Smuggler Archive

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Jaardan wrote:

Just a quick question about how everyone else handles customers who don't pay for their slices. Let's say you're asked to slice a set of armor or Krayt Jawa or CDEF pistol. After the job is done, the person says they either can't pay due to a lack of funds or won't pay because the slice was too low/price is too high/insert BS reason here. Do you keep the item until they agree to pay YOUR price, or negotiate a lower one?

I realize a certain amount of the burden falls on the smuggler to let thecustomer know in advance what their fees are, however amid a flurry of /tells this isnt always possible. I've got my prices on my bio to let the few people who actually look at it knowwhat my prices are but people don't always look there.

So, how do other smugglers handle this?

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I have an alias called 'smugterm' set up with a canned reply whenever I get a tell for slicing, I type '/smugterm'. Basically, it's was made with:

/alias smugterm /reply I charge... bla bla bla. If you don't pay ... bla bla bla. Do you understand and agree with these terms and do you know how slicing works?

Ifthe person doesn't know how slicing works, I hit the '/smugfaq' alias.

/alias smugfaq /reply Slicing is random ... bla bla bla.

If you are making an alias, you should test it first by typing it in first to see if it is already a command. If you find your alias conflicts with a normal /command or your terms change, you can erasean aliaswith /unalias. eg. '/unalias smugterm' will erase my canned reply.

They've helped me alot. I have a composed reply ready to go that I knowcompletly explains my terms and I don't have to worry about forgetting something.

Oh, if they don't pay. I keep it for10 days and then it gets sold.

[edited for typos and to add the last line that I forgot]

Message Edited by jbezorg on 08-21-2004 11:40 PM

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Ipseck wrote:
dude its just a game.. not everyone can afford 10k per slice

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If you can't afford 10K per slice then don't go to a Smuggler charging that much and expect them to charge you less AFTER they already slice it.

And who can't afford 10K?!? If you're getting a weapon sliced, that is of even moderate strength (ie. FWG5, Laser Carbine, etc), then you have the skills necessary to make 10K credits in very short time. Hell you could do it running missions on a starter planet in a couple hours without even getting your fingers sore. If the player is even a Novice in an elite Combat Profession (Pistoleer, TKA, BH, Commando, etc) then 10K is a complete joke to earn. If you're talking about an Entertainer, a Newbie Artisan, or a Newbie Medic then I can see them having trouble earning 10K, BUT they're far less likely to need a weapon sliced in the first place!

Again if a Smuggler is charging 10K per slice and you don't have 10K then don't go ask that Smuggler to slice your gear. Yeah, it's a game, but it's meant to be fun for both me and the person asking for a slice, if I stop having fun because I'm losing money to some dope who's brain can't compute "He's asking 10K; I don't have 10K; I should either wait until I have 10K or go to somebody else" then something in that system has to change and if that change means he doesn't get his weapon until he pays up well then too damn bad, lesson learned (so we hope).

The majority of the time the person either DOES have the money (which means they were trying to screw me, which would also cause my enjoyment of the game to cease), or they just weren't paying attention (in which case they deserve what they get and we pray to some country's God hoping the person learned their lesson).

Anyway, what's also entertaining is the people who do just the opposite, instead of trying to screw you over they give you a ridiculous opportunity to screw them. Such as the two people (in a row) that had me slice full suits of a Composite and didn't care what the slice %'s were, they just wanted a final price. Hello?!? Why don't you just ASK me to make up slice %'s that earn me more money?!? Unfortunately I'm an honest player and charged them what I was supposed to (funny how Smugglers are some of the most honest players in the game).

Message Edited by KaernLegorah on 08-21-2004 11:55 PM

well firstly, if you cannot afford 10k, then you dont need your guns sliced. slicing is a bonus not a neccesity.

Never happened to me, but would it happen I would keep their stuff until they pay what I asked.
After all I state my price before accepting the slicing work.

I charge 5k a slice, minimum.
Normally when someone asks me to slice something, I'll tell them "if the price is right" From there, it's one of 3 paths:
1) Doesn't care what the price is (Price goes up)
2) Asks the Price (normal price)
3) makes an offer (if lower than normal price, snicker and decline, higher, dance and say "sure")

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blckrain wrote:

While I agree with the outcome listed by all of you for non-paying customer I must say that anything over 3k per slice is near ludicrous. I mean the resources it takes to make the items you use for slicing are next to nothing and the quality means nothing to the end result of the slice. I am a master weaponsmith first and master smuggler second (mainly so I don’t have to pay 5k or even 10k per slice) and I use it as a service to anyone who buys a weapon from me. Just my opinion, if you want to steer clear of non-paying customers try being fair with your pricing scheme and you might have less issues.

Bib-

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The reasoning behind our charging upwards of five grand per slice is the following.

1. Its a permanant upgrade, take care of the weapon, get it repaired regularly, and this slice will last for a very long time.


2. Master Doctors charge Ten Grand for a Three Hour improvement to your stats.


3. While the resources don't matter, a Smuggler's time does, not only are they paying for our skill, but for our time.


4. We need money just like other people


5. Back when we were still leveling up to Slicing 1, there were jerks out there charging us fifteen grand per container, and still wanted even the junk out of them. Why, because we needed them, and they had them.

Now, I won't tell you how much to charge, you charge three grand? That's fine with me. I'll charge more, and I hope you're not angry with that in any way, but if you are, that doesn't change my mind. I value my time accordingly. I used to charge only five hundred credits per slice, as a Master Smuggler, why don't I do that any more? Because one of the jerks who charged me like that near launch came up and asked for a slice while I was charging just five hundred. I immediately recognized him and charged more. He got pissy, and I told him I could charge what I want. Later on, that just stuck with me. I'm not saying I won't help people out, I've been known to knock the price down for good people. But, my rate starts at five grand, being a good person lowers it, being a jerk/ass-kisser raises it. Friends and guildmates getfree slices.'Nuff said.

7K per slice is a quite honest price, it isn't driven by greed but by the market.
At lower prices I simply have too much requests than I could handle.
I like slicing and I like adventuring so raising the price is the only way to maintain the equilibrium between the two. After all if they don't like the price can always find another smuggler, do they?

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Jaardan wrote:

Do you keep the item until they agree to pay YOUR price, or negotiate a lower one?

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Keep it until they pay the price. If they can't get the money by doing a few missions in the time frame I tell them...then the weapon/armor gets sold. I'm a smuggler! I gotta make my money and do what I need to do.

Message Edited by Mjollnir13 on 08-22-2004 10:17 AM

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Ipseck wrote:
dude its just a game.. not everyone can afford 10k per slice

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Ipseck wrote:
dude its just a game.. not everyone can afford 10k per slice

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