P
Pixie.Pebr
Guest
I have a feeling I am not the only crafter who sees the current situation as something bad, so lets have a look at what we have and why we have it.
But most importantly, how we can fix it and fix it in a way that keep both buyers and sellers reasonably happy.
There was a time I could count the LGM Weaponsmiths on my two hands and knew most of them by name as well.
With little competition, it was a sellers market.
The crafters could basically set the price they wanted, as the demand was at times higher than the supply.
Some did use this opportunity to make a rather hefty profit for themselves and in a way I can not blame them.
Reaching LGM in any trade is a very costly business and naturally you wish to break even as soon as possible so that you can begin to make some real profit, not just earning back your investment.
On the other hand, overpricing scares away customers and it also impedes the flow of trade, as people simply can not afford to buy what they wish to when they wish to.
As more people reached the status of LGM the competition hardened.
The supply leveled with the demand and prices were normalised.
With a greater supply, the buyers have the luxury to choose the deal which is best for them and that is, naturally, the cheapest one.
So it began to happen, the supply became greater than the demand, crafters was churning out 99% qua weapons noone had ordered, as byproducts from MP orders, or from skilling up.
How to get rid of excess stock?
Sell at a loss, ofcourse. But, to minimise the loss, one choose ofcourse to sell to another player instead of the NPC merchants who give you ridiculous amounts compared to the actual worth.
This in turn had the effect that the prices seen as "normal" by the buyer, in fact was a price that made the seller lose coin on the trade.
Now, what businessman will happily continue to sell at a loss, with 10-30 plats investment that need be earned back?
Noone.
A lot of crafters have simply retired and now only craft for friends and guildies, at cost, as a favour.
Rather than have continuous loss, you just accept you spent 25 plat you wont see again and move on.
Now, I would love too be able to confidently say there is a cycle and with the number of retiring crafters, the supply will soon be equal to the demand and prices will normalise again.
But I can't.
For the very simple reason that new people keep skilling up, producing new LGMs to replace the ones no longer in business.
And these new LGMs will face an already broken market and will be forced to either join the selling-at-a-loss carousel, or retire early.
So, how to remedy this unbalance?
Well, one option is to form a cartel, meet and decide on what prices we are going to sell at.
This is in the real world out there illegal and though it would not be so in the game, I still see it as something unethical.
Reason being it is very easy to set prices higher than the actual worth and start ripping off the customers.
Another option is to not fill up your CMs with cheap 99% left-overs. Reduce the supply and thus raise the demand and the prices. Think OPEC and oil.
While this may mean the time to earn back the investment may be longer, as you will either not sell the excess stock or sell it to the NPC merchants for greater loss, it will also mean a more healthy and stable economic climate for the crafters will emerge.
As it is now, someone charging a fair price for a 99%er (10-20% profit, in my view) won't have it sold, since the guy next door have the same for sale at 10% loss.
At the end of the day everyone need the weapons, shields, armour and whatnot to be able to play the game and ofcourse they are happy to get it cheap.
But us crafters need our investment back in order to make it worthwhile to produce.
Rant over. Let the flames begin.
But most importantly, how we can fix it and fix it in a way that keep both buyers and sellers reasonably happy.
There was a time I could count the LGM Weaponsmiths on my two hands and knew most of them by name as well.
With little competition, it was a sellers market.
The crafters could basically set the price they wanted, as the demand was at times higher than the supply.
Some did use this opportunity to make a rather hefty profit for themselves and in a way I can not blame them.
Reaching LGM in any trade is a very costly business and naturally you wish to break even as soon as possible so that you can begin to make some real profit, not just earning back your investment.
On the other hand, overpricing scares away customers and it also impedes the flow of trade, as people simply can not afford to buy what they wish to when they wish to.
As more people reached the status of LGM the competition hardened.
The supply leveled with the demand and prices were normalised.
With a greater supply, the buyers have the luxury to choose the deal which is best for them and that is, naturally, the cheapest one.
So it began to happen, the supply became greater than the demand, crafters was churning out 99% qua weapons noone had ordered, as byproducts from MP orders, or from skilling up.
How to get rid of excess stock?
Sell at a loss, ofcourse. But, to minimise the loss, one choose ofcourse to sell to another player instead of the NPC merchants who give you ridiculous amounts compared to the actual worth.
This in turn had the effect that the prices seen as "normal" by the buyer, in fact was a price that made the seller lose coin on the trade.
Now, what businessman will happily continue to sell at a loss, with 10-30 plats investment that need be earned back?
Noone.
A lot of crafters have simply retired and now only craft for friends and guildies, at cost, as a favour.
Rather than have continuous loss, you just accept you spent 25 plat you wont see again and move on.
Now, I would love too be able to confidently say there is a cycle and with the number of retiring crafters, the supply will soon be equal to the demand and prices will normalise again.
But I can't.
For the very simple reason that new people keep skilling up, producing new LGMs to replace the ones no longer in business.
And these new LGMs will face an already broken market and will be forced to either join the selling-at-a-loss carousel, or retire early.
So, how to remedy this unbalance?
Well, one option is to form a cartel, meet and decide on what prices we are going to sell at.
This is in the real world out there illegal and though it would not be so in the game, I still see it as something unethical.
Reason being it is very easy to set prices higher than the actual worth and start ripping off the customers.
Another option is to not fill up your CMs with cheap 99% left-overs. Reduce the supply and thus raise the demand and the prices. Think OPEC and oil.
While this may mean the time to earn back the investment may be longer, as you will either not sell the excess stock or sell it to the NPC merchants for greater loss, it will also mean a more healthy and stable economic climate for the crafters will emerge.
As it is now, someone charging a fair price for a 99%er (10-20% profit, in my view) won't have it sold, since the guy next door have the same for sale at 10% loss.
At the end of the day everyone need the weapons, shields, armour and whatnot to be able to play the game and ofcourse they are happy to get it cheap.
But us crafters need our investment back in order to make it worthwhile to produce.
Rant over. Let the flames begin.
