CUEmu - Thread Posts

NestoCrafter

Wed Feb 11, 2004 10:21 am

Hello!

I am a Merchant on Bria. Almost Master, but not quite there yet.

I maintain a vendor to sell my clothes (also a Tailor) , and a vendor to sell my vehicles (also a Master Artisan).

I also have a Smuggling vendor for one player, and a Bio-Eng vendor for another.

Now, I really enjoy the benefits a Merchant grants upon his own crafting professions, but I am having some trouble. I was hoping the future of Merchants is going to change so I can better manage my client's expectations in regards to the vendors I have placed for them.

I have my own shop, which I pay the maintenence for.It's outside Moenia, on Naboo.I pay the maintenence for all the vendors.

My issues are very easy, but the solutions are not. I wonder how many of you Merchants have the same problems?

Agreeing on a percentage to cover my costs as a Merchant, while still offering my clients a decent chance at profit is causing me some problems, and making me somewhat question this profession as a whole, or more to the point, whether or not this is worth it for me to place vendors for players..

Why can't I just grant my client Admin rights to the vendor so he can get the mails from sales? Why can't he get the profit, and set a percentage to come my way when the vendor is set up? I charge extra for Planetary Advertising, as well as Ad Barking and the fact that I maintain the shop. There are always disagreements as to how much my end comes to, as well as how much is enough for me to stay in business?

So my questions are these:

1. Will I ever be able to grant Vendor admin rights to my clients?

2. Will my clients ever be able to automate my end of the profit, so that no meeting has to be set up to tip each other and all that stuff? Why must we keep track of the sales, and all the rest?

I know this may have been covered in previous discussion, but I wonder how the Merchant community places and maintains vendors for people, and still make money enough to stay in business. My vendors aren't very busy right now, as I am maybe 4 weeks into my business. The majority of the business comes from the Bio-Eng pets sold. What should I charge him, so that I make money and he makes money and everyone stays happy?

NestoCrafter

Wed Feb 11, 2004 4:23 pm

#2

Thanks Csin. I appreciate the answer. I read around the forum a bit, and I guess everyone shares the love.

It won't stop me from trying though, as this profession could be a lot of fun if some small things were changed around a little bit.

Either way, your humorous (or is it cynical) approachis welcome!

bpeter3

Wed Feb 11, 2004 4:26 pm

#3

it's something that has definitely been asked for before, in one form or another. alot of people are hoping some of these additions will be made, but doesn't look like it's going to happen soon.

DocSavag

Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:18 am

#4

I haven't given up hope yet and neither should you. Our challenge for the Top 5 was to come up with suggestions to help our profession that fit into the current framework. We did that and those suggestions have been delievered to the dev team. At the same time we collect bug reports and feature ideas and other stuff most of which finds its way to the dev team in one form or another. I can tell you that the current team in place right now seems very dedicated to getting as many chagnes as they can done. That doesn't mean we will get everything we asked for but it does mean that I feel comfortable we will start to see some changes soon.

I'll keep lobbying for our "attention capital" as the Politican Correspondant likes to call it. You guys keep coming up with great ideas and above all keep having fun playing this profession.

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

Puck_Starfire

Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:36 am

#5

As far as Vendor Rights, that doesn't bother me. Here is what I do:

I set up a vendor for the customer. They then "offer" their wares and I buy them. Then I sell them. Now on fees. They cover the maintenance of the vendor. But I have to make some profit too. So how do I make profit as a Vendor? One of two ways. First, I throw the "2% of your sales is your lease" tactic. This has worked best if they agree to it. Some customers I lose money this way. Some I gain. I had a meat seller who I made very little on. But I also had an Architect who was selling about 1-4 million a month out of my vendor. So I was making about 30k a month from him. Not much, but when the vendor costs me about 7500 a month, it's not bad. The second method is the "poor man's lease". I charge a flat 10k a month lease no matter what you sell. Lately this has been my method of choice to cut down on the headaches of figuring out 2% of their sales. They pay me 10k at the beginning of the month. If not, they lose the vendor and anything on it. I already bought the stuff so it's mine to sell.

Csin

Thu Feb 12, 2004 1:24 am

#6

I am pretty sure that I made a thread several weeks ago with the same title..

Unless it's a note about how we are being nerfed, the developers otherwise ignore this forum.

Try to enjoy making the most of what we have and don't ask for more. It's our way of life around here, and it's the clear message we've recieved from the devs. If we make too much noise or ask for tools to make our profession less of a hassle we get the nerf bat.

I had high hopes and expectations before, but now they're a flickering ember that I keep close to my heart and dream about while I restock my vendors piece-by-piece.

Csin Csity
Master Merchant

Prop. of Csin's Bargain Csity -400,-5500
Coronet, Corellia -Bloodfin
Bulk Resources, Weapons, Spice,
Medical Supplies, Droids, Deeds,
Clothing, and More every day.

"To be yourself, in a world that tries, night and day to make you just like everybody else - is to fight the greatest battle there ever is to fight, and never stop fighting." E. E. Cummings.

Merchant Archive

Thread: Managing Expectations