Question for Lendren!

Why is your shop so overpriced? 1500 for an enchanted ring? Yikes!

The base ring was recently doubled in commodity requirements, leading to people increasing the prices of enchanted jewelry.

Every other shop I see has them for between 500 and 850, so it just seemed really odd to me.

It depends on what ring's enchanted. Lots of shops use the rings that take 10 cut gems to make, while others use metals and therefore end up pricing them way higher. (Even then, 1500 is a lot...)

That will be people who haven't updated their ring prices, or are only selling one charge. Currently, the price of a ring tends to hover at about a minimum of 350, depending upon how cheap you can get your gems. Then add enchantment costs, plus something to make a profit....

Maybe people need to find cheaper jewelers/enchanters. ._. I can't imagine paying more than 800 for fully-charged rings.

Or, Lendren simply doesn't want his inventory to turnover super fast. I know there are some things in my shop I will never sell cheaper - not because I couldn't if I wanted to, but just because the price deters people from buying it out too quickly and forcing me to spend even more time restocking various things.

Some people make it their objective to have goods available at the lowest price possible. Others just want to make sure that they always have certain things in stock as close to "always" as is possible. I'm thinking Lendren is the latter.

Wha.. what is the point of having your shop stocked if no one will buy what you have stocked?

Well, obviously someone buys it, or it wouldn't be priced that way. I sell a lot of stuff in my shop for higher than the average, but it still sells just fine. I'd rather make more profit on each item and sell a bit more slowly than have to sell bunches of things quickly to make as much.

That is actually a very bad business model to follow, just fyi.

Actually, it makes sense. Lendren stocks far more items than the average shop, and a very wide variety at that. That alone keeps me going back to his shop any time I need something, knowing that I'll more than likely find it there, and I couldn't care less about how expensive it is.

Yet there's always more gold in my stock room when I check.

It depends on how much time and effort you want to expend. It is a game, after all, so if you find a happy medium between time spent and profit made, you're selling at the right price. Whether someone else thinks it's a bad business model or not, if people are willing to pay it at a rate that keeps you happy, it's perfect!

I'm just saying. There is a reason that no successful real world business functions this way. You may make gold, but you'd make more if you ran the shop differently is all I'm saying. It would take more work, yes, but you'd get more out of it as well.

^ This

You can call it a bad business model all you want, but it's dumb to compare Lusternian shops to real shops on the premise that you have to make more revenue than other people. Most people treat shops like hobbies, and anyone who seriously wants gold can do a better job of getting it by grinding. If you have the best deals anywhere, and stock so many things that you have time for absolutely nothing else, the shop becomes a hassle, and when it becomes a hassle, it isn't fulfilling its purpose for some of us out there (ie, entertainment).

I would rather spend less time restocking, if shopless people want to undercut me to make more revenue, and have more money generated per item sold when they do sell.

Luckily, a Lusternian business bares only the slightest resemblance to a real business, so such a comparison doesn't pan out.

Like I said above, it's all about a good time/effort -> gold ratio. Find what works for you and go for it.

But it does pan out. Whether or not you agree that the effort is worth it doesn't mean that the real world business model won't result in greater income. Because it will. That's my only point. If its not worth it to you, then that's something totally different and doesn't magically make your way just as good--it just means that you don't want to put in the effort. And that's fine. It just doesn't make your way equal in terms of income just because.

But what you're saying is that it is a bad business model.

It's not.

The Lusternian business model is not the real-world business model. So what if you can generate more gold by spending a lot more time? Then it's no longer fun, so it's not worth it. Since this is a game, everyone finds that point eventually.

Where did I say it was 'equal in terms of income'? It's not like differing levels of income here will drive a shop out of business (another difference from the real world). Again, it's all about the right amount of income -> time, for the shop owner. That's Lusternia's business model. Find what works best for you and go with it. Adjust as needed as prices fluctuate.

Alright, instead of bad, we'll call it suboptimal. Is that better? In terms of business plans, you're going to call one that is suboptimal bad, and you're silly if you're going to try arguing the semantics with me.

And now I await your post where you tell me that suboptimal and bad are totally different and try to argue semantics with me some more.

Have you met Xenthos?