What would be considered a good shop, as in what do people need that are in scarce supply, or way too expensive in other shops?

I personally consider a shop good that has pretty much everything in stock that I need on a regular basis, so I don't have to run around through ten shops to refill/rebuy everything.
So all keg refills, including poisons (and ink for enchanters), platters, enchantment charges can't hurt, herbs are a plus.
Since I only buy backpacks and clothing so often, I don't mind having to look around a bit for that, so it's not really necessary to have that stocked in abundance.

Such a good shop doesn't have to have the lowest prices, I prefer convenience to a few hundred gold saved.

Is it possible to sell goods in a shop but not allow people to purchase more than, lets say 300 gems of each type? That way if someone absolutely needs gems for vials or something, they can find it affordable, and nobody bought it out to resell it at a higher price?

No.

If it were, they'd just buy twice in a row, or get a friend to buy.

If you sell all of something at the price you asked for them, be glad you did, regardless of what they're doing wiith it. And then restock.

what would be considered a good novice set? was thinking of including the following:

In a backpack (pink princess of course)
Basic enchantments
2 vials of (health/bromides/mana/mending)
Basic Herbs
and maybe a guide to the hunting spots in a magically bound letter.

And on the side, weaponry and armor.

You can't stock things like that because the stuff inside a container in a stockroom will decay.

So how can i go about doing that. Is it possible to set permissions to newbies or college students so I can sell each item cheaper for them, instead of bundling it up?

People generally use donation chests in guildhalls for that.

I'm not a fan of All things to All People shops, if all shops were like that
it'd be bland as hell. I like shops specific to peoples trades, that's where you have an advantage.
Varrin looks for good prices not convenience so take what I say with a grain of salt

If you want regular traffic, having the following goods at a fair price would be the way to go;

Kegs of Healing, Mana, Bromides
Cube for Recharging
Platters

Even this can be challenging as it's not like there's a shortage of these goods.

Beyond that, my suggestion would be have a few items that you can sell
at a nice price at least half the time. What's the big draw that will bring people back to your store over and over again.

Few items I've come across that suit your rarity or too expensive question;
Greatrobes, Sparkleberry, Earwort, Esteem

What would be great would be a purely Wholesale store for other shopkeepers
but forever a dream.

With your novice set idea I'd say go for it, see how it goes for awhile. One issue I had though was looking at the base cost of the items you mentioned that's a minimum of 3500 coins to produce, maybe have a couple of varieties so a novice can spread that cost over a few months.
Option 1: Pack and Vials
Option 2: Enchants and Herbs

Good luck

You can use a bin to limit some items to members of your guild or the like, but if I remember right, you can't restrict by level or guildrank or anything else that would match "newbie".

Donation chests also don't preserve items. Herbs don't decay and pocketbelts last a good long time, but packs decay far too fast to use as those containers.

There's really no good way to do novice starter kits unless you have such a high turnover rate of novices that they get used up before they've lost too much lifespan. You either limit what is in them to things that have sufficiently long lifespans, or you replace decayed items a lot, or you just put them in a stockroom and then go in and build the kit and bring it out every time. We envoyed an "origami" thing that was designed to be useful for novice kits and not much else, and the envoys were unanimously in favor of it, but the Fates turned it down anyway.

As noted, the best shops have what people need.

When dealing with novices, take everything you listed, also have tinderboxes, shovels, and pipes.

As well, have cheap, preserved food platters.

When dealing with novices, usually give them a bit of variety in one place, but don't overdo how many different items you have, because then they get confused. Make it simple, but not overly plain.

When you have the basics, you can put in a few more exotic items, special gear, that they can strive to obtain, or for other customers.

A shop sign would be highly beneficial, listing things and how to use them as well.

I've been filling up the guild's store with cheap vials, gems, and jewelry for enchants, as well as the guild's cabinet with robes and clothing. But set aside that, I've been asked my other novices from Serenwilde, Celest, and Magnagora on things to fulfill basic requirements, so I just want to be able to cater to the novices. They are our lifeblood, so I want to see that they are well prepared for what lies ahead.


Hm, I'll try having people pay over time. Do a micro-loan system, see how it works out with the novices.




Is there any shop that brings this to mind? Something I can go and look at and say, "Oh, that's how it's done" and go off and try to do it better.

You could easily snap up the hardcore combatant crowd if you stock cheap bulk sparkleberry.

Getting your hands on bulk sparkleberry to stock is another matter, though...

Which is why you should be a combatant in the first place.

Vicious cycle.

I kind of like the idea of neutral, "universal" newbie shop (even though technically I guess Trader Bob is that). It'd be nice to see in novice scrolls mention a shop where you can get everything a novice needs at low, cheap prices. :3

An aethershop would work, but unless you could restrict bins by level or something, all that would happen is that combatants would go buy everything they want out cause it's cheap. Leaving the shop bereft of all the really useful potions, herbs and supplies and left with things higher ups don't need like shovels and buckets.

True. But the general idea behind the shop is rather appealing and would be nice to see something like it.

Oh, I completely and totally agree, don't get me wrong! If it could be managed without poopy heads coming along and messing with it, it'd be awesome. Maybe set Trader Bob up to accept donations? You would GIVE (ITEM) TO BOB FOR SALE AT 100 GOLD or something and he'd sell it, but no one over level 21 can buy from him.

Bob is supposed to be there for everyone, in case nothing is available anywhere, though.

Now... if Bob had a brother that suddenly fell from the aether, let's say Rob, and opened up shop in Newton Caverns, and orgs started including his existence in CGHELPS, that'd be more appropriate.

Just outside the Caverns so people could donate goods for the novices if they wanted and that'd be perfect. Bob's twin brother Rob! I like it! Every now and then they could have funny yelling arguments over who has the better shop, that you'd hear if you were on the Peak! It'd be awesome!