Shipwright Archive
Thread: An Observation Regarding Low Ballers and their Future as Shipwrights.
JeCy wrote:
lowballers will always be there, its there loss really. They wont be making high end stuff, and there service is usually as crapy as there products.
just a little side story, last night i was out flying imp missions and was at the emporers retreat. there was this guy asking about ships and if i had a decimator, or what ever that big chasis is, well i didnt soo i figured i would make it and to be nice i said, here 500k one time only deal.. I sell them at 1.4 million using top end resources. I happend to have stuff on me and just flet like being nice. Wanna know what he told me? keep it thats way over priced. I said thats 140k resources in that one ship. he said well then you should be selling it for 150k.. i waved and said later. People dont have any clue what it takes to run a good store, and have qaulity service. This same person will go out and pay 1 million + for some loot drop weapon or 350k for a suit of stun composite and 15k for buffs that lasta few hours. and then they cry ship wrights are over priced. All the good ones out there should stick by our guns.
When there low end ships and crap parts are all anyone has and there service is about as good as sit down at mc'donalds.. they will start coming to the people that know how to do it right. Those low ballers aint gonna be custom making tie's with a 20306 load out in a 20312 mass ship... It just aint happening.
Je'Cy
well I am still selling at 4cpu and kicking. I make some of the best weps, armor plating and shields on the server. I Have a partner selling most other components at verry high quality for about 5cpu. We both have been crafters for over a year and will be far into the future. We have always been here making high quality items. We did not make a name for our selves such as the 30-100cpu crowd because 1. we did not want to so that we could do somethings besides craft all day and night. and 2. the masses of SWG tend to think that if it is expensive it is good. Every once in a shile our businesses would get to bussy so we shut down and delt only with our core comtomers. I am sorry but there was another post from a player that buys there resources for 4-5cpu and thought it was rediculus for selling at 6-7. I am sorry but what is wrong with a 1-2cpu profit. There are alot of players in this game that are way to greedy. If you would stop being greedy and get a partner and maby some friends that want to do harves for you then you can sell for 4 cpu and still have a 2cpu profit like me and my partner. I dont post on the message boards much but I just had to speak up. If you are creating a engin with 130 top speed then you should charge what you think is necessay but I am saying no one is making UBER components and as long as SOE does not screw with the profession you will never make UBER components as there is just not enough variables to do so. I can say this to be fact as a master SW with a master WS and a master BE and a master AS. I know craftingquit gouging players.
Not every player out there has time to grind out 300mil to afford all the greatest stuff.
O and guess what else guys you dont have to have 89%stun layer armor to beat the best palyers in JTL you can be a lvl 1/1/1/1/ and completely destroy a master pilot. It is skill based not Loot, expensive gear, template based. 
enjoy you profits as I take your customers. I wont be stealing them thay will just be leaving you for more reasionable people.
Biggens77 wrote:
Demio_Olaron wrote:
Imo, thats a tad too expensive m8. Im not a lowballer but not a highballer either:
My Prices:
---------------
Equipment:
Mark I/Light: 3k
Mark II/Mid-Grade: 7k
Mark III/Heavy: 14k
Mark IV/Advanced: 30k
Mark V/Experimental: Not Available Yet
---------------
New prices:
Chassis:
Novice 30k
Tier I: 90k (110k if good experimentation)
Tier II: 180k (240k if good experimentation)
Tier III: 380k (480k if good experimentation)
Tier IV: N/A Yet
Master: N/A Yet
---------------not to be rude but you know you can sell the resrources on there own for more then your selling them in ship parts. and if you dont consider those pricing low balling lol im scared to see what you consider low balling.granted im charging a high price but to make a mark 4 item it takes 3750 resources. 2500 for the final product and 1250 for the enhancemet that goes in it. to me its just to many resrouces to just give the item away
14 cpu is low?
Message Edited by Demio_Olaron on 11-15-2004 07:05 AM
Chassis
========
Starter Ship = 30k (5CPU)
Tier 1 Ship = 100k (5CPU + 10k)
Tier 2 Ship = 190k (5CPU + 10k)
Tier 3 Ship = 370k (5CPU + 10k)
Tier 4 Ship = ??? (not that far now)
Components
==========
I sell only looted and reverse engineered components atm. Because I don't have the resources for the optional components.
Here it goes:
Level 1 Components = 5k
Level 2 Components = 6.5k
Level 3 Components = 7.5k
Level 4 Components = 10k
I know.. those prices for the components aren't high. But rememer they were looted and not crafted. I don't differ with the quality of the each and every component. I let that the customers do.
cheers
Exi
ExcaliburCH wrote:
My prices are very simple kept.
Chassis
========
Starter Ship = 30k (5CPU)
Tier 1 Ship = 100k (5CPU + 10k)
Tier 2 Ship = 190k (5CPU + 10k)
Tier 3 Ship = 370k (5CPU + 10k)
Tier 4 Ship = ??? (not that far now)
Components
==========
I sell only looted and reverse engineered components atm. Because I don't have the resources for the optional components.
Here it goes:
Level 1 Components = 5k
Level 2 Components = 6.5k
Level 3 Components = 7.5k
Level 4 Components = 10k
I know.. those prices for the components aren't high. But rememer they were looted and not crafted. I don't differ with the quality of the each and every component. I let that the customers do.
cheers
Exi
Here's mine to add to this, call me a lowballer if you like, I'm doing just fine with these prices and my 20 lots
Chassi & Crafted Components
Guild members:
2CPU + 20%
Non Guild Members:
3CPU+30%
Loot = 10k across the board
If I find that they're not workingI'll adjust em
Message Edited by Aomircko on 11-16-2004 03:57 PM
hase2 wrote:then tell me - with the insane chassis decay.why should i buy 1 ship with slightly better stats when i can get 2 for the same money (leave out broker costs)?i doubt, that your high quality ships last 2 times as long as the med quality ones.
That is a very good point!
There will always be two types of Ship Wrights, ones that buy their resources and ones that buy their resources. The ones that buy their resources are at the mercy of resource collecters. Why should your customer have to pay the price of you having to pay your resources just because you don't want to or can't get enough resources for you to make your ship.
Just a thought
dameron11 wrote:
The ones that buy their resources are at the mercy of resource collecters. Why should your customer have to pay the price of you having to pay your resources just because you don't want to or can't get enough resources for you to make your ship.
Just a thought
And the stupidest post of this thread goes to....
Anyways, if you can't see the basic principle of making a profit over cost of goods in business.. i pity you. Maybe you feel that all people who have to buy resources should be charities and just give away their products at a loss. I buy nearly all my resources and I financed almost all of 5 shipwrights to mastery. I'm not about to lose money on this venture.
DingoBoi wrote:
DarthLithic wrote:
For those of you who have forgotten, THIS IS A GAME, and the credits in the game do not buy you real stuff!!! Just thought I remind you guys. If getting 100 million credits in a game is your idea of a good time, knock yourself out.
For you who has forgotten,THIS IS AGAME. You little combatmonkeys can go shoot up everything you want, but your victories do not matter in the least. Just thought I'd remind you. If killing 1000 stormtroopers in gameis your idea of a good time though, knock yourself out.
We all play because we have fun. Accumlating wealth is one aspect of 'fun' for a merchant.
Tanks wrote:
...went to the shop the told me was much cheaper then mine and found the compnents where FAR worse than mine. One told me about this shop that sold for a third of what i charged and when i had a look my mk2 stuff was 50% better than thier mk4.
Yep, my experience exactly. Today I went to this shop that had "great" selection and prices. His Mark 4 reactors were 60K compared to mine that are 75K, however my MK3 reactors which sell for 45K have 1.3K more regeneration rate. So, it is a good deal if someone is looking at prices only, but in reality they are getting ripped off.
I think part of what we need to do also is to educate the Pilots. Components with optional sub-components will cost more and of course provide better performance as well. That is already happening somewhat, I have people coming to my shop and buying stuff for their friends as well, once they see the stats.
I was reading though this and I thought that a lot of you are comparing things that should not be compared. And Tanks hit it on the head; its not about the price per unit of resource, its the price pre QUALITY resource. Most lowballers (with the exception of those with the power of large guilds handing them their resources) are just throwing out chassis’s and components to put them out without really putting much thought into it. They are not true crafters and do not realize the goal of excellence. True shipwrights will charge what the part is worth. If it is a top quality part then it will bring a premium.
It all about that you can live more thantwice as long with a higher quality ship. If the differences are as vast asTanksis saying then the ship with the cheap parts would be the equivilent of a Jalopy and will be a piece of junk.
hase2 wrote:
then tell me - with the insane chassis decay.
why should i buy 1 ship with slightly better stats when i can get 2 for the same money (leave out broker costs)?
i doubt, that your high quality ships last 2 times as long as the med quality ones.
In the physical world person #1 may spend all of their disposable income on books, and person #2 may spend theirs on motorcyles. Although they each may think the other nuts for spending their money that way, they are both having fun.
So - construct whatever "business model" (which includes WAY more than mere *price*) that tickles your fancy. Stock 10 vendors each days and marvel at your sales volume. Run a small exclusive shipyard with high prices for full-custom complete kits. Harvest your resources - or buy them.
Have FUN! Don't bother judging others - it doesn't make either you or them any smarter.
I'll tell you some of MY thinking about prices. If these thoughts help you think about your model (one way or another) then I'm glad I could help.
Both as an architect and as a shipwright I try to mine as many of my own resources as possible. It helps keep my costs down and ensures that I have the stuff I need. However, as a solo architect I can't mine up everything that I need in order to keep my vendor stocked with the diversity and quality that I want. The situation is even worse with shipwright. Between all of the new resources scattered all over the galaxy, and the need for existing resources (e.g., steel), I buy some of my resources when it makes business sense to do it. If I need to run off generator turbines in order to make heavy harvesters, then I think it wouldn't make good business sense to wait till I could personally mine the aluminum myself.
So although my cost to *mine* resources is 0.30-0.40 credits per unit, when averaged in with the purchased resources it is somewhere in the middle between 0.40 and the current open market for resources.
If I have a stack of resources that are valued on the open market for 100K, my feeling is that if I see the resulting product for less than 100K then I am *reducing* the value of those resources by my labor. I won't do that.
Similarly, if I have a stack of resources that are valued on the open market for 100K, if I sell the finished products for 100K, then essentially I'm only being paid for the part of my effort that I spent *mining* those resources - and no reward at all for the crafting of them. That seems silly to me - I could have a lot more time and energy to devote to other aspects of the game.