Smuggler Archive
Thread: Slicing Prices
On intrepid there are some smugglers slicing as low as 1k per slice. I however charge 5k per slice and theres a couple reasons for this. The only exception I make is if i slice a full suit for someone and they bring me back a duplicate piece to slice again. I give a major sypathy discount so to speak. (oh and guildmates and friends of course get em free). The reasons I do this are:
1) keeps your work vs reward in perspective
2) keeps clientel down (meaning you don't get 100000 tells per day)
3) most people assume that if you charge more than everyone else ... your higher caliber and yield better results. Trick of the trade
4) if you use certain tricks to make yourself look REAL good .. price does not matter. No i'm not about to tell you mine !
5) there are NOT MANY OF US, most of the time people aren't gonna wait and wait and wait to find another master smuggler. Much simpler just to take what they can find (naturally this doesn'tapply toreturning customers)
-I think a lot of people slice at low cost to ensure the customer can AFFORD to have it done ... honesly now how many missions would it take for 5k? Plus most newbies don't realize a slicer isn't as good as a master smuggler. Often times I have people handing me 200k guns (and I cry when a krayt fwg5 goes from .4 to .3 speed) to slice. Now i'm sure he's not gonna give a rip about payin 5k.
I didn't come up with these on my own ... talk to veteran smugglers who have been doing it way longer than you. You'll find some awesome ideas on how to do business, i'm like a sponge when it comes to new ideas.
"But are you consider that you need to stand and wait for ppl to show up or maby run 2000m to meet them."
I never run 2K meters to slice something, ecxept if the guy has a lot of things to slice, and then he pays the ticket on top of the prices.
100 creds per % is enough to make you good money, and make the customer feel like you didn't rip him off with 3K credits for a 15% slice.
i charge a rate of 150 to 200cr per % increase, i tried being nice for a guy and went so low as to charge him a 100 per percentage increase and he still wanted to hagle. being a master i was more offened i guess by the suggestion and him not appreciating the work it took fo me to become a master smug. so i resolved to play the smuggler role to the T and told him to duel me nad if he wins he can keep his creds and its free but if i win he has to pay the full amount. after a few quick seconds put him on the ground and before i could get him healed had my money and told him to have a nice day. anyone can slice, and with a little effort get to weapons and armor, but us masters should get what we ask without haggling. dont expect me to go any lower than 150 per increase ever just becuase there is some lower level smuggler spamming in the starport. or i may have to make another example hehehe
Okay, I must be missing something here... why do people charge more per piece for armour slices?
The kits cost the same to make, the tools are identical...
If I sliced someone's entire 9-piece suit of armour for an average of, say, 28%, and the 9 slices at (let's be pessimistic) 450cr...
@100cr/%:
9 x 28 x 100 = 25,200cr charge to customer
- 4,050cr = 21,150cr profit
@200cr/%:
9 x 28 x 200= 50,400cr charge to customer
- 4,050cr = 46,350cr profit
@300cr/%:
9 x 28 x 300= 75,600cr charge to customer
- 4,050cr = 71,550cr profit
These are pretty conservative estimates, but even at 100cr/% we make a profit of almost 5 times the cost of the resources, for a service that, while having random results, never suffers a "critical failure", does not require named resources, or resources of excellent quality...
To me it sounds like "we gouge because we can".
70k+ to SLICE a set of armour?
Either inflation is insanely higher on other servers, or my ethics vary wildly from you guys.
Even as a Master Weaponsmith I don't put anything like that kind of markup on my goods, and I do have the overhead of specific resources, power for harvesters, maintenance fees, etc.
(Did you know an FWG5 with advanced components, allowing for 10cr per unit for the resources, costs less than 1700cr to make?)
Anyway, given the potential range for slices on weapons is lower, shouldn't they (if any) be the ones to cost more?
Since going the slice for tips route, I make approx. 5k per weapon slice and 30k or so for a set of composite. I have gotten tips as high as 25k for a particularly good weapon slice. Seems the customers have a pretty good idea of what a good slice is worth....
Your mileage may vary.
I did 18 FWG5s for a customer and got a 2k "bonus" for every slice over 30%. Out of 18, 6or so were over 30 and I netted an additional 12k+ to my 100cr per % increase pricing.
I think this "bonus" plan would be a better way to charge customers for the "high end" slices we're giving them.
Just a thought.
BadSectorUK wrote:
Okay, I must be missing something here... why do people charge more per piece for armour slices?
The kits cost the same to make, the tools are identical...
If I sliced someone's entire 9-piece suit of armour for an average of, say, 28%, and the 9 slices at (let's be pessimistic) 450cr...
@100cr/%:
9 x 28 x 100 = 25,200cr charge to customer
- 4,050cr = 21,150cr profit
@200cr/%:
9 x 28 x 200= 50,400cr charge to customer
- 4,050cr = 46,350cr profit
@300cr/%:
9 x 28 x 300= 75,600cr charge to customer
- 4,050cr = 71,550cr profit
These are pretty conservative estimates, but even at 100cr/% we make a profit of almost 5 times the cost of the resources, for a service that, while having random results, never suffers a "critical failure", does not require named resources, or resources of excellent quality...
To me it sounds like "we gouge because we can".
70k+ to SLICE a set of armour?
Either inflation is insanely higher on other servers, or my ethics vary wildly from you guys.
Even as a Master Weaponsmith I don't put anything like that kind of markup on my goods, and I do have the overhead of specific resources, power for harvesters, maintenance fees, etc.
(Did you know an FWG5 with advanced components, allowing for 10cr per unit for the resources, costs less than 1700cr to make?)
Anyway, given the potential range for slices on weapons is lower, shouldn't they (if any) be the ones to cost more?
It is not that I want to 'gouge' the customer. I just believe, and so do alot of others, that as a smuggler, we are getting the blunt end of a stick when we slice. Sure, the 1,000cr we make slicing a weapon 10%, then get mocked and the customer storms off for us 'ruining' their gun with a 10% slice. Sounds like people forget that 1% is better than 0%... and that we do them a service, not for the sheer joy of trying to get a 35% on every slice, but to make a living. I don't run around doing missions 24/7, I slice. Slicing is now the biggest income I now have since the 'Nerf of the Krayts'.
If you took a moment to look at your competitors prices on weapons (or perhaps its just Bria, correct me if I'm wrong) and maybe you will see how they are charging 10,000-20,000cr more for a slice. Do we make 10,000-20,000cr per slice..? No. So why should a weaponsmith or armorsmith be able to raise the prices THAT much, while we are working for LITERAL chump change. Just seems very rediculous that we get such a low payoff in return to how much a weaponsmith can resell a gun, NOT to mention that artisans can make Power-ups that sell 10 for 2,000. I mean, c'mon! They get 2,000 PER crate and sell tons, we slice ONE gun, ONE time, and make freakin' 2,000!
I've been going the 100 creds per % and knocking off 500 for rebels as a faction discount. Its been pretty fun, and neutral folks have roleplayed all kinds of things trying to do the 'secret rebel handshake' when I ask if they know it.
I"ll also slice cdef's for newbies when they ask and I'm just standing around waiting for a shuttle anyway. I charge 500 if I use a clamp unless theyare willing to accept the 50/50 odds; thenI charge 200 for a success. We get out the chance cube and go to town. Often they send me a tell later when they have a good gun even though I'm not a master smuggler...and I always explain the difference.
Naerth wrote:
How much would you pay for a 10% Slice?
How much would you pay for a 35% Slice?
How much would you be willing to spend
slicing a full set of Comopsite, and you get
all 40%+ sliced on the items?
People don't pay for equipment improvements because the smuggler has no control over this. When you pay a smuggler for a slice you are paying for the time and materials involved in a service. If there were some advanced components that could be used to improve the output, like there is for smiths, I could see this type of question - but there isn't. No amount ofKrayt farming, etc, is going tomake you orIa better slicer.You spend the same time and resources to perform the service no matter what the output is.
This is why smiths selling pre-sliced goods with high-end resultscan charge a huge premium over what a smuggler charges for their service. If they have an item that has already received a good slice then you *are* paying for the specific improvements. I would happily pay a smith for this because they have the additional cost of dealing with all the bad slices they get- but I would never expect someone to pay similar rates to a smuggler because they got lucky once.
If you expect smiths to pay you more for a good slice, are you going to *pay them for the value lost on the item* when you deliver a bad slice? Only fair, right? Do you think you'll net any more money this way?
Perhaps some type of slicing experimentation point system needs to be implemented, but as it works now I can't justify anything other than a flat rate.
The point is, that Smugglers modify a weapon permanently. They raise the Damage Range or lower the Speed of a weapon. Here is somethign else to look at then.
Modification : 30% Damage Slice
Use(s): 1 time, permanent
Cost: 3,000cr
Modification : +30 Damage Power-Up
Use(s): 1 time, temporary
Cost : 300cr
Modification : +30 Damage power-Up (crate, 25)
Use(s): 10 times, temporary
Cost: 3,000cr
Now if you look at the above, we charge once for what a crate of Damage Power-Ups sells for regularly to players, over and over again. Yes, people will buy Power-Ups even if their weapon is sliced, but a perminate slice of 30% should be more than a Factory Crate of +30 Damage Power-Ups. It is how we make our money, we can only slice a weapon once, while an artisan can continue to sell crates of Power-Ups well after we have sliced a weapon.
Do you understand now, why I have brought this subject up once again?