Shop prices way up to high?

[ermik]

Originally Posted by spod

the mk11 price at my shop was a mistake, it should have been +21.
its now been corrected (at least i think i corrected it) , i think this is a fair price.


i have 6 shops to run, I set alot of item prices, and sometimes i get prices wrong, either wrong price on wrong item, or just it the wrong button on the price setter.

but shops have to compete, and if they are too expensive, no one will buy, so they will either close , or lower thier prices.

another thing to note is that prices fluctuate on the auction, but shop owners cannot alway keep up with this.

I know i chack peauc when setting the price, but then i leave it. if the market price drops, my items will look expensive. I cant recheck all preices for items every day, i have 600+ items on displays.

I try to keep things as low as I can.

+rep

my intention was not to bash at shopowners , a fair price helps everyone, the buyer chooses the shop instead of auction , and shop sell more and gain more profit through volume instead of markup.

the problem is auction is way to easy , all will disagree but i cant see how an easy , fast auction system can help the economy. All it will do is help traders to relist items a few % higher all the time. anyone whos been following the price of marbrer bravo the last months know what i mean.

But still , hunters and miners need to sell their loot / findings in an easy way , with fair payment, but with enough margin to provide for profit for the crafters... how to solve this is not an easy task.

I belive for shops to become a real alternative , auction must reform and shops and auction must meet eachother half-way in some form.

i dont have the answers , but im just putting light on an issue a lot of people are afraid to bring up cause it might hurt their interests.

// ermik

[The Nightbird]

The only thing stupid about virtual shops is the fact that they're virtual. Who cares about walking around browsing items really? I mean we developed the internet cuz we humans are lazy and want to get everything we want NOW, where we sit without even standing up rather than waste alot of time looking for it irl and then comparing prices/stats.

From my opinion above, you can tell that I believe MA is taking a serious evolutionary step backwards in implementing shops and malls. If I were to consider how shops would fit into a vitual world, it would be a monthly fee to list BO only items in a special searchable "shop" terminal, where "owners" can list 100/200/300items (no additional fees) rather than the small amount allowed on auction, and shoppers can just do a search, compare prices, and buy with all of 30seconds research.

It seems that MA forgot the word CONVENIENCE!!!

/end rant

[ermik]

Originally Posted by The Nightbird

The only thing stupid about virtual shops is the fact that they're virtual. Who cares about walking around browsing items really? I mean we developed the internet cuz we humans are lazy and want to get everything we want NOW, where we sit without even standing up rather than waste alot of time looking for it irl and then comparing prices/stats.

From my opinion above, you can tell that I believe MA is taking a serious evolutionary step backwards in implementing shops and malls. If I were to consider how shops would fit into a vitual world, it would be a monthly fee to list BO only items in a special searchable "shop" terminal, where "owners" can list 100/200/300items (no additional fees) rather than the small amount allowed on auction, and shoppers can just do a search, compare prices, and buy with all of 30seconds research.

It seems that MA forgot the word CONVENIENCE!!!

/end rant

good point

// ermik

[redler]

Originally Posted by Urso

if for example u craft 5 guns a day u dont need a shop, but if craft more u think auction is still the best way ???

Well actually, yes.

If you craft a 100 guns (for example) is putting them in a shop going to sell them any quicker? and while they sit there gathering dust your paying rent etc. Wouldn't it be better to feed them to auction over time, or as they sell and keep rest in storage, which is free! In fact they would prolly sell faster at auction as i suspect way more ppl wanting guns would look there first.

If your talking about low end guns that sell for like +50pec then yes you might be better of with a shop, but your'll need to sell truckloads to justify the expense of a shop methinks! and is there that many customers wanting such stuff.

I can see how shops would work for very high end crafters, but how many of them are there ingame? prolly not into double figures im guessing!

[ermik]

if the auction were to reform to become of more limited reach and function other proffessions where to take form.

How about reseller licenses?

With a system where lets say a hunter makes a deal with the reseller ( maybe shop owner ) that he will buy a specific type of loot (eg: animal hides) at a fixed rate and with the deal in the system all hides he loot automaticly tranfers over to the other part of the deal and payment vice versa.

until the deal is broken by either of the parts

the technical solution i cannot predict , but the flow seems like an alternative in some way.

// ermik

[GuyNumberOne]

Originally Posted by redler

tbh i dont understand why we have shops in this game.

I didn't quote the entire message, but just wanted to say,... I think you are spot on with the situation at hand.

The only thing I could add is that, MindArk and the speculators on shops are simply using the opportunity to extract money from those who THINK they can make it work.

But there are some very basic issues that have to be overcome before it can work.

If they nerf the auction to an usuable state, then they are really just removing some freedom of choice of play to protect a certain type player/investor. Playing favorites if you will. Not exactly the kind of game I want to play.

Sorta like, Bush taxing the shit out of electricity, but not petrolium, just because he's invested into it. So he forced everybody else to favor oil too. Not that he did that, but the analogy is the same.

[spod]

shops have been here for about a year now. and b4 that we had shop keepers.

do you think i , and many other shopowners , who had shops b4 the malls, would have invested in the , if people didnt want to shop.

yes, we have teh internet, but people still use real shops. It all depends what you want fom the experience, some people like to buy and go , they uses shoping as a very functional experience internet (and auc)will suit this type of person.

Other slike the actual shopping part itself, as an activity, sometimes, what the actual items they purchase are not that important.

its "what ever floats your boat". If shops dont cater to your needs, it doesn't mean that the shops are wrong.

Everyone does not think the same, and does not take plesure from the same things, we have a diverse virtual universe here, and it offers a diverse range of activities.

[GuyNumberOne]

Originally Posted by spod

yes, we have teh internet, but people still use real shops. It all depends what you want fom the experience, some people like to buy and go , they uses shoping as a very functional experience internet (and auc)will suit this type of person.

Other slike the actual shopping part itself, as an activity, sometimes, what the actual items they purchase are not that important.

If by the first quoted paragraph you are refering to in-real-life shopping,... I can tell you why people shop in shops more then on an auction. Because the stuff can be had "same day" as purchased. Much more difficult to get ripped off. No shipping charges. Can be returned easily if bought from a local shop. Can see item to check for quality in own hands. Lots of other things.

Refering to the second quoted paraghaph,... You and all those other shop keepers (and it seems to be a lot of them) are really thinking you're gonna make your money back on that small percentage of people who shop just to be shopping? I'd say the percentage is about the same as the percentage of people who own shops. I got some bad news for ya. Once the newness has worn off of "just shopping for fun". People are going to go back to what's easiest and best price.

You guys are going to offer X for 5% discount? Then you are leaving money on the table that could have been gotten from auction for X. If you offer X for 5% more markup, then people are losing money to you for shopping there. If you could offer a capachino at the door or something, I could understand.

Buying from auction in game, has no shipping charge, and the items are EXACTLY the same you are selling from your shops. So outside of price, there is no incentive to shop from a shop.

As bad as returns on activities are in this game, we don't have the luxury of wasting money on "just to be doing" stuff. I play golf, go bowling, fly model helicopters, and generally waste a ton of expendable cash in real life. I'm not gonna spend money in this game for those activities because MindArk isn't doing much programming for "fun" activities. Remember "transportation" like dune buggies, hover-craft, etc. Those were suggested long ago, but they chose to chase the dollar instead. So, now they offer shopping as fun. WHOOP-TE-DO !!! Get some REAL fun in here then we might spend it on entertainment. Like why do we not have bowling alleys where we could "play" in this game? What about golf course? What about simply riding a train through the mountains? How about hang gliding? ANYTHING.

Oh I know, we got hunting, crafting, minding, and a few other small activities. But they've turned em all into some kind of scam rip-off. Not much of that fun can be had for the dollar. We want a better rate of fun per dollar.

OH yea, we got shopping. Just more of the same old BULLSHIT, that spends more money on no real run. Yet you and your kind want to brainwash the average Joe into believing "shopping is fun".

OK, sorry for the rant. I just hate to see such a good-potential game go to waste.

[spod]

1. in time shops will use their tax advantage to offer better prices, right now they are new, and somepeople are taking advantage of this.

2. you view shops as a means to getting your goods, nothing else. in that respect, for you ,auction wins. auction does everything you want. so use auction. but dont campaign for shops to be changed, because they work for other people. I like shops , my customers like shops, other people who have shops hav customers and they like shops. People are different , shops are different, its a choice.

[The Nightbird]

Originally Posted by spod

1. in time shops will use their tax advantage to offer better prices, right now they are new, and somepeople are taking advantage of this.

2. you view shops as a means to getting your goods, nothing else. in that respect, for you ,auction wins. auction does everything you want. so use auction. but dont campaign for shops to be changed, because they work for other people. I like shops , my customers like shops, other people who have shops hav customers and they like shops. People are different , shops are different, its a choice.

Consumers have the right to campaign how they want to purchase their desired goods I do understand your need to protect your investment, I would too if I owned a shop, but that makes you biased does it not?

There are only two choices consumers have:
1. to be satisfied with the current service
2. to demand better services and then flock to whomever provides it first