Shipwright Archive
Thread: should we buy back ship chassis?
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Ashenson_Kauri
Wed Nov 10, 2004 2:32 pm
#1
I had a guildie today ask me if I was interested in buying back his ship chassis after he was done with them. He has just outgrown his Y-Wing LP and is moving into an X-wing. I told him I would think about it a bit and I am even now considering the financial impact of this. For one thing, if I do it for him it will be expected of me from other guildies and indeed other players in general. There are several pros and cons to this, and I would like some input from fellow shipwrights on what they think and are doing about this issue as it has come up to you.
Pro - the used ship chassis is aready deeded and will save the second buyer the price of having the chassis broker assemble it
Pro - I think the buyers won't gawk so much at our "outragouse" prices if they think they will get at least some return on their investment
Con - If the player has been destroyed alot in the ship and their chassis has degraded, then the ship is truly not as good as new
Con - There is already and will soon be MUCH more surplus of used ships on our servers that if passed around freely will cut down our sales.
In general, I started shipwright to be able to craft myself ships and components (as well as my friends and guildies). I never intended to get into the used car business. But I do see a huge potential market in this, even for non shipwrights who want to buy/sell/trade ships that people are done with (some only being used for a few days as they have grinded their way to level X)
What do you guys think?
-Ashenson_Kauri
Ricven
Wed Nov 10, 2004 2:39 pm
#2
Well me being on Kauri as I assume you are as well from your name, I know a few that do this themselves. Howevere I contemplated this as well then thought to myself, "Ok you buy it back at half what they bought for so we use a second tier ship per say I pay 45k back to them to put towards there new ship from you. Then I said that sounds fair till I got to what are you going to sell the USED ship for and where, am I gonna place on a new vendor titled "USED SHIPS" or am I going to place on same vendor as others?" Then came the next question, what are you going to price it for, to make back the 45k you paid? Then the variable of if someone bought it and it was beat up that they demanded money back from you and started calling me a rip off and blah blah blah. Word of mouth can ruin a business in a heartbeat especially in a video game. So I steered away from this. I would say its a decent market for a non-sw guildie in your guild, but I personally like you said am a new car dealer not a used car salesman. I specialize in new chasis and new components and re'd components nothing more. This is all my personal preference and I know others will disagree, but those statemenst above is how I cam to my conclusion.
Funkbacca
Wed Nov 10, 2004 2:40 pm
#3
Talk about 'buyer beware'... is the average buyer astute enough to notice the figures are degraded? Can you even see the numbers on the deed, or are they like swoops were it basically says, "It's a Swoop"?
_If_ were to take it back as a trade in, I would give maybe 20-25% off on the next purchase and would encourage the customer to sell it themselves to someone they know instead.
_If_ were to take it back as a trade in, I would give maybe 20-25% off on the next purchase and would encourage the customer to sell it themselves to someone they know instead.
Kinshi
Wed Nov 10, 2004 2:59 pm
#5
This is NOT a yes/no question for general purposes
I dont think anyone should HAVE to buy back a chassis BUT, I am not open to trade ins at a VERY reduced price
The problem is, will there be anyone that will WANT to buy a beat up starship chassis?
Only if the shipwright can convert the chassis back into its base resources albeit a reduced level (salvage). This would keep a glut of chassis from forming and provide another base for resources.
I dont think anyone should HAVE to buy back a chassis BUT, I am not open to trade ins at a VERY reduced price
The problem is, will there be anyone that will WANT to buy a beat up starship chassis?
Only if the shipwright can convert the chassis back into its base resources albeit a reduced level (salvage). This would keep a glut of chassis from forming and provide another base for resources.
Ashenson_Kauri
Wed Nov 10, 2004 3:00 pm
#6
Funkbacca - You are right, I never considered that the deed doesn't show the chassis integrity. The thing could have 1 point left and there would be no way of knowing it.
Funkbacca - You are right again. I would say most pilots don't even know that their ships degrade with each eject. =)
-Ashenson_Kauri
Cephalo
Wed Nov 10, 2004 3:11 pm
#7
There are going to be a whole bunch of extra chassis on the market. If you don't buy them back, and even if you do, you might very well see tier 1 and 2 ships on the bazaar pretty soon. I'm not sure ship economics were very well thought out with this system. The capacity for supply easily outstrips future demand.
Rypht
Wed Nov 10, 2004 3:11 pm
#8
I attempted this with a friend of mine who was tight on cash, the person who bought the re-deeded ship could not generate it, no matter what he tried. Unless that aspect gets fixed, this will simply lead to you losing out on money and possibly reputation as a shipwright.
BadKarma777
Wed Nov 10, 2004 3:17 pm
#9
Just a pilot's opinion - but used ships would be a very cool business IMO.
There are many players that simply can't afford some of the heavier, higher tier ships that are available right now.
The only catch is - and it needs to be this way anyway - all of the stats would *have* to be transparent, both for you, the SW as well as your potential customers.
/end my 2 cents. =)
Mkappus
Wed Nov 10, 2004 3:18 pm
#10
For any buybacks I always pay 50% of my original cost. They are welcome to try and sell it at a higher price, but most people don't want the hassle.
Typically most of our margins are high enough we still make a profit at 50% of the original price, and if I can resell it at a discount (if it is degraded) or at full price, then profit is fine.
Big question you have to look at is the lifetime value of your customer. I would imagine they will spend much more on missles and components over time, then the value of a deed. If you can make them happy, I would seriously think about it.
However, I don't expect to sell any deeds other than level 3,4 and master ships at this point. Market is flooded with Novice, Level 1 and Level 2 ships. I have hard of level 2 ships on the bazaar for 2k.
EdOWar
Wed Nov 10, 2004 3:38 pm
#11
Well, ifyou don't buy them back, then the pilots will just put them on the bazaar for 6K (better to get 6K than nothing for it). You might think 'Great, I'll buy them all up off the bazaar for 6K and mark them up for a nice profit'. Problem is, you can't camp the bazaar 24/7.
Provided it's possible for a new customer to use the deed, and that the stats are displayed, I think doing a trade-in is a good way to bring customers in and create some kind of customer loyalty. Offer 25% of what you normally sell the same chassis for; it's a 25% discount for the customer and a lot more than they could get selling it on the bazaar. Then sell the usedchassis at half what you sell a new chassis of the same type. Then the customer has a choice to buy new or used, and they know they aren't throwing awaya lot of moneywhen they upgrade their chassis.
Naturally you'd have to establish some quality limits to make sure you aren't buying worthless chassis. But even with worthless chassis, offer like a 5-10% discount, then destroy it. It takes an old chassis out of supply, and gives the customer an incentive to buy their new chassis from you.
There could be a lot of potential in the used chassis market.
Slim Vargo, Corbantis
SinaxEuko
Wed Nov 10, 2004 3:39 pm
#12
Kinshi wrote:
Only if the shipwright can convert the chassis back into its base resources albeit a reduced level (salvage). This would keep a glut of chassis from forming and provide another base for resources.
I like that idea -- it's hard enough keeping up with the resource demand now. The question is, what quality resources would you get out of it and how would you the SW or the seller know what quality resources were available from that chasis?
rexan
Wed Nov 10, 2004 4:15 pm
#13
No,
He bought it and he got his use out of it.
The reason is that your guildmate may find out that he wants to try out a confuguration that requires a longprobe. Perhaps a spacebomb config. Just tell him to hold onto it. He won't have a ship that can use over 100k mass until he hits master. Or a MP ship for that matter (y-wing).
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