Merchant Archive
Thread: Idea: Deliveries to bazaar terminals near to the customer
This dawned on me and it's so simple yet so useful, what merchants could use is the ability to transfer an item from their vendor/bazaar terminalto an aggreed upon bazaar in another certain city. This ties a bit into the issue of secure trading and it would be nice if it worked something like this:
Lets say player A wants to order a house deed from merchant B, they talk about it and agree on a price but the merchant cannot be around again to allow the customer to collect the deed. under the current system there is only 2 choices, stick the item onto a vendor and hope someone doesn't drop in and walk off with someone elses order or simply miss out on a sale because they cannot be around for the item to be given to the customer. The delivery option would be a solution to this, when the merchant is online but the player isn't around to give the deed to the merchant could go to a bazaar terminal or to their vendor and there would be a third option for deliveries. What you could then do is sell the item on a specific bazaar terminal on whayever planet you wanted, naturally there would be a free incured to the merchant (who could then pass that fee onto the customer if they wanted) based on how far the delivery has to be transported plus an additional delay to simulate the transportation, someone who wants the item right away needs to pay an express shipment surcharge increasing the price.
The next time the customer logs in they'd recieve a message in their email saying their delivery is waiting for collection at such and such a city bazaar. They then go to collect the item from a new deliveries menu where they pay the cash as normal and collect it from the collection screen. The merchant is notified that the item is collected so there is no confusion of the delivery not arriving. The merchant can also check the status of the order, if it's not collected then they can recover the item to whichever bazaar terminal or vendor they are at for no charge.
If the devs want a nice subtle money sink then the delivery fees could even be charged directly to the customer who collects the item, leaving the merchant out of the picture and having cash flowing directly out of the server from the surcharges.
If you wanted to take this further then it's even possible for the architects to be given the blueprint for a mailbox which can be placed into their homes. The merchant could then transfer deliveries to these postbox terminals in someones home if needed thus allowing for even easier access for the customer to their order.
While this seems like a good idea, it might not be very good for businessor for game play. The game encourages people to go to player shops, and eventually cities, to interact and make their purchases so letting people get what they want without leaving a NPC city is contrary to that idea.
Also, I want customers to come to my shop and browse. They may only buy the item they specifically want, but they often buy a few other items like stims, powerups, etc. while they're there. When people want things delivered badly enough, I've taken it to them and added the ticket costs to the purchase.
I posted an idea for a Galaxtic Express idea on my server. Here is a copy of it plus the thread.
The Devs want a money sink well here it is. Galactic Express. For all your mailing needs. Have post offices in all the towns. Person A can go and "ship" the item to Player B. The item would have a to and from field so only the one person could pick it up. The receiver gets an email when a package is sent to them. Only they can pick it up. Have a postal terminal in each town or make it a function of the existing bank terminals. Cost would be paid by the receiver (These are COD packages). If they don't want it they can refuse and the item returns to the sender who pays a flat fee if they don't pay the fee within a certain time period the item is destroyed. The cost to ship would be based as a percentage cost of what it would cost to travel between the two points.
Out of stims while near the mining outpost on Dantooine? Send a message to your buddy and have them ship you some. Out at Endor and heard about a great new weapon available from a weaponsmith on Tatooine? Have your buddy pick it up and ship it to you so you can get it and start putting it thru "field" trials. Or if you can talk the weaponsmith into it they could ship it direct to you. After you send them the money thru Galactic Money transfer (aka /tip). Galactic Express will meet all your needs.
To prevent abuse you could set it up so that a sender can't have more than say five packages in the system. These would have to be picked up by the receiver or if refused by the sender before more can be sent. Other option would to have it so the receiver can't have more than five items in their inbox. Or use both methods. Bascially everyone would have a security box like that already available but with a five item limit but accessable from anywhere. You could also put in safeguards so people can't just send a pack with 50 items in it and have it count as one item.
I would recommend setting the shipping cost somewhere between 10-25% of travel cost. Enough so it is a money sink but low enough that enough people use it and it's cost effective for the user as opposed to travelling there personally. Maybe have it a lower cost for shipping between the civilized planets but higher for the "uncivilized" ones. Neither rain nor snow will stop Galactic Express but a Baz Nitch might.
Well I'm throwing this out there for general discussion, comment, even possible improvements.
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=Wanderhome&message.id=29717
First of all, I get tired of staring at the same four walls, the same PA city, and the same game created city all the time. Sometimes I need to get out for a while, and therefore, I hop a shuttle to deliver an item toa client. They are very grateful for the delivery, and it keeps me from getting bored or going insane.
Secondly, there are people on my server (as I'm sure there are on all servers) that make a business out of doing deliveries like this. Their business is to take get items from crafters and deliver them to the final customer. Granted, you are taking a chance here, but I'd be more than willing to give it a shot with a few small items. If they do well, gradually move up. Or if they get a good recommendation from a trusted friend, I'd just let them take care of it.
I'm not really sure I like what you are suggesting. Most people are willing to come to me. And if they aren't, i can go to them, or meet them in the middle somewhere. It's not really all that difficult, and it helps give some variety to the game.
Anian
Anian wrote:
Secondly, there are people on my server (as I'm sure there are on all servers) that make a business out of doing deliveries like this.
Hmm, that must be a tough business, as there is no in-game way for us to find such people.
Personally, I've never seen anyone advertise to do this, never seen anyone spamming to do this, and certainly have no personal experience with this. I doubt it's more than a handful of people.
I think Tal's idea is interesting, but the one thing I don't like about it is that it promotes the "global domination" idea. The idea that one master with a ton of resources (maybe a PA or multiple accounts) can do high volume business into a lot of different planets and cities. Travel costs, bazar limits, and advertising limitations right now I think are barriers to this type of thing, and I see all those as positives for the game, and I think this type of idea would serve to remove or lessen some of those barriers.
I like the idea Tal-N but I would prefer people to actually run (or ride, when vehicles/mounts come out)to actual shops and use the Vendors that Merchants have sacrificed skill points for. I understand this takes up time for people who play casually but it is an integral part of the game, and I would argue a necessary part of role-playing in the Star Wars universe.
I would be convenient though.
The idea is simple, but as a master merchant, I want to offer a counter thought (I am sure you all expect this by now)
I have a shop, with many vendors, and a few partners. I have a food vendor, weapons vendor, house vendor, drug lab, and odds and ends vendor. Person A wants a gun. they come to my shop, buy the gun, browse the other vendors, buys a crate of powerups, buys a crate of pet food, some spice and few foods for them.
They came into my shop for a gun, and left with so much more. I count on that, and anything that removes the buyer from the shop, would shoot us in the foot, They did not even know they wanted the other stuff, until thwy saw it. Inpulse shopping is very profitable, and with few exceptions, most shops are not that far out of the way.
Just my 2 credits to think about.
But wouldn't it be awesome if you could get items delivered to your declared residence?
I actually suggested an idea like this a while ago, no one listened.
I think it's a great idea.
To the people who say they want people to go out to their shops, people will still go out to shops, don't worry. More often than not you can get things shipped to you in the real world as well, but people still shop don't they? Sometimes people don't know what they want. Othertimes they just like to browse, either way they'll go to a store. We shouldn't have to force them there at blaster point.
Look at it this way, you've wanted to be able to do special orders right? This is the perfect way to do them.
Personally I hate waiting for shuttles. So does everyone else, so why make them?
I have to say that I asked one of my customers if I could help him and he said he did not know what he wanted.
ajm317 wrote:
To the people who say they want people to go out to their shops, people will still go out to shops, don't worry. More often than not you can get things shipped to you in the real world as well, but people still shop don't they? Sometimes people don't know what they want. Othertimes they just like to browse, either way they'll go to a store. We shouldn't have to force them there at blaster point.