Merchant Archive
Thread: Thoughts from a Non-Merchant
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AdderNoose
Fri Feb 18, 2005 4:53 pm
#1
Let me start this off by saying that I am not a merchant! I have played SWG since the day it became available and for the most part have enjoyed it immensely. I however like so many others have found that often the only way to effectively buy and sell high end items is through the SWG trade forums or even worse, through the spamming of star ports (which I refuse to do myself).
As it is now, I could spend hours searching for what I am looking for in a various vendors and never finding it, or if by chance I do find the item I am looking for the price is so high that my guess is that it will sit on the vendor forever. One of the nice things about the Trade forums is that it matches the right customer to the right item. It allows for a free market economy allowing the highest bidder to win, or place a buyout if applicable. Often times the value of an item can go up or down on a day to day basis, this is where an auction becomes so great allowing for instant adjustment by the market. Another benefit of the trade forums is that anyone can use it.
I am not for a minute proposing that all non-merchants be given vendors and access to the galaxy search. What I would like to see is to build functionality that would allow merchants and non-merchants to work better together. Instead allow non-merchants to offer items to a vendor in a variety of ways. When offering the item the non-merchant could select OFFER TO MERCHANT, CONSIGNMENT or AUCTION.
1. Offer to merchant - only the merchant can accept this offer for the amount listed as the sale price. (This is just like it is today).
2. Consignment - when listing an item for consignment the person offering the item will need to select a consignment % from 3 to 10 percent, the length of the consignment as well as the asking price. If the merchant accepts the consignment the item is then added to the items being offered on the vendor. If the item sells, the consignment % of the selling price goes to the merchant, the remainder goes to the person offering the item to the vendor. If the item does not sell, the item is returned to the inventory of the person offering the item at the end of the consignment period. A non-merchant should be limited to a specific number of items they can offer for consignment.
3. Auction - this is similar to a consignment however, the person offering the item lists the minimum bid amount as well as a buyout if applicable in addition to the consignment % of 3 to 10 percent, and the length.
Bidding on an AUCTION should be able to be done from any vendor location, however in order to Purchase an item on a regular or CONSIGNMENT sale should require the buyer to travel to the vendor the item is listed on in order to complete the transaction. This will insure that the merchant's inventory is viewed prior to the completion of the sale.
In most cases a buyer needs to see some very specific information when considering purchasing an item. Let's say that I am in the market for a new Acklay Power Hammer. When considering the purchase I need to take a look at all the stats (min/max damage, speed, range, health cost, etc.), as well as the price prior to making the actual sale. I for one would want to be able to narrow the search down as quickly as possible, therefore needing a way to dynamically sort or filter on various stats.
From scanning through your board I have found that a number of merchants are of the opinion that prices should not be displayed on remote vendors. From a consumers point of view I have a hard time with this. I would be disappointed if after checking 20 vendors for a skill attachment that is there only to find out that they where listed at a price I would never be willing to pay (makes for a lot of running around for nothing!) Personally that would discourage me from visiting the vendor again and possibly leave me back where I am now (On the Trade Forum).
Well there you have it, my thoughts as a non-merchant trying to get by during these difficult times of the Galactic Civil War. Time for me to run back to the Trade Forums. 
P.S. Good luck on your upcoming changes, I hope they work well for the majority!
Message Edited by AdderNoose on 02-18-2005 04:05 PM
Vastar
Fri Feb 18, 2005 8:33 pm
#2
That all sounds reasonable enough to me aside from number three. Unless I'm reading it wrong, the auction feature could be abused to the point of it being just as bad as a global search feature. I believe there is an auction house idea floating around here that might fit a little better as a replacement for your auction plan. But, yeah, aside from that, it all sounds pretty good to me. 
Yogol
Sat Feb 19, 2005 2:17 am
#3
As Zlatan said : it alll sounds well, except the auction-thingy.
IMHO vendor-auctions area nice addition but certainly not a priority. Global search is a substantially better thing to invest DEV-time in then auctions.
Alsoan "automatic offer acceptance" on vendors would be nice to for certainitems. For instance the possibility to let my vendor automatically buy any GDK scale that's offered or any completed blue rug or any Lytus family artifacts. Ofcours for certain items you got to be carefull thatyou don't pay automatically for something that can have a terrible quality or condition, butaside from that automatic buying vendors would be nice.
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