Shipwright Archive
Thread: Shipwright pricing. Is this the new Architect problem?
RagNoRock5x
Mon Nov 08, 2004 5:35 am
#14
True_Rebel wrote:
I am grinding towards MSW
But i am one off those stubborn to everything my self persons. And i do it cause i like crafting. I currently sell every part at 1 cpu just to make some money off it.
My idea is to keep a low profile shop with a few customers, but in return those will get excelent survice. I do this just for the fun part
At 1 CPU you will not be a low profile shop. You will have ppl raidin your shop taking everything you have and leaving you in the cold to suffer and die. Brutal - yes the way buisnes works - yes.
Why not sell at 5 or 10 CPU and make an actual profit while grinding and help the economy and keep your "Low Profile" idea.
Deadtech
Mon Nov 08, 2004 5:57 am
#15
I'm about 2 weeks from master because of mining my own minerals but I sell all my chassis' and what parts I do make at 10-20 cpu. Granted business is slow. Mainly because I don't advertise at all. Just on the world map under components but I refuse to sell at a low price because I don't want the profit loss. I know one day that the economy will change so I've gone into it with that in mind.
DingoBoi
Mon Nov 08, 2004 6:04 am
#16
I sell unenhanced components at 10,20,30,60,120. Ships for grind are on vendor at 5cpu. After mastery, all ships go on vendor at 7cpu.
I've made over 100M since launch. My secret? Have very well stocked vendors. People come because they can always find product. It may not be the best product (i really have no idea what others are making, i've barely left my shop).
I won't lower my prices but I am just now starting factory runs for subs on mark 4/5 components. I also have a team of 4 other master shipwrights on staff for custom work and I just make the bulk product for vendors.
My customers couldn't be happier. If they can't find the part they are looking for on the vendors, they can have it custom made. Alot of issues that people have with shpwrights is the incredible lack of stock.
I won't get sucked into the downward spiral others are. I'd rather not sell than sell at a loss. But I don't seem to have any problems.
Bsshadow
Mon Nov 08, 2004 7:34 am
#17
I made money as an Architect, and I have been making money as a SW. My prices are low, much lower than most, and I won't raise them. I can actually make more money selling my supplies off to other SW's than I can at the prices I charge customers. I do it because I like making people happy in game. Money isn't important really. For Example pricing: Mark I - 7.5k, Mark II - 9k, Mark III - 10k, Mark IV - 15k (haven't made up Mark V yet, no demand so far). Chasis: 15k (Scyk for Example), 50k (Y Wing), 100k (Y Wing LP), 200k, 275k, 500k (YT).
Vedacon
GogoDodo
Mon Nov 08, 2004 7:53 am
#18
i've been a master arch since about 2 weeks after release. I've seen the market skyrocket and then plummet. SW has been good for arch business, people are starting ot buy harvestors again for the SW grind and the resource market is growing again.
The problem with Arch is that a house would last you forever, and you never really had to do anything with it. A ship decays, components decay, your skill improves and you buy a new ship.
Even with the large master level ships they will still decay from being destroyed (though this will probably be rare).
Unless you forget to feed them, harvestors, factories, and houses never decay or fade away. Plus nobody is out there shooting at my harvestors.
Hard part with getting all the SWs to agree to a price is how do you enforce it? Its not like the SW majority could impose sanctions on those few that will undersell the rest.
Frankly i think the saving grace for SW is the lack of factory support, making the profession far more complex than any others. Even with massive resources it still takes alot of time to produce a full set of lvl 5 components.
As for my pricing: 3cpu for chassis, generic resources, premium resources havn't really shown that much of a difference (<1000 mass change).
Components i price around 10cpu, 20cpu for premium resources, plus a little more for the sub component. But thats experimented to the persons request. Most of that is covering time involved.
G
Stikjok
Mon Nov 08, 2004 9:29 am
#19
Once SW is no longer the "flavor of the month", those that jumped on the band wagon to make a profit will leave and we will see a leveling of the prices. Each servers economy and market will then determine the fair price on that server.
As the masses of new pilots get the ships they need (or want)chassis sales will slow, but decay will ensure some need for replacements in the future.This too will contribute to the long termprices of chassis.
I've sold my Chassis for 5 cpu since JTL went live, and this price pays for my cost to make them, plus give me a small profit on each chassis. I harvest some of my resources, and have mining contracts with other players.
It is the components that will make or break shipwrights in the long run. As resource qualities shift the SW's that are in this for the long haul will be able to craft high quality components with high quality resources. Like loot drop crafted weapons, these quality items will be in demand, especially if they are far better than looted items.
We may even see some SW's specialize in certain components as time goes on. We've already seen SW's banding together to share the workload involved in crafting. And over time SW's will come and go, just as has happened in other prof's.
I'm not for or against the idea of pricing agreements, but I would say give the market time to settle and see what each servers markets level out at, you may be surprised to see what happens.
SmugglinZane
Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:00 am
#20
No offense, but if you want to do a summit, post it on your server forum. Noone on another server, no other player for that matter will ever determine my prices.
Keep in mind one thing, most architects I've seen have around the same prices. The same thing will happen when the economy slows down, more people master the profession, and players get past selling their ewuipment that they made while grinding.
Zane
PetaByte32
Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:07 am
#21
SmugglinZane wrote:
No offense, but if you want to do a summit, post it on your server forum. Noone on another server, no other player for that matter will ever determine my prices.
No offense, but what you do on your server with your prices will affect things on other servers. Sorry but true. As examples I give you holocrons where the first sold on one server, set the price for holos on other servers. Another is Krayt Tissues where the price on one server can and often does affect prices on other servers. The problem here is that people can have toons on more then one server. So people can see what is going on in other galaxies. And quite often they will carry that back to their main.
And the additude of "No one else will determine MY prices." is what killed the architect profession for so long. You want to kill a profession? Go be a TK. Or a Jedi. I would love to see both of those killed.
Keep in mind one thing, most architects I've seen have around the same prices. The same thing will happen when the economy slows down, more people master the profession, and players get past selling their ewuipment that they made while grinding.
Zane
repoism
Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:41 am
#22
i had someone inqure about an interceptor last night and freaked at my price. funny thing was he came back about 3 hours later saying he was 1300 short in mass with his "economical" interceptor chassis. /shrug
Dynastar
Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:43 am
#23
Chassis are going to be easy to price for me. Since it's all fairly easy to obtain materials(Duralloy Steel, Kammris Iron, etc) I'll use a 5-10 cpu pricing.
Components however, will be different. If I'm going to use my Weaponsmith grade materials, expect weaponsmith type pricing.
Components however, will be different. If I'm going to use my Weaponsmith grade materials, expect weaponsmith type pricing.
rols_cerentz
Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:57 am
#24
Nice idea, but I don't really see how it would work.
For me, charging 2.5 CPU for a chassis is quite a profit margin, in that I always mine my own resources. I see no reason to ever pay for resources. In fact, I have no issues with obtaining even more resources then I should be able to, due to my guild mining for me.
They pay for their harvesters and power. I get the resources, they get free ships and components out of the deal. It's a win-win situation for me an my guildies.
Even without them helping me out with resources, I am still able to make more credits then I spend on harvesting resources, even with using a larger number of Personal Harvesters then I should be using.
Right now, if I were to sell out of my entire stock, I will have made more credits then went into crafting that stock by quite a healthy margin. For instance, if I sell out of my missile packs, I will have made more then ten times the amount of credits then went into their manufacture and that's pricing at 15CPU, which is still lower then most SW in my galaxy.
If I sell one ship at 2.5CPU, I generate more then twice the cost it took to obtain those resources.
You either pay the middle man or you cut the middle man out. Whatever you do is your choice, mine like mad or pay through the nose for resources.
For me, charging 2.5 CPU for a chassis is quite a profit margin, in that I always mine my own resources. I see no reason to ever pay for resources. In fact, I have no issues with obtaining even more resources then I should be able to, due to my guild mining for me.
They pay for their harvesters and power. I get the resources, they get free ships and components out of the deal. It's a win-win situation for me an my guildies.
Even without them helping me out with resources, I am still able to make more credits then I spend on harvesting resources, even with using a larger number of Personal Harvesters then I should be using.
Right now, if I were to sell out of my entire stock, I will have made more credits then went into crafting that stock by quite a healthy margin. For instance, if I sell out of my missile packs, I will have made more then ten times the amount of credits then went into their manufacture and that's pricing at 15CPU, which is still lower then most SW in my galaxy.
If I sell one ship at 2.5CPU, I generate more then twice the cost it took to obtain those resources.
You either pay the middle man or you cut the middle man out. Whatever you do is your choice, mine like mad or pay through the nose for resources.
certifiedandrew
Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:59 am
#25
I agree with your summit idea, however some of my resources are bought at 10 cpu. Charging 100 cpu (10 cpu x 10) is not feasable. At the same time, I have people on my server who are charging 4.5 cpu for crafted parts.
I now understand that this is feasable for turning a profit if you mine everything, but this puts unfair pressure on those who can't mine everything. Let's face facts: the best resources are monopolized by people who place 30 or more heavy miners on the best spots. Even so, you can mine all you want, but you'll still have to buy some of your stuff from other players, since you can't get everything that you need. We're not tailors.
I sell at 12 cpu and make a comfortable profit. I'm able to turn around and buy the resources I need to keep going. Still, some players charge 6x my rate, and some charge 1/3 my rate (though some of these players sell crap). Well, more business for me.
I now understand that this is feasable for turning a profit if you mine everything, but this puts unfair pressure on those who can't mine everything. Let's face facts: the best resources are monopolized by people who place 30 or more heavy miners on the best spots. Even so, you can mine all you want, but you'll still have to buy some of your stuff from other players, since you can't get everything that you need. We're not tailors.
I sell at 12 cpu and make a comfortable profit. I'm able to turn around and buy the resources I need to keep going. Still, some players charge 6x my rate, and some charge 1/3 my rate (though some of these players sell crap). Well, more business for me.
Funkbacca
Mon Nov 08, 2004 11:22 am
#26
I'm still figuring the whole pricing thing.
To be honest, I'm doing SW because I couldn't afford to buy ships myself from any other shipwright. I've just made it to Tier 2 chassis and have exhausted my reserve of resources getting there. I don't have a guild with massives banks of harvestors, so I can't produce a ton of stuff. I'll admit that my stuff is relatively weak as I can't experiment much, but since I mostly get my resources myself, am satisfied w/ selling chassis for ~3 cpu each. I will probably bump this up a little as I get more skilled, but the chassis's lock up so much of my stock that I can't risk letting them sit at a high price.
I dump my failed experiment novice ships onto the bazaars for 6k. The good ones I sell in person for 8k and have them for 9k on my vendors. Can't make these fast enough. The bigger chassis are more of a risk for me...
This is all subject to the market... and the resource market has gone ape. Have you tried to find any ores at all for sale? Crazy man! Someone on Kettemoor w/ a bunch of affordable ores for sale... where are you!!!!
To be honest, I'm doing SW because I couldn't afford to buy ships myself from any other shipwright. I've just made it to Tier 2 chassis and have exhausted my reserve of resources getting there. I don't have a guild with massives banks of harvestors, so I can't produce a ton of stuff. I'll admit that my stuff is relatively weak as I can't experiment much, but since I mostly get my resources myself, am satisfied w/ selling chassis for ~3 cpu each. I will probably bump this up a little as I get more skilled, but the chassis's lock up so much of my stock that I can't risk letting them sit at a high price.
I dump my failed experiment novice ships onto the bazaars for 6k. The good ones I sell in person for 8k and have them for 9k on my vendors. Can't make these fast enough. The bigger chassis are more of a risk for me...
This is all subject to the market... and the resource market has gone ape. Have you tried to find any ores at all for sale? Crazy man! Someone on Kettemoor w/ a bunch of affordable ores for sale... where are you!!!!