Bad to sell Barb Cultural armor Dirt cheap??

[Cigarskunk]

Re: Bad to sell Barb Cultural armor Dirt cheap??

The current prices of Artificers on my server is kinda limiting lots of people from buying it though (3 active barbarian smiths on Tribunal atm).
Typically its 5kpp to 7500pp PER infused ring. So 5k to 7500pp per bracer, 10k to 15kpp for belts/arms/helm and 15 to 20kpp for Leggings.

So I am thinking "What the Hell, I'll drop the prices to 2 or 3kpp per Ring".
Thus allowing LOTS of shaman to have good armor.

Besides, I make good money on Tae Ew gear so I dont need the plat from the VERY small barb cultural market anyway.

Well hey, why not knock down the cost of the Tae Ew gear too so that everyone can afford that as well?

After all, if you want everyone to be able to afford barby cultural, why shouldn't everyone be able to afford Tae Ew gear as well?

That's right, Tae Ew is YOUR money maker - can't be cutting into your own profits, only those of folks who are doing barby armor, since it's a small market and you don't need the profit from it anyway.

[Aanna]

Exactly Cigarskunk!

[Zhorn]

Re: Bad to sell Barb Cultural armor Dirt cheap??

Well hey, why not knock down the cost of the Tae Ew gear too so that everyone can afford that as well?

OMG nooooooooooooo!

Tae Ew prices ARE dropping. One smith dropped his prices 5k and now everyone expects Tunics for 15 or 17kpp and Shields for 15kpp.

I guess the best plan is to "cut people deals" rather than "wrecking the barb cultural market" by dumping cheap pieces onto a bazaar mule.

P.S. WOOT GM Smithing Hammer $$ RARR

[Sylphan]

Let's say there are 100 barbarian shamans on your server. How many of them already have barbarian cultural? Maybe 10. How many already have better (PoP armor, or maybe Velious, or Vex Thal)? Let's say 55. How many of the remaining 35 would want it at 3k per ring? Let's say 10. How many of those 10 would still want it at 5k per ring? Maybe 8. So... only two people out of those 100 barbarian shamans on the entire server would really benefit from your lower prices.

Is it worth it to lower prices, and keep the armor sitting on your trader in bazaar, to help those two?

Ok, so maybe my numbers are a little off. Maybe there are 112 barbarian shamans, and only 52 of them have been to Vex Thal and there are actually 7 of them who have just enough money for 3k per ring but not enough for 5k per ring. Whatever... adjust my numbers to what you think is correct. Then ask yourself if it's worth it to sell the armor cheaper.

Oh... and compare the prices for other blue diamond armors on your server too: high elf, human, etc. That will give a better indication of whether the other barbarian smiths are charging too much.

[Zhorn]

I wasn't referring to the post-60 crowd in uber Ssra/NToV+ gear.

I was of course referring to the little guys, the 45 to 59 un-uber-twinked peeps (of which there seem to be QUITE a lot of barbarian shamans).

I've linked a few pieces of Barb Cultural to some of these people and they were like "Wow nice armor, how much?".
Then I say "Well the others smiths tell me 7500pp for a bracer, 10kpp for Arms/Helm/Belts, 15kpp for Leggings".
And they give a little sigh and go "sorry thats way too rich for me ".

Also most PoP smithed armor has reduced stats til level 61.

As for other cultural armors, looks like about 5kpp per infused ring for the plate armors on Tribunal.

[Barraind Faylestar]

Trib stays about 5k for human (i have the cheapest prices :P) as... people charge way too much for bd's and temper pieces still.

600plat a bd + 1200 a temper is not exactly going to get chep prices from me.

I generally run

6k - 6500 for 1ring pieces
12k for 2ring pieces
17k for 3 ring pieces

More if you buy multiples

Theres a pretty much unspoken "dont go lower then this", cause your competition can always undercut you back, then neither of you win

[Zhorn]

1200 pp a temper? ouchies! Barbarian ones are about 40 plat, if that.
And I tend to buy BD's for 300pp.

Now I see why Human cultural is more costly!

[kiztent]

On the one hand, the people encouraging you to keep prices up are also attempting to create an illegal cartel to fix prices so they can make profit.

On the other hand, screwing the barbarian smiths because you make money on tae ew chain is sleazy.

1200pp per royal temper? :shock: 2 essence of sunlight, 1 griffene blood, 1 rain water? whee.

[Grozza]

Pleasing everybody

There's a way you can please everybody (mostly). Sell directly to these shaman, without using the bazaar feature. They can't afford the higher prices, so you sell it to them cheaper, but since you don't list your lower prices in the bazaar, the other smiths don't feel they are being undercut. And besides those smiths were never going to get the sale anyway, since the shaman feels the price is too high.

[wold2]

artificer

I'd guess its a moot point. I've been the only known Barb GM smith on my server for 9 months and I almost never sell the stuff anymore, even when offering the bracers (one of the better pieces) for 4k. The awesome warrior plate doesn't sell either.
I've done a fair number of free combines for guildies, last time I tried artificer's greeves I went 0 /3 (ouch). So I can't charge much less than 1500 per ring to break even and prol 3k per ring to make a modest profit, at those prices I don't even bother to smith anymore.

PoP and Tae ew killed Artificer's dead. Common drops are as good or better.

[Zhorn]

On the other hand, screwing the barbarian smiths because you make money on tae ew chain is sleazy.

As Wold has pointed out, there IS no money to be made on Barbarian Cultural even when you are the Sole barb smith.

Therefore there is no harm in selling the stuff cheap (maybe).

The bracers are really good though, but even they dont seem to sell when priced at 3kpp or even 2500pp. (Probably because most shaman have a Coldain Military bracer and Jaundiced Bone Bracer).

I agree Tae Ew/PoP armors have killed most of the market for the cultural chain. It hasn't affected cultural plate as soooo many **** tempers are needed for PoP plate it's a joke....

The lack of a market for the plate though is because most Barb warriors follow Rallos Zek or are agnostic. Which is a shame because the Barb Cultural stuff has more HP's/STA than the equivalent RZ armor.

It will be good when I make my Half-elf or Human Bard Twink though Because they can wear it if they follow Tribunal $$ heh

[Zopharr]

I just can't get over how people constantly piss and moan about how others are selling for cheaper then them and they aren't making the money they used too. It's called business.

Lower your prices to match and make more of the items to sell. Supply and demand is the governing force of a free market. Either compete or give up.

Perseverence is right ... sort of <grin>

My take is that demand for most of the high-end armors is relatively price inelastic on the more expensive pieces. For example, I would assert that the number of people who would buy, for example, Tae Ew Tunics if they were always 14k isn't much greater than if they were always selling at 20k. (Yes, there are price points at which demand will go up; I'm sure if they were, for example, 8k, demand would increase. But demand doesn't respond as much prices as one might expect, IMO.)

So unless someone drops prices radically, then all they are doing lowering prices is capturing market share (at the opportunity cost of lower profit per item) not really increasing the size of the market.

Just an example. A few weeks ago, Tae Ew Chain Tunics were being sold by most smiths on Quellious at 18-20k. One individual was repeatedly advertising in auction chat that he was selling at 14.5k. I mean *at least* 5 hours a night in prime playing hours, plus putting his character into trader mode when he was not actively playing. After awhile I asked him how many tunics he was selling, and he said he hadn't sold one in two days. The market was ignoring his 20% price cut--demand was relatively price inelastic.

The only real result of his price cutting (since he didn't drop to a price point where demand would respond) was not any real increase in total market, or even his market share, just a decrease in prices for *all* smiths across the board for Tae Ew items, and a decrease in profits on the few items that did sell. [BTW, just got back from being away for a week, but it looks as if that person may have left the Tae Ew market.]

If a smith wants to cut prices and set a new price, hopefully they will stay in the market to service demand at that new price - rather than simply driving prices down for other smiths who depend on the item for income then leaving the market.

I always prefer to talk to other smiths to try and establish "friendly competition." I would just as soon price the same as other smiths, and have it be the luck of the draw which one of us gets the sale. Eventually it will even out. And I recommend that smiths talk to someone they see trying to undercut them, and try to work something out.

But if someone wants to compete for market share - or cut prices to such a level that they actually create * new * demand, like it sounds here - then I would say, have at it - just stick around to handle demand at that price, so you do more than simply drive down prices that others will have to live with.

(One think I don't like, though, is someone who cuts prices by 200pp on a 15k item. I mean, if you want to compete, compete - don't do a 1-2% cut just because you go to bed later than somene else who put there character in trader mode.)

/em Dives for the same hole as Perseverence

[SamirDaStinky]

One of the most overlooked simplicities about EQ is that the bazaar feature is as close as we're gonna get to a pure free market. Ya it sucks sometimes when you're not taking advantage of it, but it's nature of the beast.

EQ Bazaar = competition at its best (or worst)