Merchant Archive

Hmmmmm.. The good ole days..

Well I'm a tailor, and I started out shortly after my server opened.. Things were a lot different then.. Heck it was a good month before I even had a building, because no one could make them yet and the 20k for a small house might as well have been a mil at that time..

I've run a very successful business for a long time now, although I should change my sig as I have officially closed down until further notice.. I'm not all that familiar with the droid business, but what I can tell you from my experiences is that good service is a MUST for a successful business.. Keep your vendors well stocked, and be sure that you are knowledgable about your products.. This probably wouldn't work as well for you, but I sold "gift certificates".. Those were very popular.. I guess my best advice for you would be to know your customers, and know your niche.. Don't be afraid to try new things.. Build a reputation, and you will be in very good shape..

Personally I think starport spamming is a good way to get iggied, more then anything else.. There are lots of things you can do though to get your name out there.. An ad or "stock update" on your server trade forum is very helpful.. Also I have found that in my business word of mouth has been the best advertising of all.. That may or may not be the case with your business, but keep it in mind.. Happy customers do send other people your way..

Ok that was my 2 creds.. Good luck with your shop, and grats..

Hey Az'! I know your shop and I remember your kindness. You sold me a republic blaster at a somewhat reduced cost because I didn't quite have the credits to buy it at full price. This was back in October I think, so that is a lifetime ago, no?

I started my shop on Dantooine after my guild executed a hasty move there a couple of months ago. I had recently mastered chef so I started with a few vendors that separated the choices into categories like "Skill Foods", "Combat Foods", etc. I also put a lot of work into designing the place to be interesting to visit. Finally my other big decisions was that I didn't have the desire to sit all day and spam a starport. So to support that, I decided that customer service/contact was the key. I started an email newsletter, complete with colored text and ascii art. As this was right around the time of the chef revamp, I made sure to talk about the different choices, and gave blurbs for each type. I would rely heavily on word of mouth to get going. I also decided to offer as many choices of food that my resources would allow, and that has done well to attract many different customers.

After all that, I went and mastered Artisan and Architect and placed a vendor for furniture/fireworks and one for harvesters/structures. As a final touch, our mayor placed a nice garden without outdoor tables and allowed me to claim it as my 'Outdoor Cafe' complete with a merchant tent vendor selling single stacks of my food (the other vendors sell crates).

I'm sure I'm not the biggest merchant out there, far from it. But I am not as handicapped as maybe some would think since I am on Dantooine. I also have a fiercely loyal customer base that grows almost daily of both guildmates and non-guildmates. It is their excitement and accolades that keep me crafting away.

I do wish I had enough skill points to master merchant, so that is dissapointing. But maybe someday. For now, I am totally enjoying my role in the game and the feeling of helping people understand the game or play harder, rather than just raking in the bucks. While most of my credits are put back into resources, I did taketime to acquire one guilty pleasure - the AV21! I love it and finally enjoy running out and checking harvesters. It cost me WAY too much, but it is still worth it!

Good luck with YOUR adventure. You don't have to have combat to have a truly rewarding time here.

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p4Samwise wrote:

The rest is history. Best thing about this profession: you can actually play the profession, have fun with it, and get XP all at the same time. No stupid grinding required.

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I used to have a small house outside Anchor Head I shared with a friend, wemainly sold vechiles at insanely cheap prices.. then one day i was getting trained in my frist box of merchant and I met a really cool guy who had an awesome large house filled with vendors andit was decorated magnicently.. i thought "that is what i want".. he told me he was joining a city and me and a friend should join too... i placed a small house in the citywith 2 tailor vendors in it.. about three weeks laterI hit efficency 4.. placed a tent in the city's merchant complex and never looked back...the merchant complex in our city nowhas about 25-30 tents and one thing I didn't know at the timewas thatwe had awell know chef vendor and equally respected weaponsmith vendor..

This is what madethe difference... find a great shopping city that has well known stores/well stocked vendors,and see if they'll let you place a vendor in their mall/merchant district. Basically people will come to such a town anyway to visit their favourite architect/WS/AS/Tailor/whatever and they'll see your vendor/tent and they'll have a little look to see what you've got in stock...My store is alsodecorated with all kinds of things like alarge twi'lex painting, endor painting, seats for my customers, candles and junkon a table,almost everyone who comes in says how great my store looks, you can bet they'll remembertheir visit.. I go into so many tents and just see some ugly looking vendor staring back at me in an otherwise empty tent... well that's memorable.

Another thing that helps is the sig,, get a sig that pimps your vendor and get posting on you server's forums...

Pls don't spam coronet or theed though,people who do this either lookneedy/new or just holo-grinders desperate for xp. If you need to spam to get people to visit your vendor then your vendors are simplyin the wrong place. And like someone else said, spamming Coronet/Theedit's a good way to get added to people's ignore lists espeically the docs who buff in such big cities.

I started out placing houses in two places outside Naboo and spamming to advertise them.Strictly resale on things I found cheap in a variety of places. Limited stock of high-demand items. Brandy, stimpacks, muon, things like that. If I found a bargain on something Ibought it up and put that on there too.

Did multiple millions in sales each week but the spam got to the point where I was even annoying myself.

Closed the vendor house and asked a chef I had been selling to if I could set up shop next to his vendor. He put me in touch with the guy in charge and I am now colocated with a prominent chef, armorsmith, weaponsmith, and med vendor.

I have one vendor selling a hodgepodge of things I come across and one selling discount resources. I mine resources constantly, I take some on consignment from people I know, and I buy up estates and underpriced vendors. Organics I often kill myself or buy directly and resell.

A third vendor in my guild city sells stimpacks and brandy, mostly as a courtesy to the guild. I make my money on the resources.

I have never crafted a single thing to sell, and I have made tons of money as a merchant. There is always someone selling for less than the market will bear, to provide all the stock I can handle.

Personally I think starport spamming is a good way to get iggied, more then anything else

TRUE THAT!

I started as tailor next to Coronet, I was just making clothes with my waypoint in their name and putting them in bazaar until I got advertizing 3 (which took a long time lol).