Smuggler Archive

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Mudlez wrote:

2k flat rate is all its worth and wat i charge, charging 10k for something u have no control over is riduculous and atleast docs know wat they will enhance u by.

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1. Smuggling is my private business, i'll charge what i like and encourage others too as well. Ultimately the market will decide if i'm charging too much or not enough.


2. Differences in pricing is good especially when it's based on skills. I don't mind having a non-master smuggler selling for 100 credits / %. He needs the xp and the guy that's got his uber weapon isn't looking for a non-master smuggler, they want a master and will pay for it.


3. Blaming the player for the way SOE designed the smuggler slicing function makes no sense. Smugglers, as much as any crafting profession, should be able to support their character on the 'wares and services' of their profession. Again, any smuggler should charge as much as they feel they can get or their time is worth.

PS I just got tipped 5k for waiting to do a slice for a guy but i couldn't do it because the weapon was sliced already. I didn't ask for it nor would i have charged him. 2k for a 30%+ damage slice is ridiculous.

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Jalgraxa wrote:

oh kal no fear my slicing brother at this time i too slice free (for tips) .... when i do get a good slice i get great tips. if i am in "tell hell" for slices i tell peeps 5k...my point of post is that more often than not slicing prices are the only thing thats not constant....i twould be nice to actually see this profession do something that the mass majority of other classes is already doing...work together

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I think charging for tips is fine too, falls under the idea of charging what you like. More precisely, charge what the market will bear. If i'm charging too much or i'm being undercut, i have to lower my price to compete and get the business. If i'm charging too little I'll get swamped and that's no fun either. I like to have time to do the job, talk to the customer ... earn the credits i'm going to charge them. As you say, when you get too busy you start charging 5k.

I don't think price setting works in our profession because it's unlike most other classes. Unlike other classes we offer a service, not a commodity. We can't put the act of slicing on a vendor (we can slice for an armorsmith but that is another discussion) and have a customer go from one shop to another to compare. We are either around or not. The guy that is around gets to make the deal, whether that's for tips or for 15k, i don't think there is a wrong answer.

But 2k for a 30%+ damage slice seems low to me.

Naw, the only thing I hate more than arrogant clients is price fixing. Personally, for me its more of a monologue of the hate and torment I'm put through by a small, but vocal and supported minority of players who absolutely loose control of themselves when I don't get a 34+ slice on their 20 million dollar new toy. A balance of "how many credits are worth the headaches and feeling bad about playing a *game*' for pricing.

It may also be a commentary on how smugglers are not making money on their smuggling skills. Or that if slicing is made illegal and dangerous it would cost significantly more. Or if Feign Death was nerfed, there would be very little if no faction point selling due to the risk and time it takes to transfer.

Personally, I'm currently considering withdrawing completely from public slicing or raising my prices to a level I feel comfortable with (and constituting a near complete withdrawl from public slicing ) until some changes are made.

I wouldn't mind seeing a 'No-Slicing' week in protest of some of the issues the smugglers have been dealing with recently - such as the lack of smuggling, customer rudeness, because Tiggs is creeping people out, and so forth.

tho im no smuggler now, since i dropped it last month. but when i was 1, i charged a fee of 5-20k. it all just depended on my mood for that time. the price i charged the crafters i was in business with tho ranged from 5-10k each item also.

Charge whatever you bleeding want, but don't critize others just because they're making more money for their time than others. As I said, we have FREE (read **FREE**) slicing on Nartius - and I still make several hundred thousand credits for a hour of work in Coronet while I shop, heal and socialize.

Oh, and keep in mind how much weapon and armorsmiths charge for their "Pre-Sliced" weapons and armor.

Message Edited by Kal_Serrak on 10-16-2004 03:40 PM

Shortly after I made master, I put the following pricing plan in my bio.

Option A: 7,500 credits/item. The conservative option.
Option B: 250 credits/% imporvement. The risk-taker option.
Option C: I slice your item, then roll a 100-sided chance cube. If the number I roll is lower than the % of the slice, I keep the item. If not, it's 2,000 credits. This is known as the degenerate-gambler option.

Strangely enough, I have very few takers for option C.