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I'm being a bit snarky with the introduction. It is a side effect of the spreadsheets. People call Eve spreadsheets online but really it is more about the math and the calculations. I do more math in this game as part of enjoying myself then I do in daily life. There is something amusing about that.
The other day I said that I was exhausted by spreadsheets and
unable to think. I was only mildly humorous when I said that. I
found myself, sitting, at four in the morning finishing the last parts of phase
one of my project and I had no idea how it had gotten to be that late. It
is not often that I lose track of time in large blocks like that.
The reason that I
was doing spread sheets and losing large blocks of time is because I decided to
take on a project that people have been asking someone to do. I decided
to take over stocking our local low sec trade hub. The person that used
to do it has been playing other things of late and the hub has gone to decay
and ruin.
I found myself
standing inside the dust covered market place. The shelves were empty.
Outside, people had stacked a few overpriced modules. A stack of
shuttles, painted with silver spray paint had a tattered, crooked sign that
said, "Bling shuttles" on it and a price tag of over a million ISK.
The windows were so filthy that light barely seeped inside. I
stepped forward and sneezed as dust exploded into the air from under my
feet.
Market Hubs evolve
in Eve. They Evolve around strategic positions in regions and
also around mission hubs. Every station has the potential to be
a market hub but not everyone will be one. This particular part of Molden
Heath is one of the three high sec entry systems. There is only one
station and it is a good station with a reasonable docking radius and in
station position. With the boys having halfway moved into Bosena they
were sad for the once thriving market Sard had kept going when Gunpoint was
active.
I
never appreciated the Bosena Market when it was here. I had
myself set up to regularly run to Rens. I had no reason to spend more ISK
locally when Rens was only nine jumps away. I had stuff to sell a few
times a week so my trips to Rens were already something I needed to do.
Bringing back items for myself and others was not a big deal to me.
However, not
everyone is me. Many want to be able to refit and go for a reasonable
price. I stress the word reasonable because there is a markup for the
hub. That is why I never shopped there. I never shopped locally at all.
Yet now, I found myself in an odd position where I had the ability and the
finances to step up and take over this market hub.
This is not all
from the depths of my loving soul. It has the potential to make
ISK. I would have to spend ISK to make ISK. It is not something I
have ever been fond of. Yet. I could see the potential.
I turned on the
lights. I wasn't sure if it was the best idea I had had recently.
Cobwebs hung from the the high ceilings. In the back, there were a
few boxes and foot prints through the dirt. The register glowed behind
the counter. I worked may way past the empty, dusty shelves and peeked
back into the warehouse. It was enormous Through the haze
I could imagine the bays filled with ships and the storage room filled to the
ceiling with ammunition and modules.
After I thought
about it for a while I decided to go and poll the boys about it. The
general mood was positive. They would love to have their local market
back. They were tired of being gouged by the local high sec system with
its 30%-50% markups. They had a million suggestions for things for me to
stock.
I only had one
naysayer. He felt that there was no reason for me to stock low sec when the
high sec system next door had plenty of things. Also, the top station was
an instant warp from it to the low sec gate. That system was normally
well supplied. Why would anyone shop in low sec when they could shop in
high sec?
People had
wanted to shatter my dreams. My dreams of improving lives for pirates.
Why should we always bow to the whims of those who hate us the
most? Why should feed our ISK to our enemies? Why should we be
forced to evade faction police just to buy ammunition or pick
a sub-optimal ammunition because none
was available Why did it make sense for us to cater to the
very parts of high security space that most hated everything about us but our
ISK? These were teh questions I had asked myself when I came to this
place and now, as I looked around at the empty shelves I could see beyond their
barren shelves at what they could be.
I did the smart
thing. I went to one of my market gurus and told him that I was ready to
learn. He had offered to teach me before and my eyes had glazed.
Now we sat down and bit by bit created a list of items to stock the
market with. We started out slowly and I decided how much ISK I wanted to
sink into the project. We went for popular consumables and high volume
items. Drones, ammunition, fuel, cynos, some basic modules. Item
after item was built in and added up and at the end of the evening I had a list
that at 120 items long would be only a drop in the bucket to the needs
of the market.
Small steps at
first. I purchased. I loaded my freighter. I flew it down
from Jita to the high sec gateway system. I then broke it down between
two other alts in their blockade runners and let them haul it all in, load
after load while my trade alt began to add everything into the market.
My cargo, so
large and amazing as I loaded it in Jita now sat, forlorn in the
center of the storage room floor. What had been overwhelming now did not
seem as if it was enough. It did not seem as it it could be enough.
I was determined I cleaned and swept and removed all of
the dust. With the place clean I lit a vanilla scented candle and started
to put stock on the shelves.
It was after I
started listing the stock that I started to feel vindicated.
My spreadsheet, so painfully created earlier that evening,
showed me how badly the regional price gouging was. These people were
taking the hard earned ISK from the wallets of my friends. Some of the
prices were terrible. A million ISK for a shuttle. 100k for basic T1
modules. Now and then I found something that was locally cheaper then I
could list it at. I gritted my teeth and pushed through the guilt.
I also felt
vindicated. The price issues were bad. I was going to fix
them. People could buy out my stocks, they were not enormous I
would just buy more and price them back at reasonable rates. I knew that
some might want me to price things lower. But today I learned a lot about
the value of the work and effort that goes into making something happen.
Every item that
I put up only made me realize how much more I needed. It was as if a
floodgate had been unleashed. I needed more then what I had. My
supplies, suddenly so small vanished into the shelves. Even when the
bright markings and clean shelves the place still looked empty. However,
it was a start and I was exhausted. I headed back to my quarters pleased
with myself. Even as I closed the doors my wallet chirped. Someone
had purchased from the automatic stock. I smiled. This
was going to work out.
It isn't a small
undertaking. A lot of research. A lot of reading. A lot of
careful buying. A lot of jumping. A lot of work. Yet, it is sweetly amusing. This isn't for me. Sure, ISK will be nice. I'm being very brave in not undercutting
myself. Yet, I feel very excited that I
will, I hope, have an impact on this little part of Low Sec. An improvement that allows Pirates to buy
things in low sec stations and not deal with the ridiculousness of high
security space.
And maybe, just maybe, in my warm, quiet thoughts, this will
brighten up the area some. Increase the
traffic and bring people in. A little
hope and dream that one but one I will indulge myself in.
I can't agree with you more.
ReplyDelete"I decided to go and pole the boys about it"
ReplyDeletePoll. If the genders were reversed it would be funnier...
Feel free to delete this comment after fixing.
It was one of those moments when I knew it was wrong and left it because I giggled and forgot to fix it... Whoops.
DeleteSardMart was great, I've thought about setting up a mini market hub around where I live now but have always been put off by the effort that it would require to set up and maintain, I just don't have that much free time at the moment. I hope that you manage to keep this going.
ReplyDeleteExciting!
ReplyDeleteAnd I flashbacks of Escoze and his 4B lo-sec Orca.
Go for it!
ReplyDeleteSome tips:
* Don't import shuttles or other T1 hulls, import minerals and build them, less jumping.
* Your trade alt should have Accounting and Broker relations 4, 5 better. Check her standings with the faction and corp owning the station, have both at 4+
* Start learning Jump Freighter
* Most importantly: Set up BUY orders for the same items on the same station. People will haul/manufacture for you and sell it to you, you just relist, no more jumping.
Buy orders are in phase 3. Right now someone has undercut me for some ammo. That makes me happy because it means the ammo is available at reasonable rates. So far I am running the highest volumes and I'm not worried about turn around speed.
DeleteIf you want my two cents regarding my experience with it, feel free to PM me on the MH.net forums. From the sound of things you're already on target to managing the market much better than I (I never used spreadsheets!)
ReplyDeleteAye
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