"Sugar, have you thought about using buy orders to stock the store? It will give locals a place to sell if they are near Jita prices."I have thought about buy orders. The problem simply comes down to what I can handle as a person without letting other things slip. Keeping TCS in good shape requires a lot of time and a lot of orders. I have three alts tied up in it and I have not settled down to have a fourth just to buy. I'd like to but I don't think that I can.
When a corpmate asked if I'd be interested in him taking over the buy orders I said, "Uhh..."
I had to think. My automatic answer of "No" had no thought behind it. I was just saying no because it is an easy way to protect yourself. And what am I protecting in this case? I am protecting the store's assets. A few days ago I realized that I had tipped over thirty billion ISK in items listed on the market.
That is a whole lot of stuff I wish to keep reasonably safe. But, every day is a new day. I happen to trust this particular person a lot. I can give him a wallet division to do his orders out of and keep the main wallets to myself. I will set him up a starter egg and let him go crazy. He can pay the store back the investment and keep the rest for himself. Although, maybe he can share a little bit of the rent.
The Cougar Store is growing up. What was a blind venture and a lot of excitement and hope has turned into more than I expected. If you list it they will come. Or, if you list it in a manner that it is worth buying. When I look over what people buy I say they buy fits. The other day I took a few snapshots of how sales work with my market.
The highlighted sections are one pilot buying a complete, or mostly complete fit. There are also other, incomplete sales where bits and pieces are picked up. Sometimes it is just a hull because the pilot already has other items in the station. Sometimes I watch them warp back to high sec with a bit of amusement.
I think the traffic and community are ready. We will list buy prices near Jita and go from there.
Hopefully I am ready for this new era of co-op and buy orders.
Buy orders aren't extra work, they are saving you the time to restock from Jita.
ReplyDeleteIf someone wants to do buy orders for you, he doesn't have to be in the store corp, he can buy for himself and bulk sale to you.
"Hopefully I am ready for this new era..."
ReplyDeleteAnd after that, how about "contract manufacturing"? TCS publishes a list of items required and the price to be paid, delivery at Teon, and us carebears start the production lines rolling...
TCS has individual volume issues. Eve Industrialists build for volume to profit. TCS sells fits. I can't consume enough of a manufacturers output to be of any value to them in the long run. Sometimes things don't sell for months and I have no idea when or if they will sell.
DeleteNot all Industrialists build for volume and, even for those that do, I'm not suggesting that TCS be their sole customer -- they make for their usual market and skim 10% for you.
DeleteCrius is an attempt to make manufacturing more accessible, especially to new players. Involvement in a player-run EvE "thing", however obliquely, improves player retention. Imagine a dozen -- hell, a hundred! -- new bros selling most of their stuff to unseen, unknown, market buyers but getting satisfaction and some "higher purpose" from also supplying TCS. And so the Cult of Reasonable Prices spreads...
Teon is only a few jumps from Heimatar's school systems ;-)
“When a [trusted] corpmate asked if I'd be interested in him taking over the buy orders I said, "Uhh..."
ReplyDeleteAren’t we a bunch? We’ll gladly dress up in shiny boat then trustingly undock with a group of avaricious corpmates hell-bent on destruction, yet, when the very same pilots query into how we acquired ISKies for said shiny boat it feels they’re rooting around in our underwear drawer. “What?!? That’s private. No one, not even you, sees my . . . unmentionables.” I’ve flown with pilots for months, years even but how we actually make ISKies is rarely broached in helpful detail.
This was closer to giving him a debit card. :P
DeleteWell, yes & no . . .
DeleteI’m certainly reading subtext but it makes thematic sense:
1) “Share” has multiple meanings including “to divulge” as in “to share a secret” as well as “to divide”
2) You’re contemplating inviting another into “your business.” Double meaning intended
3) Privacy’s been on the agenda of late. Quoting you in The Corporate Individual comments:
“Are we handing ourselves over to be controlled, followed, and monitored by video game jobs? What are we being transparent about? Honestly, why am I beholden to my corporation to know every activity that I do so that they can tax it as they see fit?” & “I've never been subject to a corporate audit. I don't know how I'd react to be honest.”
While positions are switched from your Corporate Individual stance - you’re about to gaze on someone else - I still see unease.
Disagree as you wish. I don't mind.
I'm amused that you don't mind me disagreeing as to my own thoughts. :)
DeleteWhy would you need a fourth alt just to do buy orders? Couldn't you do it with one of the three existing? Yes, having a fourth to handle the buy orders might be the perfect situation, but wouldn't having one of the other three do it be good enough?
ReplyDeleteThree maxed alts is 900 orders. To put up q good set of buys I need several hundred more slots sice I sell around 700+ items.
DeleteUgh. Fair enough :)
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