Shipwright Archive
Thread: I just can't make any money
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HazeOf3DD
Thu Oct 13, 2005 7:25 am
#1
Hey all, I'm a new Master Shipwright on Eclipse and as a pilot myself, have been hoarding my spaceloot to RE components and sell them. I have crafted some weapons and chassis (grind chassis) which are for sale on my vendors for some of the lowest prices in the galaxy. I'm just wondering why it is I can not seem to make any money. How is it others make money? Is the quality of my items not good enough?
IIscandar
Thu Oct 13, 2005 7:42 am
#2
Greetings and welcome!
Take a look at this thread. There are some very helpfull suggestions that might lead you to more credits.
tips for new shipwrights
Take a look at this thread. There are some very helpfull suggestions that might lead you to more credits.
tips for new shipwrights
Mortelli
Thu Oct 13, 2005 8:34 am
#3
Try selling on the bazaar. I had a house at the very bottom of the waterfall of Theed at Naboo. Probably not even 1km away. I had tier 1 ships of all factions on my merchant for sale at 10k(that's mega-cheap). I probably sold 1 or 2 a month. I had the same tier 1 ships on the bazaar for 20k. I could barely keep them in stock. I easily sold 20 a week. Eventually I started meeting the demand on my server and it dropped down to about a half dozen or so a week. But still...
My conclusion is that mostpeople are extremely lazy. They're not going to go out of their way on anything rinky-dinky to save a few thousand credits. I think part of the problem is that when you do a vendor search from other planets, it doesn't give you a proximity to the nearest city. So unless they're on Naboo, they don't realize my house is closeby and convenient.
Catman-Does
Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:11 am
#4
Get yourself a barker droid and stick it outside a busy starport 
UmmonPrime
Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:22 am
#5
You could always use the trade forums too. If people know you exsist, they will come to you. But only if you are reasonably priced.
Or, get a vendor in a big merchant city. You'll have competition, but I doubt you'd see any problems with that....
Location Location Location
Zodiac-B
Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:41 am
#6
1) Location
2) Quality
3) Location
4) Variety
5) Quality
This is what makes or breaksany crafting profession. Find the best resources on "our" server 
and continue exploring with all the many things that we craft. I'll tell you now, don't bother with ships. I only make them by special order, but when asked, the first words that come out of my mouth is "you'll find a ship much cheaper somewhere else because my ships are really expensive, but I'll fit your ship with excellent parts at a VERY reasonable price".
and continue exploring with all the many things that we craft. I'll tell you now, don't bother with ships. I only make them by special order, but when asked, the first words that come out of my mouth is "you'll find a ship much cheaper somewhere else because my ships are really expensive, but I'll fit your ship with excellent parts at a VERY reasonable price".Reason for this is I hardly make 3 cpu on ships if I competed with other SW's, but parts on our server goes for as much as 30 cpu. With the huge amount of resources ships take up, it's not worth sacrificing my great resources on such a small profit margin.
HazeOf3DD
Thu Oct 13, 2005 2:50 pm
#7
thank you all for your responses thus-far
I currently have a shop just outside the Mining Outpost which is probably the busiest area in the game on Eclipse. I have a 3PO Barker droid at the MOP whenever I am on Dantooine. When I'm doing things other than SWG I go afk in my shop with a message every 30 seconds welcoming people to my shop and to mail me with any questions and my barker is going at MOP. I have an X-Wing outfitted as a Mining Ship so once Pub24 finally comes around I will be introducing POB Components at my vendors. Today i did very well and made about 120k credits. This is after making nothing for about 5 days. I did manage to get some higher quality Steel for that money. Also, as far as the quality of what I craft goes, does anyone have any recommendations for increasing quality other than resources? Finally, my RE vendor, thanks to help from a guildie, is loaded with RE'd components. My barker droid does advertise that I buy space loot but no one has sold any to me yet. I am buying for what seems to be a standard price around the galaxy of 2000 credits per level.
I currently have a shop just outside the Mining Outpost which is probably the busiest area in the game on Eclipse. I have a 3PO Barker droid at the MOP whenever I am on Dantooine. When I'm doing things other than SWG I go afk in my shop with a message every 30 seconds welcoming people to my shop and to mail me with any questions and my barker is going at MOP. I have an X-Wing outfitted as a Mining Ship so once Pub24 finally comes around I will be introducing POB Components at my vendors. Today i did very well and made about 120k credits. This is after making nothing for about 5 days. I did manage to get some higher quality Steel for that money. Also, as far as the quality of what I craft goes, does anyone have any recommendations for increasing quality other than resources? Finally, my RE vendor, thanks to help from a guildie, is loaded with RE'd components. My barker droid does advertise that I buy space loot but no one has sold any to me yet. I am buying for what seems to be a standard price around the galaxy of 2000 credits per level.
Ofu
Thu Oct 13, 2005 3:22 pm
#8
Yes. I understand your dilemna, after hoarding resources to grind up to master shipwright, your sunk investment cost (usually around 5-15mil depending on your grind style) will take awhile to recoup and get you back in black.
So. First thing's first.
1. Establish a Name Brand -
All my ship parts are tagged and branded. And if you see on galaxy vendor search your parts getting resold here and there, especially for a much higher price, you know that your product is in demand.
2. Target your Market -
Are you going to be a Yugo, Honda, or a Ferrari?
YUGO - If you're after the Yugo market - (Low Quality, Cheap) - Focus on making lots of products at a very cheap price. Undercut everyone. Establish huge static harvester lots. Focus on Ace Pilot Chassis (Krayts, B-Wings, POB's) and PVP Chassis (A-Wings and TIE Advanced). Also focus on armor, as armor for reasonable prices are hard and this is an undervalued niche market. And finally, focus on expendables. Paint Kits, Texture Kits, Chaffs, and Missile Packs. As these are consumable items, this is more of a commodity market. Where the lowest CPU price is king.
Honda - If you're after the Honda Market -(Good Quality, Reasonable Prices) - Focus on making the best components for the given price. Focus on the Tier 2-3-4, market. Make good reasonable packages that will outfit a ship. For example, Have a bag labeled (Freelancer Tier 3) and have a chassis, all Tier 3 Shields, Reactors, Weapons that will fit into that specific chassis. The big Market for this is the 4333 PVP Market, as most B-22's and JSF's are banned from most PVP events. Focusing on TIE Advanced/A-Wing Packages would provide a niche market and service. Again, the quality must be good, and you must charge reasonable prices. Overall, the focus should be on customer service and dependability.
Ferrari - You have lots of 30K resource deeds, +25 to Weaponsand Systems Experimentation,a musician on call, perfect tools and crafting stations and you live in a Research Center or Manufacturing City. Here you focus on making the best of the best of the best. You no longer advertise and your Brand Name is synonymous with quality craftsmanship. Here you can command the best prices. You take clients on your own time, and most of your profit is on small volume, high quality ship parts.
3. Advertise.
As a beginning shipwright, your brand name is unknown. For example, on my server there are some very well known shipwrights that are more well established and have reputable brands. It's hard to compete with a well-known brand. So establish yourself. Focus on the Tier1, Tier2, pilots. Once a pilot finds a well-stocked shipwright store, they keep on coming back. I've had customers come back to my store and work their way up from Tier 1 to Tier 4. How to create good advertisement?
a. Tag all your products with a waypoint. Especially important with consummables such as paint kits and chaff packs.
b. Sell the paint kits and chaff packs at ridulously low prices. Some wholesaler will buy them and put them on their vendor or on the bazaar and sell them for you. Voila! Instant advertisement. (Again the point here is advertisement, you'll regain more in visibility)
c. Locate your store in one of the main NPC cities such as Coronet, Theed or the Mining Outpost. This makes it easy for pilots to buy your stuff and go on flying, instead of waiting around to the shuttle. Ideally your store should be within 1.5km from the starport.
d. Invest in Advertisement 4 in merchant so your vendors show up on the planetary map.
e. Enable your vendors on global search.
f. Invest in a Spamdroid. Give out a simple advertisement, ensure your waypoint is enclosed. Place Spamdroid near a chassis dealer. (Pilots are eager to sell space loot, placing your spamdroid saying you'll pay 2x per level than the chassis dealer will pique their interest).
g. Give good customer service. If you don't have time. Say so upfront. If you have too many orders, tell them that you don't have time and refer them to up and coming shipwrights. I've helped quite a few novice shipwrights sell chassis and missile packs to patrons.
4. By establishing a brand, and backing it up with good customer service, people will come back for more. Also Brand Loyalty is high among pilots. Even as a shipwright myself, I still buy from some of the more well established brands for certain items.
5. Establish a supply and distribution network. Resources are hard to come by, and if you work a deal with your local resource dealer you never have to worry about getting incapped surveying for that great spawn of High Grade Plyiometric. Hire miners and trade services for Asteroid Ore. Hire subcomponent manufacturers. You create the schematics for the subcomponent with your +25 tapes, give the schematic to an upcoming shipwright. They'll produce it and in return they give you half or the subcomponents they produce and keep the other half. They get a better subcomponent, and you get the subcomponents made for you. Hire different faction ace pilots to program your chips for you. Hire a droid engineer to create astromechs and flight computers for you. Sell your paintkits, chaff and missiles to mega-mall operators.
6. Overall, have fun. Yes the return on investment is slow. It will pick up until you're a well known Brand Name. In that case, you become more reclusive and refuse a lot more orders than you take. You'll see. Sometimes attention is a good and bad thing.
7. Did I mention have fun. As long as you have fun, you'll enjoy it. If you really need the money, I suggest you go up in space and do some Black Sun duty missions 
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