Merchant Archive
Thread: All I wanted was to be a buisnessman, and the trouble it lead me to.
I thought being a buisness man would be a fun and difrent route to go, as I can see from the HUGE traffic this proffession gets on the boards I see I am alone.
Well here is my delima, I Need merchant skill to gain in Merchant -> get people to visit house -> need somthing to draw in people -> need a vendor -> need Items -> Start crafting -> need resources -> start mining, Becomes a Armorsmith -> needs supplies -> work on tailoring -> needs hide and bone -> Becomes Pistoleer, Becomes Master Artisan, Look at my Merchant WOW I got enought exp to move to Novice merchant.
In the meantime I have depleted over half my skill points on stuff I didnt want to do, just to scratch the serface of what I was aiming for, I do want to go the armorsmith route but I need to take on tailoring just to do the other and I need both to sell stuff for the merchant, I need all 3 to reach my goal, but there so tangeled together and dependant on each other, The Snake has swallow'd his tail and the ring is getting tighter.
....HELP
Please don't get upset by this answer but perhaps you need to find some friends in the game. The idea isn't for you to do it all yourself. Find a tailor, buy the items you need from the tailor (perhaps marked down since you will provide the ingrediants), then make the armour you want to sell at your vendor.
Just a suggestion.
Well, what I did was basically start myself a company. We're basically like a PA without the officialness. When my architect get's there, we'll have a guild hall and then make if official. But, to make a long story short, I hired people to make the stuff for me, and for a cut of the profits, I sell it on my Vendors. It usually winds up being about an 80-20 split, me getting the 20. They do most of the work. But, that split is profit. I take out overhead in the form of maint for the house and the vendors. So I get my costs covered. The armorsmith/weaponsmith/whatever get's his money too. Plus, I help getting resources because there isn't a whole lot to do other than advertising. So you get to cut down costs that way as well. It works really well, most days I take in about 50k from sales.
Katrick Obi
CEO, OddManOut Enterprises
Kauri Server
Casmaran,
It is important for you to understand that SWG is based around the idea of a real economy (or at least they've tried very hard to achieve that). No one could realistically make their own car directly from scratch:mine their own metal, make all the components for the car, and then assemble it. It would take forever, and the mining would take most of the time (imagine doing that yourself). The same goes for armour in SWG, weapons, droids, houses, and even clothing. I doubt there are any tailors that actuallydrill their own petroleum to make synthetic fabrics. Although they've made it possible for lower skilled artisans to do that kind of thing in SWG, eventually when you climb higher on the skill tree you will need to rely on other crafters and merchants to get thediversified components you need.
Like Jayfoot said work hard at making friends.Make contacts with a Scout (so you don't have to get your own bone), or, if you like Scouting, make a friend with a tailor that can make fiberplast panels for you.
Also, the more specialized you are, the better you will be at making quality items you can sell successfully at higher prices and gain loyal customers for your products. You cannot do that by dipping into a wide array of professions. Otherwise everyone would be able to do everything themselves 
.
I hope this helps you understand how SWG works. It's probably something completely different than what you're used to. When I first started playing I was totally overwhelmed. Had to bring out the economics textbooks .
I'm not a merchant. I'm a tailor. I run my own shop.
Here's what I would look for in a merchant. First and mostly, I don't know or trust you. Before I shut down my retail operationI need, for my own economic security, to know that you're not going to quit the game or use me to make money while you skill up in tailoring and then replace me.
So, my biggest interest until we know one anotheris that you're not competing with my shop, which means being in another city or even better on another planet.
Second, I want easy bulk transactions and I expect to be paid up front as a supplier. I don't mean it has to be factory made, I don't mean bulk in that way, but I want to take a day and fill a big order for you, I don't want you nagging me for one thing, then one more thing, etc. I want a list like "20 military backpacks, 20 travel backpacks, 5 assorted sleeveless dresses, 5 thin striped pants black w/red stripe, 5 black rugged jackets, 5 dress shirts assorted colors, 2 wookie helms, 5 work pants, and 5 pairs black boots."
So far my encounters with merchants haven't been so good. It's been "maybe you could give me some clothes and I could pay you back" and that sort of thing. Nobody's approached me about doing a bulk order. I would be more than happy, it would be fun.
I ALWAYS bulk order. At least 5 of something every time. It makes the crafter's life easier, and makes mine easier as well. Bulks tend to get discounts, and are really good for keeping your stocks high. Numtini, you should be on my server, or find yourself a real merchant. 8)
I moved my house near a person I have met who run a cantina, my visitation rate had jumped by 150%, not the main trouble is on my planet tere are some big PA's they seem to be doing well, there not much compititon to me as they keep most of there good inside there PA. My main trouble is rying to make a profit, im a casual player and on my plantes i seem to only be able to make items that dont sell often I sell stuff now by having a low price. But this low price can hardly pay for my resources. I still have stuff on the bazaar that cant sem to sell and that is only based on price alone.