'll pop in and see what they have to offer. Any business that relies on one method of marketing is sunk - the map, the bazaar, mailings you to do to regular customers, special events, promotions etc etc etc are all important. Nothing they have done changes that.

Heh - All I ever used before the search was Planetary. No ads. No mailings. I do quite well, thanks, not sunk at all. The vendor search enables me to ditch those Planetary points as well. If price is king - My prices already speak for themselves, and people buying from me will do the word of mouth advertising without my prompting. I really will enjoy the additional Skill points in other areas - Go ahead and keep yours to stay on the Map - We both have viable thoughts on the system.. But my in game experience shows a totally different picture than you paint.

Is this development perfect?

No.

1. I sympathise with Tokklyym's experience of using the waypoints. It would help to have them named by product. The waypoint seems accurate to the actual vendor (which does help) but renaming them would help a lot.

2. The lack of a search (I would suggest by product type rather than freeform... after all, all those re-named products would be a drag with a freeform search).

3. The categories need a serious re-organisation (MISC > GENERAL ITEM anyone?)

Here's the part I mention above - You wish to augment the search even further, making it even more convenient than it already is - If they DO implement a search as you lay out here, making it so a customer can find the EXACT item they are looking for painlessly- THAT will be the end to the usefulness of Planetary Map and Barking. It will also diminish impulse buying, because they would take the time to make a shopping list, and get exactly what they need at the lowest possible cost, period.

I've said my piece

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Bethya wrote:

Thanks for the detailed response.

And thank YOU for understanding I wasn't flaming you - Most would have seen my words and jumped to that conclusion.

Just a few brief notes:

I see no reason whythe bazaarwould be the only way to do business. I also don't see how improving the categories would make it the only way. I would continue to use the planetary map for the example I quoted, I would continue to mail my regular customers, I would continue to run promotions and events, and yes I'd continue to use the bazaar. Sure, improving it would make it a major option for customers... possibly THE major option but I don't see how it would ever be the only way.

I wish I could agree, I honestly do. But with the increase from 6k to 20k on the Bazaar itself (Nice Stealth job on that, SOE), combined with the GWVS - I see a definite trend beginning to form. That trend is of course TIME saving for the players. It's all about convenience in the name of saving people time to go out and experience Content. While great for ALL - The decisions being made lately amount to the beginning of "centralizing" the Merchant system. At 20k as the upper sales limit on the Bazaar - People are being rewarded with the ability to place MASTER LEVEL goods on the Bazaar, and to bypass the Vendor system entirely. So - More centralization, less emphasis on Merchant - Can you see why i feel the way i do?

>I'm glad you must have time to greet all of your new customers - I'm too busy playing the game.

It takes two seconds to send a mail to a new customer saying thanks for stopping by. For me, being a good merchant and building relationships with customers is part of the game. :-)

And it is a viable method, and I /salute your involvement... But I have developed a core of return customers without that process.. Could I have more doing it your way? Most likely, I will admit. But then I would need to increase my production, which would in turn take away my time for experiencing other content, right on down the line..

>I have never, not once, from day ONE as a Merchant bothered with a pretty mall, a "great" location, or a shopping experience. Yet I still do incredibly well.

Well, I guess it depends what industry you are in. :-)Some industries will always be more popular than others. I take your basic point though that the importance of the 'experience' is being overblown by some.

I don't think we are a million miles away from each other in many things. Just wanted to clarify one thing (bazaar being the only way) and make one or two comments elsewhere...

... which reminds me.I can't see how Luke being a farmer would make him ignorant of the costs of ships. He owned a speeder, he went to Tosche station to buy stuff, he had his head in the clouds generally so I'm sure like young men with a passion for cars, he could have given you chapter and verse on the minutiae of spaceships, including prices... but we digress and I'm definitely not getting into a discussion on how much Luke Skywalker knew about the price of a T-1300!

Eh, i was just trying to point out with a little whimsy that the ability for some professions to lower costs is nearly impossible. It just happened to be in that section of the response. Certain professions are already at or near their lowest possible sales prices - But when customers begin to see price "normalization" from Weaponsmiths for example.. A VK with ranges from 4k to 12k will normalize to around 6k - They will begin to question why the Architects aren't drastically dropping prices - Or why Ship Chassis aren't getting lower.. Leading to people not trusting those professions, because they "Haven't dropped their prices like all the other crafters"..

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Eerif wrote:

I still say it needs to be high level advertising or master merchant to use.... give some more meaning to the merchant profession.

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God... why does everything have to be shoved up in the master box? Wouldn't it be nice if aartisan with business 3 could actually sell the items they make and play rather then grind till the day they reach master whatever?

What wrong with giving the ENTIRE merchant profession and Business 3+more meaning?

While you're at it, why don't you suggest moving all schematics execptone grinding schematic into the master box as well? Might as well make it official.

Message Edited by SystemJinx on 03-25-2005 03:05 PM