Shipwright Archive
Thread: Just me or are alot of the shipwrights underpricing there products.
Drakulos wrote:
The shipwrights on my server will slowly start to dwindle with the prices of resources. That or customers will have to start being happy with the whatever fits in the slot type of shipwright parts, since they wont be happy paying the 50-250k for my parts. It cannot be avoided. Even recent spawns that normally would sell for 2-5cpu are up to 10-15 cpu on the first day. LOL. Good thing im both a SW and Resource Seller I guess.
You know when you buy a product and it says "this part is not to be resold"
Well why don't we have that system here in SWG, once its sold, it doesn't get sold again. Grey it out as a sellable item.
End of resllers and price gougers.
As a customer and JTL-junk: I spend 700k on a B-wing and 240k on an X-wing chassis today because it had 3k and 1k more mass. If I'm refitting my ships and find I need a reactor and a certain mass and generation, I don't even hesitate to buy a mark I for 100k if it has the stats I need.
An average trip to deep space last 2 to 3 hours and nets me (everything included) 1.5 to 2.5 million.Why would I worry about spending 100k or even 700k?One trip and it's back.
EdOWar wrote:
One problem is that shipwrights are competing with WS and AS for the same types of minerals, with the same important stats. A WS/AS can afford to pay 50 cpu for a top-notchresource and still make a huge profit on the finished product. Shipwrights can't.
Slim Vargo, Corbantis
That is the nail on the coffin for Shipwrights. Recently a new WS posted that they where paying 25cpu for resources that where normally 10cpu or less and of course everyone even myself took some stock over to see if this person was for real.It just so happened they could only afford a fraction of what was delivered but as they stated. I got what I needed, sorry I could not buy the rest of the offers. oh well for the prices that you are stuck paying from now on.
Sure enough, after that no one wanted to sell the resources for less then 25cpu. I have friends tell me the same thing Slim said. We can afford up to 60-70cpu if we really desparate, because it takes about 200 units to make a 3-4M weapon. On the other hand, SWs are stuck trying to provide decent parts that unless you happen to harvest yourself, the cost will be high.
The shipwrights on my server will slowly start to dwindle with the prices of resources. That or customers will have to start being happy with the whatever fits in the slot type of shipwright parts, since they wont be happy paying the 50-250k for my parts. It cannot be avoided. Even recent spawns that normally would sell for 2-5cpu are up to 10-15 cpu on the first day. LOL. Good thing im both a SW and Resource Seller I guess.
I've been a MSW for a few months, pricing my stuff pretty low compared to establish SW with similar quaility. I spend 75% of my time mining and crafting because I can't afford to buy resources. I make money, but frankly, I made a lot more with less time and effort selling swoops on the bazaar. 
Plus, my stuff was getting resold at what I can assume was a hefty markup. So, I've decided to raise my prices to a level comparable to other quality SW on Lowca. I don't know what that will do to business, but I figure I can't be any broker than I am now even if I never sell another item.
IIscandar wrote:
I went shopping for some faction armor and a new weapon the other day. 3m for the armor, and 4m for the weapon. Then I rode off on my 3m av-21. That was a huge chunk of the credits I'd saved apart from my business funds, but I wanted the best. I've had that AV-21 for awhile but other than riding around and giving me a feeling of being kinda cool it is useless and very fragile.
Now if I want the best ship components and chassis, why would I expect anything less? What is different about ships that causes me to price my stuff well under the going rate for other profession's items? If other professions can pay 50cpu for resources and still make a healthy profit perhaps we are doing something wrong.
I used to think, hey I want to make sure everyone can afford to fly ships. In the beginning when people would walk into my shop I had to pick a lot of jaws up off the floor just selling ships at 5cpu and components at 10cpu. I worked as hard as I could to be affordable. Due to that I sold product faster than I could make it. I drove myself crazy for weeks trying to stay in stock. I crafted into the wee hours of the morning and even snuck in some time at work to keep my shop stocked. Then people began to say "wow for your quality, your prices are so low!".
After all that effort. All that handcrafting and struggle to stay open and provide a great serivce to pilots, I found myself wondering. If people will pay millions for a speeder, a painting, a set of armor, a blaster, or a rug, why is it that they seem reluctant to pay millions for a starship that will carry them into space and and provide a new source of income and loot? So to avoid burnout I raised my prices. The items still sold just as fast. I raised them again, they still sold. I'm not trying to gouge anyone, after all I started trying to set what I thought was a reasonable price. I was wrong. I was being unreasonable with myself and putting too low a value on my time and effort.
Now, if you are out there to provide affordable components and ships, the quality of your items should reflect it. If you are out to provide the best components possible, then the quality and price should refect that. Don't sell yourself short. Shipwrights work just as hard crafting our items as a combat player works to loot the good loot. I remember when I bought my first 15million credit shipwright skill tape. 15million! I worked everyday for a month to get that much free capital together to purchase it. I'm going to charge what I feel compensates me for that time and effort.
I just think we should consider this side of prices before we start saying that other professions charge way more cpu than we do, or resource sellers are charging too much for stuff. Maybe we are charging too little.
It's a tough call. This is just my humble collection of thoughts relating to this matter. Everyone is of course free to run their business anyway they want. I just want to see shipwrights as successfull in crafting as a full templated, skilltaped combat character is at fighting.
Message Edited by IIscandar on 08-03-2005 09:42 PM
Well, you're comparing apples to oranges here though. That faction armor you bought cost at least one million (and maybe a lot more)to the AS to buy the schematics. Also faction armor can only be hand crafted, and is in fairly high demand. That gun you bought probably had really nice krayt tissues in it, which are rare and expensive. Your AV-21 requires a looted power-plant from the Vette.
The most expensive standard production weapon I sell is 33.5K for a T-21 (granted, that's stillaround 40 or 50 cpu). Standard armor goes for 300-500K, and a standard swoop costs around 20-30K or so.
So, if you want to be able to sell ship components for millions,you're going to need loot enhancers for the ship components. But then that means you're going to have to pay loot h00rs millions of credits for the components. The closest thing that SW has to phat lewt right now is the Firespray, which sells for 4-8 million a pop (depending on server economies).
Slim Vargo, Corbantis
Jaris wrote:
As topic says. Alot of the resources we need and use cost a good amount. Ive been harvesting my own but Im looking at this and am thinking I could make more selling my high end resources than I can from making parts. Was just checking prices and maybe its just Chilastria but Im assuming it isnt.I like space alot and such but am wondering if there is even a reason to make parts for the general public because of some of the prices and how they have dropped.
too add as I may have been wonr in the title.
But Ive been trying to sell parts but im finding some shipright selling there items far below where they should and used to be. I left the game for a bit and came back, parts that used to sell for 100k-150k I see very similar paroducts being sold for 25k. And this goes up or down depending on the pruduct but I can seem to compete.
Just me or are alot of the new or respected shipwrights killing the buisness (Old topic Name) Changed do to I implied it was them. But Im thinking its something else now after this chat so far.
Message Edited by Jaris on 07-28-2005 11:16 PM
I am likley one of thos underpriced guys but heres my deal...
I *NEVER* pay more than 8 CPU for ANY regular (non-JTL) resource..thus I have NO REASON the charge the 20-30 CPU that so many SWS seem to like to charge. I never pay more than 10-12 CPU for JTL resources.
SO if my costs are low why the hell shoould I gouge just to make the mega-mall operators happy? If theoir overhead is so huge they cant afford to sell lower, that is their problem.
But I want to make a point that I sell at a nice profit and still undercut the hell out of the mega-malls simply because I am not top heavy with overhead (I dont have a vendor for each type of component, I combine them, I dont run 500 harvesters, I dont operate out of an expensive PA hall, I dont insist on using resources that are all 999+ on the stats
I operate out of a small generic house, I operate 5 vendors total (1 for loot storage the rest for sales). I oeprate a grand total of 8 harvesters which focus just on steel harvesting, and 2 Fusion generators for my power and radioactives, and 1 Equipment facoty, the rest I buy on the open market. and I register on the map, and the galactic bazaar, and my location was set for convinience of those running Tier 4 missions from the Rebel Outpost on Rori.
My revenues are modest, I bring in about a million credits a month, and my advertising is limited to one or 2 days a week of ad barking in the Rebel Outpost on Rori.
My prices are not bottom of the barrel (I dont sell at a loss unless I really want something gone) but they are not top tier (I am right in the middle)
Yes there are some really really low prices out there but you will find they are mostly tied to chassis sales, not components..just people trying to blow out their chassis made during grinding. If you look, you will find the crafted component sales to be much more sane in terms of pricing.
IIscandar wrote:
I went shopping for some faction armor and a new weapon the other day. 3m for the armor, and 4m for the weapon. Then I rode off on my 3m av-21. That was a huge chunk of the credits I'd saved apart from my business funds, but I wanted the best. I've had that AV-21 for awhile but other than riding around and giving me a feeling of being kinda cool it is useless and very fragile.
Now if I want the best ship components and chassis, why would I expect anything less? What is different about ships that causes me to price my stuff well under the going rate for other profession's items? If other professions can pay 50cpu for resources and still make a healthy profit perhaps we are doing something wrong.
The problem is space is not essential to SWG. There are FAR fewer people who ever take space more serious than enough to get them the ground quests finished for items n such on kashyyk mostly. I know there are a few server exceptions ( Starsider? ) maybe others where space is a big part. But I would still venture to guess there is no more than 20% of the population who are REAL master pilots who go to space often and know the value of a good ship part and EXACTLY what each part does.
I used to think, hey I want to make sure everyone can afford to fly ships. In the beginning when people would walk into my shop I had to pick a lot of jaws up off the floor just selling ships at 5cpu and components at 10cpu. I worked as hard as I could to be affordable. Due to that I sold product faster than I could make it. I drove myself crazy for weeks trying to stay in stock. I crafted into the wee hours of the morning and even snuck in some time at work to keep my shop stocked. Then people began to say "wow for your quality, your prices are so low!".
After all that effort. All that handcrafting and struggle to stay open and provide a great serivce to pilots, I found myself wondering. If people will pay millions for a speeder, a painting, a set of armor, a blaster, or a rug, why is it that they seem reluctant to pay millions for a starship that will carry them into space and and provide a new source of income and loot? So to avoid burnout I raised my prices. The items still sold just as fast. I raised them again, they still sold. I'm not trying to gouge anyone, after all I started trying to set what I thought was a reasonable price. I was wrong. I was being unreasonable with myself and putting too low a value on my time and effort.
This is one of the big problems. If you read any other crafting forums, and I'm sure there've been a few posts here...the respec kids think they can sell ship parts incredibly low prices as well as chassis. The problem is...like I said before is that first there are hardly and REAL pilots compared to ground combatants. Only the real pilots know what exactly each stat does and what they need. Most others are just lookin for guns with pure max damage....capacitors with 1k-2k energy...engines with pure speed ect...those of us SWs who are also real pilots know what a pilot needs ( I make that stuff ) and it sure as hell dosn't sell as well as stuff that's half my price for the aformentioned stats...Had a guy earlier today ask for a 5k max damage gun to be CRAFTED lol...i had a good chuckle out of that one trying to explain first of all you couldnt craft close to that...and even RE parts I hadn't seen one that good on my server
Now, if you are out there to provide affordable components and ships, the quality of your items should reflect it. If you are out to provide the best components possible, then the quality and price should refect that. Don't sell yourself short. Shipwrights work just as hard crafting our items as a combat player works to loot the good loot. I remember when I bought my first 15million credit shipwright skill tape. 15million! I worked everyday for a month to get that much free capital together to purchase it. I'm going to charge what I feel compensates me for that time and effort.
I just think we should consider this side of prices before we start saying that other professions charge way more cpu than we do, or resource sellers are charging too much for stuff. Maybe we are charging too little.
It's a tough call. This is just my humble collection of thoughts relating to this matter. Everyone is of course free to run their business anyway they want. I just want to see shipwrights as successfull in crafting as a full templated, skilltaped combat character is at fighting.
Message Edited by Cphopp on 08-04-2005 02:11 AM
Really nice reverse engineered components are the only single items I would sell for millions. They do require rare looted starship components.
EdOWar wrote:
IIscandar wrote:
I went shopping for some faction armor and a new weapon the other day. 3m for the armor, and 4m for the weapon. Then I rode off on my 3m av-21. That was a huge chunk of the credits I'd saved apart from my business funds, but I wanted the best. I've had that AV-21 for awhile but other than riding around and giving me a feeling of being kinda cool it is useless and very fragile.
Now if I want the best ship components and chassis, why would I expect anything less? What is different about ships that causes me to price my stuff well under the going rate for other profession's items? If other professions can pay 50cpu for resources and still make a healthy profit perhaps we are doing something wrong.
I used to think, hey I want to make sure everyone can afford to fly ships. In the beginning when people would walk into my shop I had to pick a lot of jaws up off the floor just selling ships at 5cpu and components at 10cpu. I worked as hard as I could to be affordable. Due to that I sold product faster than I could make it. I drove myself crazy for weeks trying to stay in stock. I crafted into the wee hours of the morning and even snuck in some time at work to keep my shop stocked. Then people began to say "wow for your quality, your prices are so low!".
After all that effort. All that handcrafting and struggle to stay open and provide a great serivce to pilots, I found myself wondering. If people will pay millions for a speeder, a painting, a set of armor, a blaster, or a rug, why is it that they seem reluctant to pay millions for a starship that will carry them into space and and provide a new source of income and loot? So to avoid burnout I raised my prices. The items still sold just as fast. I raised them again, they still sold. I'm not trying to gouge anyone, after all I started trying to set what I thought was a reasonable price. I was wrong. I was being unreasonable with myself and putting too low a value on my time and effort.
Now, if you are out there to provide affordable components and ships, the quality of your items should reflect it. If you are out to provide the best components possible, then the quality and price should refect that. Don't sell yourself short. Shipwrights work just as hard crafting our items as a combat player works to loot the good loot. I remember when I bought my first 15million credit shipwright skill tape. 15million! I worked everyday for a month to get that much free capital together to purchase it. I'm going to charge what I feel compensates me for that time and effort.
I just think we should consider this side of prices before we start saying that other professions charge way more cpu than we do, or resource sellers are charging too much for stuff. Maybe we are charging too little.
It's a tough call. This is just my humble collection of thoughts relating to this matter. Everyone is of course free to run their business anyway they want. I just want to see shipwrights as successfull in crafting as a full templated, skilltaped combat character is at fighting.
Message Edited by IIscandar on 08-03-2005 09:42 PM
Well, you're comparing apples to oranges here though. That faction armor you bought cost at least one million (and maybe a lot more)to the AS to buy the schematics. Also faction armor can only be hand crafted, and is in fairly high demand. That gun you bought probably had really nice krayt tissues in it, which are rare and expensive. Your AV-21 requires a looted power-plant from the Vette.
The most expensive standard production weapon I sell is 33.5K for a T-21 (granted, that's stillaround 40 or 50 cpu). Standard armor goes for 300-500K, and a standard swoop costs around 20-30K or so.
So, if you want to be able to sell ship components for millions,you're going to need loot enhancers for the ship components. But then that means you're going to have to pay loot h00rs millions of credits for the components. The closest thing that SW has to phat lewt right now is the Firespray, which sells for 4-8 million a pop (depending on server economies).
Slim Vargo, Corbantis