Tailor Archive
Thread: Under cutting and What do you do about it?
I am now finally being affected by under-cutters on our server. Up until now it's had little impact, but I am noticing it more and more. Tonight a wonderfulcustomer told me of a shop close to mine selling Master tailor items for 4000 credits, mine were on the low end at 8000 credits, (the customer bought a dress and other items from me at my prices btw). Normally I don't care what other tailors are doing because I am usually quite busy... but have noticed a decline the past couple of weeks.
I plan to be a tailor for a long time and I hate undercutting... it really is a disservice to everyone! Not just to me.. but anyways... it's a fact that it happens and is happening.
So, I have 3 choices and am wondering which one is the best solution:
1. Stop making Master Tailor level items and just make everything else instead, unless its a custom order.
2. Lower prices on Master Tailor level items to compete
3. Keep my prices as is and hope for the best
Ido still sell alot of items in my shop, but not nearly as much as I used to. This could be because of the ton of other tailors showing up on my server (I think there are too many now) and because of the lowered prices. It is actually easier to keep items in stock though, so it allows me to do more things, so it's not really a 'bad' thing to have slower sales, long as they don't stop altogether.
Like I said, I plan to be a tailor for a long time, after others have come and gone, which they have already. So if you're in it for the long haul.. what do you do?
right now undercutters are hitting me kinda hard, ive been a master for a few weeks now, still trying to establish myself with a good customer base, but theres another tailor somewhat close to me who undercuts pretty hard and shes been at it for awhile and has an established customer base, right now im either gonna keep my vendor stocked minimally and do custom orders indefinitly or try to keep at it and drop my prices to compete. Tailoring never was and never will be my main source of income, i do it because i find it appealing to make people look good etc. so money wouldnt matter much to me as long as i break even. BUT i dont want to stress the other tailors who try to keep master items valuable (like how im trying to go now)
so im pretty much in the same boat as you, leaning towards doing mostly custom orders from now on though....
If you're selling more clothes than you have time to restock, raise prices.
If you're making more clothes than you can sell, lower prices, use cantinas and bazaars for advertising, etc...
Not selling dozens of items a day can be a good thing, giving you more time for other things, and letting you concentrate on special orders, and providing a nice selection of the more expensive items.
Don't worry about anyone else's prices. Just play the game according to your own wants and needs. If you want/need more customers, play to acquire their business. If you want/need more free time, run your business to give it to you...
What is irking me is the people who are buying low from me and selling high on their own vendors trying to pass off the item as theirs.
I've started putting "item name" by "character name" on everything so if the people doing it resell then people know who I am.
One guy went as far as to tell me how rude & arrogant it was of me to start putting my name in the title of my items since he can't resell them as well.
I told him that if it kept up I would add my price to the title, and when I could I'd put a description downsaying "please contact me for custom orders".
Needless to say he didn't like it, called me a few names and ran off.
*shrug*
I know it's a loosing battle, and a free economy and people will do it, but it still irks me when it's my goods. hehe
It seems to me that those that are buying your items are making a profit off of you. Why not raise your prices so that you get those extra credits effectivly putting those reselling out of buisness? That seems like a very logical solution all together and you don't hurt your fellow tailors in the process.
I find that a lot of those undercutting don't know that they are doing it. I send them an email showing them the amount of credits they are loosing and they usually raise thier prices almost over night. Sometimes education is the key 
All my clothing says "by Moibeal" regardless of their purpose. Even when I do guild uniforms it still has my makers mark.
As for people buying items for lower and reselling, I would try to turn that around and offer to be their provider.. that is if it's just the money that is the concern. If it's the "fame" then I would do as previously suggested and put your name on -EVERYTHING-.
One problem for me is.. what is undercutting? Everyone places different values on things .. and will sell for different prices. For example, I look on the bazaar on my server and see an items *I* sell for 4000 on there for 1200.. I go to another tailors shop and see the same item for 6500.
Who is the undercutter? Am I the undercutter for charging 4000 for something the other tailor charges 6500 for? Is the person selling for 1200 undercutting me?
Where does it start and where does it end? Where are the lines drawn?
I sure wouldn't like it if the more expensive tailors on my server saw me as an "undercutter".
For example.. I know of one tailor on my server who sells master items like fleshwrap, exotic leotard etc for 15k, I sell mine for 7.5k.. She could call me an undercutter from one end of the day to the next and I still wouldn't raise my prices. My prices are set according to what *I* consider them to be worth to me and my customer and have nothing to do with trying to take business from anyone.
Luckily this tailor I mentioned (Trinity) has done no such thing and has spoken very friendly to me and had no problem with my lower prices as she is already a very well established business woman on the server.
No reason why we can't all have a piece of the pie ..
I vote for keep your prices as is and hope for the best.
That is what I am doing...
I have a very similar situation...a tailor about 2000 meters away sells master items for 4k, I sell them for 7.5k.
Then there is the crazy people who moved in RIGHT next door, 50m away....I don't know what their prices are. The one time I looked beforeputting them on ignore and ban they hadn't quite set up shop. I think I saw an item I sell for 2500 on their vendor at 2499. That might have been a coincidence but it was pretty funny.
But I am not going to change my prices. I hope I can continue making sales.
I believe we're reaching a point where the supply of tailored goods is catching up to and surpassing the demand. That will naturally exert a downward pressure on prices. I can't fault undercutters in this scenario; unlike previous weeks, when artificially low prices were being set independent of supply/demand dynamics, in a state of market saturation lowering prices is rational economic behavior.
Until we get more mechanisms for churn in the clothing market, the actions of the bargin bin gurus are perfectly understandable.
Without churn, demand will continue to diminish to the barest trickle, and prices will plummet. That's the primary reason I'm still on strike - not that the current situation is intolerable, but that there's no future to the profession unless and until we get those turnover mechanisms (of which decay is one).
The optimum price for an item that lasts forever is infinite...
Honestly, there's so much money floating around at the higher levels that it's usually only the newbie characters who will flock to an undercutter. Most people will continue to go to an artisan they know and trust, regardless of price, because money isn't an object for a lot of people. Sure a novice entertainer will be overjoyed to find someone selling a revealing fleshwrap for 1K, but eventually they'll look around and notice that everyone else is wearing the same thing they are, and they'll search out a tailor who can help them create an appealing and distinctive outfit that will allow them to stand out from the crowd.
My dancer routinely flies from her home in Mos Espa to Coronet City whenever she wants to buy clothes, because that's where her favorite tailors live and she trusts them to advise her on the best look. She doesn't even think about how much the clothes cost anymore, much less the extra 1600 credits round trip she's spending just to get to their shop.
I don't resell tailor stuff (I just destroy it), but like half of the architect stuff on my vendor is made by other people who were charging too little.
If you don't like people reselling your stuff, it probably means you need to charge more for it. Personally, I'd be very happy if someone decided to buy stuff off of my vendor and resell it, because I think I have things priced so that any sale is a good sale.
And, I believe very much in the 15k master tailor items. A master tailor item is a status symbol, and you're only making it carry less weight by charging a low price for it.
Undercutting is relative.. I sell master items for less than what I've seen others charge (not in my city). But I'm still at what I'd consider a "healthy" price. Master items are not the majority of my business, and that's fine with me. I know I'm much more likely to make my living off the "hot" item - whether it be gunman's (missed that craze), cloaks or warm hats (ha, ha) than by fleshwraps. At least that's what I've seen so far.
As sleepy as Keren used to be on Kettemoor, it's actually getting pretty crowded with tailors. There is one master besides myself, and at least 3 up-and-coming tailors with shops. One new arrival is a mere 300m from my shop - but at least her vendor isn't right next door any more. So far I seem to be in the middle with regard to prices, which is fine. I know that a few hundred credits won't make a difference either way.
My prices are going to stay the same for the foreseeable future - there are too many possible changes (fixing bioengineered components, new schematics, elite elite professions, etc.) for me to make any decisions hastily. There is always a niche that can be filled - you just have to find yours.
"" Ri'a Ocoli"" Master Tailor, Kettemoor
"" Fine Attire by Ri'a is 1km north of Keren at 1190, 3770
"" .. my door is always open, stop by any time!
Just some thoughts here... I tend towards the lower end of pricing for tailors in general, and about average for Kettemoor, I think. It's probably lower than it should be, but my shop is largely out of the way and 95% of my business is custom ordered stuff. (100% now, actually...I pulled the vendor yesterday.) However, when I was first getting started we had a tailor move in to the same town I was in, look at my catalog, make one of her own, and charge 50% of my prices across the board. Immediately I saw a drop in my own sales, but it wasn't long before I had people coming in amazed that I would make custom items for them. It seems this new tailor had the attitude that if it wasn't on the vendor, it wasn't for sale. To the best of my knowledge, she is no longer in business.
Price is NOT the only factor when choosing a tailor shop. In fact, given the glut of money due to the lack ofinsurance costs, it's probably the least important factor for many people. (Imagine if each death cost people 30k or so....that's my insurance cost.) Service is absolutely key. Pamper that customer that comes in and wants a dress shirt for the dance he's going to. Make 3-4 if you have to in order to get it right. Because when he decides to buy a gift for that dancer he's flirting with, you know he'll be back. :-) Most all of my business is regular customers or referrals from them. Very little of it is just straight walk up business, especially in my new Naboo location in the middle of nowhere.
Also, consider a post on your server board for making military PA uniforms. Offer some theming suggestions (different colors for different roles, etc.), and perhaps even offer a bulk discount. I made 86k on one sale last night to a PA that needed uniforms. (They chose cheaper items or it would have been more, but I really can't complain.) Get a factory or two running and you can churn out bulk orders with ease.
Finally, along the same lines, see if there's a merchant in the area who's interested in stocking fine fashion. It's not as lucrative as armor or weapons, but it's essential to a fully stocked store. :-)
Hope some of those things are helpful in maintaining and expanding your business. Just don't do them on Kettemoor. :-) (I'm kidding....please do!)
Brianna_Folliot wrote:What is irking me is the people who are buying low from me and selling high on their own vendors trying to pass off the item as theirs.
I've started putting "item name" by "character name" on everything so if the people doing it resell then people know who I am.
One guy went as far as to tell me how rude & arrogant it was of me to start putting my name in the title of my items since he can't resell them as well.
I told him that if it kept up I would add my price to the title, and when I could I'd put a description down saying "please contact me for custom orders".
Needless to say he didn't like it, called me a few names and ran off.
*shrug*
I know it's a loosing battle, and a free economy and people will do it, but it still irks me when it's my goods. hehe
I go a step further and name mine: Item by Snowleeper for XXXX credits.