Tailor Archive

Hi all

I've been reading the boards for some time now, but I've not posted any comments until now. I'd like to take a moment, if I may, to share my opinions on the dis-satisfying aspects our trades.

First, let's address the item decay issue. While I whole-heartedly agree that clothing decay is critical if the tailoring profession is to survive at all, I do think that the market is still viable for tailors even if all of our items are immortal.

For instance. Say a dancer saves Her pennies for weeks so she can buy a Scarlet Revealing Fleshwrap for 10k creds. Now consider whether or not the new outfit is going to help her get more attention and therefore more tips in the future. Most likely yes. So Miss Dancer's revenue stream increases thanks to your clothing, and Miss Dancer thinks, "Hey, if the red one worked, I wonder how a green one would do?" And so forth.

My point is that sure, clothing items will pretty much last forever given the current game engine, but people's interest in their older clothing items will not. I believe that some players will voluntarily sacrifice some of their older clothing items, as their economic stature increases, allowing them to buy better things.

Next, the price war. I totally agree that a "tailor's summit" would be ideal in an effort to establish a galaxy wide, if not global, set of pricing guidelines. However, the practicality of this happening is incredibly slim. As it stands, the only mechanism that new tailors have for establishing prices at all is to visit another tailor's shop and follow suit. This is all well and good, but if the up and comer visits the shop of an under cutter, then all hope is lost. I use that example because it's exactly what happened to me. I have since corrected myself, but for a time, I was in jeopardy of unknowingly becoming "that damned Rodian that's ruining the market."

Now, the best short term solution is to charge what is fair given the amount of time spent, and the quantity of resources. Not everyone's prices need to be exactly the same, just in the same range. I mean average Joe Commando isn't going to make a special trip from Rori to Naboo just so he can save 500 creds on a duster. As long as the prices are relatively comparable, then the undercutting war shouldn't get out of control. And besides, I've found that when it comes to most of my regular customers, my pricing is really immaterial. They tend to come to me because I'm very helpful, very friendly, and very available. The customer service aspect of our profession is incredibly important. I cannot stress this enough. I've had new customers seek me out because their previous tailor was a little snippy with them.

Operational costs. I don't understand how this can possibly be a problem. If you are running as shop and losing money, then there is a serious hiccup somewhere in your management strategy. Probably because you're selling too low. If you're selling too low, then it's probably because you're producing too many items and trying to move them quickly. This strategy will not float. I keep a vendor in my shop, but I think it has 5 items in it at the moment. I basically work only on request any more. As such, my daily burn rate for my operation is around 5000 credits. So I only NEED to sell one master level item a day to make a profit. If I turn the harvesters off, which I could easily do given that I have a large surplus of polymer, fiberplast, steel, copper, etc., then my daily expenses would be that much less.

My point here is that, just like any business in real life, there is a great deal of management strategy that needs to take place. If financial troubles are plaguing your operation, the stop and ask yourself what the problem is? Do you really NEED a large house when you could get by with a medium? Do you really NEED 3 harvesters on a 25% deposit of polymer when you could run a little further and just have 1 on a 75% deposit? Do you even really NEED a vendor in order to sell your wares when you could just walk around taking orders? Business decisions like that can greatly affect your profitability.

Consider this. This is a business model I've been kicking around in my head for about a week now. What about a galaxy wide clothing delivery service. Basically, someone sends you an order, you fill the order, then deliver it to a pre-determined place at the right time. Granted, this would take extra time on the part of the tailor, but who says you have to deliver the item personally? Say it's an order for a revealing fleshwrap. The average selling price is 10k. You sell a delivery order for 12k. That covers the cost of interstellar travel, plus it gives you some leeway if you'd rather hire another PC to deliver the thing for you. A 2000 credit delivery mission would be pretty enticing, especially given that travel would be paid. Based on this model, you, the tailor, still walk away with an 8000 credit profit. And all you had to do was make the thing and manage the deal.

Ultimately, the big question comes down to this: Why are you a tailor? To get rich? To be famous? So you can have lots of cool stuff to wear? Figure out your motivation for being a tailor and work towards that. Because when a game becomes a job, it ceases to be fun.

But those are just my thoughts. I gladly invite any disagreements.