Merchant Archive
Thread: Is Merchant necessary to be able to be a successful well... merchant?
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afireinside848
Fri Jun 04, 2004 9:48 am
#1
I want to start a tradeskiller(weapon/armorsmith/tailor) but I suppose if Merchant helps out considerably I will consider dropping weaponsmith.Ty for any feedback.(I hope this question isnt asked alot, sorry if it is)
Korrack
Fri Jun 04, 2004 10:10 am
#2
Business III in Artisan (9 skill points for you) will get you a vendor. That is all you truly need to be a successful merchant. Nobody will come unless you have a good product and having a good product will cause people to come and shop. All of the abilities in Merchant are around being a "better than successful" merchant. Planetary registration, merchant tents, npc vendors, more vendors, lower maintenance etc.
It's all stuff you can live without if you are worried about skill points. The question is not being successful, but being how successful.
Sevardos
Fri Jun 04, 2004 10:29 am
#3
Don't underestimate the lower maintenance. That is for all structures including any Harvesters or Factories you have.
More successful? sure. Definitely helps in being more profitable as well.
Songe
Fri Jun 04, 2004 1:29 pm
#4
As a crafter having two different professions, merchant is nice to have for different vendors and advertizing 3 is always a great thing to have, as your vendors will appear on the planetary map.
Balkstar
Fri Jun 04, 2004 1:51 pm
#5
Far be it for me to disagree with my esteemed collegues that posted here (with the exception of Songe), but Merchant do have a nice set of skills that can enhance a player's merchant experience.
I believe the others are looking at Merchant as a utility to sell the goods the purchase or loot they pick up. For those of us that are serious about merchandising, the ability to pick and choose multiple vendors and dress them in theme to help with the ambiance of a shop can really help enhance any consumers experience when shopping.
Ad III is a must for any serious buisnesman. The ability to advertise on the planetary map cannot be overly emphasized. This will only get better once the empty vendors of the panetary maps are purged.
The cheaper fees really can help, especially if you sell low margin items, like foods, at the bazaar. It gives you instant pricing power, as long as the items are in high demand. Also, if you have a number of large structures to keep maintenance on, like factories, the reduced fees are a very nice comfort to have. I contribute it to my current wealth, which is not huge when compared to the l33t people out there, but it allows me to play comfortably.
GoCanes
Fri Jun 04, 2004 3:58 pm
#6
Alot of people seem to think the 20% reduction in maintenance is useless, but if guildmates add you to Admin and have you pay 1 credit maintenance for them, the 20% reduction is in place for tehm even if tehy remove you from Admin afterwards... Helping your community/guild grow a little extra wealth by not having to pay maintenance as often goes a long way in many ways... ^_^
Songe
Fri Jun 04, 2004 4:17 pm
#7
Yeah I do it too... I don't know if it's a design flaw or not though.
DragonScout
Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:43 pm
#8
All you really need is business 3 to get your vendor. And you can do that with your original template, you just wouldn't get the advertising potential of the planetary map, because of the 14 skill points you lose on the domestication tree. but this can be done without by building a strong customer base, keeping your vendor stocked with a wide variety, and posting a lot about your shop and what you are working on.
I wouldn't say merchant helps out 'considerably'. It gives you more vendors -- which is usually unncessary in a single crafters shop. It gives you the ability to make the vendors 'prettier' which again isn't really necessary, because the buyers don't care what your vendors look like. It gives you advertising on the planetary map, which is nice, but not really a dealbreaker, nor worth giving up master weaponsmith to get. And it gives fee reductions, which if you are even a decent armorsmith/weaponsmith/tailor.. you won't even care about the small amount of money you could save because you will be bringing in more money than you will know what to do with.
Good Luck!
I wouldn't say merchant helps out 'considerably'. It gives you more vendors -- which is usually unncessary in a single crafters shop. It gives you the ability to make the vendors 'prettier' which again isn't really necessary, because the buyers don't care what your vendors look like. It gives you advertising on the planetary map, which is nice, but not really a dealbreaker, nor worth giving up master weaponsmith to get. And it gives fee reductions, which if you are even a decent armorsmith/weaponsmith/tailor.. you won't even care about the small amount of money you could save because you will be bringing in more money than you will know what to do with.
Good Luck!
LonelyGhost
Fri Jun 04, 2004 7:46 pm
#9
I save over 46k a day in maintenance costs with the Efficiency tree. Pocket change to some, but it adds up.
KirmorOrion
Fri Jun 04, 2004 11:28 pm
#10
The most successful merchants are the non-lame ones! And I'd like to place all your SPAMMERS in the lame category!!! Yes, spammers who loop a stupid macro in front of the Coronet, Bestine or Theed Starport. For shame... there should be a CSR at each of those Starport to kick out any AFK-macro-advertisers.
*ahem*
Okay, now to be serious. If you don't want to be lame, then get at least Advertising III. I've lived off Advertising III for a long time because that allows you to Register your Vendor on the Planetery Map! A lot of people look through the planetary map!
And just some advice, if you really want to attract people, give you vendor a good and useful name.
If you sell Droids and you name your Vendor "Marie" or just write "Droid Vendor" ... the customer will not visit your vendor unless you are really the closes Droid Vendor nearby.
Customers will go to vendors that have names like "BH Droids" or "Entertainer Droids". Or if you sell weapons you can name your vendor "Melee Weapons Unsliced". Because put yourself in the mind of a customer. Or heck, when you are a customer yourself and you need something, what are the main things you would like to see?
- What the vendor sells (Hence giving it a good name)
- You want it easy to find (Hence Advertising III allows you to be placed in the planetary map)
What do a lot of customers hate?
- Spam
- More Spam
- AFK advertiser spammers
- Vendors that have names that don't say what it's selling
Want to increase you sales EVEN MORE???
- NAME ALL YOUR CRAFTED ITEMS!!! If you sell Clothes, write the color in the name!
- If you sell armor or weapons, write the damage or speed in the description.
- If you intend to slice your weapons or armor after crafting them, write that they are already Sliced (and slice'em before selling it)
etc...
Just a few tips to be on your way to becoming the next multi-millionaire
Haruspex77
Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:41 am
#11
That maint discount really doesn't amount to much so far as I am concerned, it is a tiny fraction of what a harvester or factory would earn. It does make a difference though when you leave a character idle, the discount on vendors and houses adds up over a few weeks, and you are likely not to have much comming in.
Sevardos wrote:
Don't underestimate the lower maintenance. That is for all structures including any Harvesters or Factories you have.
More successful? sure. Definitely helps in being more profitable as well.
The current Merchant skills are remarkably little help in selling things if your basic business is established.
Haruspex77
Sat Jun 05, 2004 1:07 am
#12
LonelyGhost wrote:
I save over 46k a day in maintenance costs with the Efficiency tree. Pocket change to some, but it adds up.
At the 20% discount level, that implies you still pay 184k in maintenance. That will cover 91 heavy harvesters. Either you rent a lot of lots, or you are providing discounts for a whole guild.
And 91 harvesters should be makingaround 2 million a day in resources, so pocket change is a good description -- 2% of your (or your guild's)gross.
And the proportion stays the same for smaller businesses, the guy who only makes 10,000 a day will save a couple of hundred, or less if he isn't installation intensive.
I really don't think those discounts are worth the 14 skill points. Those could give you dozens of new items, and possibly a bunch of experiment points in another crafting profession. Put into combat they could double your effectiveness. But in merchant they give you a 2% cost cut and the ability to drop a tent. The tent is a bigger deal to me!
Meplorium
Thu Jun 10, 2004 4:40 pm
#13
In a word, NO. The game mechanics thatmake up the merchant profession will never make you a successful 'businessman'. That is a personal skill that you bring to the game, not one gained in the game. You need to know the game economy, the market, what is in demand and at what price. Merchant simply gives you a few vendors and places them on the map. It does nothing to get people to visit your vendor or buy stuff from your vendor.
You need to have an in-demand product at a price people want to pay for that product. This could be loot or a crafted product. What you are selling isn't relivent as long as people want to buy it at the price you are selling it for.
Now that you have a product and know a good price you have to distribute that product. Vendors are great but you can always do person to person trades or auctions on the forums. The Merchant profession is not required to be a successful merchant in this reguard. If you are a crafter the relies on constant day to day sales, a vendor of some form is needed. People don't care how it looks too much, as long as it is convient and has what they are looking for.
Once you have a spot to sale your items you need to let people know you have them. For crafters, the best way is word of mouth. Having a vendor in a high traffic area like a commerce area in a player city or a in a mall works. Repete business is key to any business. Having a good that you can sale over and over again to the same person works wonders. They also tell their friends and they buy. That is the word of month advertising.
Once you have those 3 things, a product, a distribution line and customers, you will be successful. Note the merchant profession is not one of those 3 items.
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