T
thunderfoot
Deleted Due to Inactivity
Former MSFC Member
I've been wondering what I was going to do with all the loot Fire Blade's crew has gathered. At first, I was simply recycling it through the Replicator. I noticed right off the purchase price in the Info screen for each piece is usually much much higher than what the Replicator or even the merchants will give you for something. I got a little P.O.'d at this. Next, I began perusing the Exchange to purchase items. Some of the prices are ridiculous and these are either posted by people whom are having fun with us over this or they are people whom have no clue. I decided now that I am in the junk trade, might as well experiment a bit to see what moves the merchandise the fastest. Here is what I have discovered so far.
- The most powerful weapon in the game earns you no coin at all if you price it ridiculously high. Like most of you whenever I read one of these I simply laugh and wonder what the seller was smoking at the time.
- Ship shields and weapons and are mostly badly overpriced.
- Consoles, except for the purple ones, are undervalued. The purple consoles are as badly overpriced as ship shields and weapons.
- Data Samples are a little high but not overly so and the prices here are consistent.
- Ship equipment and devices are all over the map, pricewise. There are some very good bargains to be had as long as one is patient.
- Personal kits, shields, and weapons are usually slightly less expensive than buying the same item from a merchant. An added bonus is the selection is much better.
- Reward packs and the like are either ridiculously high or ridiculously low. My Starfleet toon was able to purchase a Danube Runabout for 15,000 EC(!).
All items have three prices. The first one is shown in the Info screen, which is mostly silly. I suspect this is where most of the inflation comes from among the player population. For simplicity, I tend to think of this one as the 'List' price. Next, there is the amount one receives when an item is recycled. This is usually a half to two thirds less than List. I think of this as the 'Real' price. From a certain viewpoint, this is what the Devs actually think of the item's value in game. There are some items which have a value of zero. However these are either mission specific or Mk 0 versions of kit. They have value but only in specific settings. Some of these, like the Breen Transphasic Torpedo Launcher perform much better when used by the AI than they do when used by a player. The preceding is a personal opinion. I could never get the kind of DPS or just plain damage out of the thing the AI manages with such ease. Lastly, there is what I call the Percieved Value price. This is what the player population thinks an item is worth. This is always much higher than the other two. "Conventional wisdom" in STO says Anti-Proton weapons are the way to go in PvP, So all of the AP weapons are priced ridiculously high. Why? Because someone somewhere will fork over the EC's to get an item if he/she wants it badly enough.
I am a prime example of the last one. I wanted disruptor dual heavy cannons for Fire Blade. I wanted them badly enough I was willing to spend over 450,000 EC's to get the three I have mounted for'ard. I further spent an additional 80,000 ECs to get the right kind and quality of consoles so the disruptor dual heavy cannons do maximum damage. I also wanted quantum torpedoes for Fire Blade. Paid out another 300,000 for the launchers and lucked out by scoring the right console as a drop during a skirmish. Was it worth it? To me, yes. To others, maybe not. But I wanted to be able to rip the shields completely off a battleship or Cube with one or two shots. So I do not consider it expensive.
How does all this help when we're selling stuff, TF? Good question. Glad you asked. First off, items you sell on the exchange should be priced to move. Turnover, not profit per item, will put those ECs back in your pocket faster. It isn't the one item you sell which solves your in game money crunch, it is the number of times your items are purchased. Be reasonable about your asking price. I was using the Real price plus 10% and sold out nearly before I was done posting things. So I bumped the percentage to 25%. This was a mistake, as my stuff sat there for days where before it was gone in hours. I have since adjusted the price back to real price plus about 15 -20%, depending on the quality of the item. This is what I use for dropped items. My overhead is effectively zero since all I have to do is kill something fast enough to qualify for the reward. I haven't sold any crafted items yet, so I have no idea at all what I am going to charge for these. There is a market in game for Rare items which are either Mk I, II, or III. Got a Mk II Phaser cannon as a drop and sold it almost immediately. Working on my crafting skills so I can make such, since I think this market will be there for a long time and the items don't cost much in Data Samples.
Next, price your items so they stand out from the crowd. There is loads of stuff priced at 2,000 EC. So I price my similar items at 1,995 or such. Stands out from the crowd and it is usually at the top of the list to boot. Presentation is everything sometimes. I am taking advantage of the impatience of youth here as well. Slacker Guy wants a new console to make his ship turn better. He does not want to take any more time than he abso-frakkin'-lutely has to to buy said console. He clicks on the Exchange button, muttering, "Come on already!" under his breath. He sees my console priced at 3,995 at the top of the list, checks to make sure it is the one he wants or close enough to it, checks to make sure he has enough EC and then clicks on Purchase. The whole thing takes him less than one minute and he is busy begrudging every second of it. Because his Fleet is playing PvP against some hapless n00bs right now and he is missing it. He won't even bother to check if the console does everything he wants or if it is the best one available before he clicks on Purchase. And after he has done so, the game does not allow refunds or trades so he's given me money which I cannot give back. Even if I wanted to (and sure, like this is going to happen, lol.)
Anyways, these are some thoughts and techniques I decided to share with y'all and I sincerely hope it allows you to turn that junk laying around into EC you can use. War is indeed, 'good for business' in STO. So why not get a share of the action for yourself, hunh? BTW, the first one who makes a remark about my Klingon toon having a Ferengi for a parent will be summarily executed on the Challenge Floor outside the Great Hall, rofl.
- The most powerful weapon in the game earns you no coin at all if you price it ridiculously high. Like most of you whenever I read one of these I simply laugh and wonder what the seller was smoking at the time.
- Ship shields and weapons and are mostly badly overpriced.
- Consoles, except for the purple ones, are undervalued. The purple consoles are as badly overpriced as ship shields and weapons.
- Data Samples are a little high but not overly so and the prices here are consistent.
- Ship equipment and devices are all over the map, pricewise. There are some very good bargains to be had as long as one is patient.
- Personal kits, shields, and weapons are usually slightly less expensive than buying the same item from a merchant. An added bonus is the selection is much better.
- Reward packs and the like are either ridiculously high or ridiculously low. My Starfleet toon was able to purchase a Danube Runabout for 15,000 EC(!).
All items have three prices. The first one is shown in the Info screen, which is mostly silly. I suspect this is where most of the inflation comes from among the player population. For simplicity, I tend to think of this one as the 'List' price. Next, there is the amount one receives when an item is recycled. This is usually a half to two thirds less than List. I think of this as the 'Real' price. From a certain viewpoint, this is what the Devs actually think of the item's value in game. There are some items which have a value of zero. However these are either mission specific or Mk 0 versions of kit. They have value but only in specific settings. Some of these, like the Breen Transphasic Torpedo Launcher perform much better when used by the AI than they do when used by a player. The preceding is a personal opinion. I could never get the kind of DPS or just plain damage out of the thing the AI manages with such ease. Lastly, there is what I call the Percieved Value price. This is what the player population thinks an item is worth. This is always much higher than the other two. "Conventional wisdom" in STO says Anti-Proton weapons are the way to go in PvP, So all of the AP weapons are priced ridiculously high. Why? Because someone somewhere will fork over the EC's to get an item if he/she wants it badly enough.
I am a prime example of the last one. I wanted disruptor dual heavy cannons for Fire Blade. I wanted them badly enough I was willing to spend over 450,000 EC's to get the three I have mounted for'ard. I further spent an additional 80,000 ECs to get the right kind and quality of consoles so the disruptor dual heavy cannons do maximum damage. I also wanted quantum torpedoes for Fire Blade. Paid out another 300,000 for the launchers and lucked out by scoring the right console as a drop during a skirmish. Was it worth it? To me, yes. To others, maybe not. But I wanted to be able to rip the shields completely off a battleship or Cube with one or two shots. So I do not consider it expensive.
How does all this help when we're selling stuff, TF? Good question. Glad you asked. First off, items you sell on the exchange should be priced to move. Turnover, not profit per item, will put those ECs back in your pocket faster. It isn't the one item you sell which solves your in game money crunch, it is the number of times your items are purchased. Be reasonable about your asking price. I was using the Real price plus 10% and sold out nearly before I was done posting things. So I bumped the percentage to 25%. This was a mistake, as my stuff sat there for days where before it was gone in hours. I have since adjusted the price back to real price plus about 15 -20%, depending on the quality of the item. This is what I use for dropped items. My overhead is effectively zero since all I have to do is kill something fast enough to qualify for the reward. I haven't sold any crafted items yet, so I have no idea at all what I am going to charge for these. There is a market in game for Rare items which are either Mk I, II, or III. Got a Mk II Phaser cannon as a drop and sold it almost immediately. Working on my crafting skills so I can make such, since I think this market will be there for a long time and the items don't cost much in Data Samples.
Next, price your items so they stand out from the crowd. There is loads of stuff priced at 2,000 EC. So I price my similar items at 1,995 or such. Stands out from the crowd and it is usually at the top of the list to boot. Presentation is everything sometimes. I am taking advantage of the impatience of youth here as well. Slacker Guy wants a new console to make his ship turn better. He does not want to take any more time than he abso-frakkin'-lutely has to to buy said console. He clicks on the Exchange button, muttering, "Come on already!" under his breath. He sees my console priced at 3,995 at the top of the list, checks to make sure it is the one he wants or close enough to it, checks to make sure he has enough EC and then clicks on Purchase. The whole thing takes him less than one minute and he is busy begrudging every second of it. Because his Fleet is playing PvP against some hapless n00bs right now and he is missing it. He won't even bother to check if the console does everything he wants or if it is the best one available before he clicks on Purchase. And after he has done so, the game does not allow refunds or trades so he's given me money which I cannot give back. Even if I wanted to (and sure, like this is going to happen, lol.)
Anyways, these are some thoughts and techniques I decided to share with y'all and I sincerely hope it allows you to turn that junk laying around into EC you can use. War is indeed, 'good for business' in STO. So why not get a share of the action for yourself, hunh? BTW, the first one who makes a remark about my Klingon toon having a Ferengi for a parent will be summarily executed on the Challenge Floor outside the Great Hall, rofl.
When selling items I check two things. I will check the exchange price, and the price from a star fleet officer. depending on the item, one will get you more money. For me, when selling in the exchange, I always bid under the lowest bidder, unless it is an outstanding price or there are so few of that item available I think I can get a higher price. If the prices for said item are 5000, 5500, 6000, and 2000, I will buy the one for 2000, and then sell both mine at 4999, thereby driving the price up by a bit and making more money myself. The problem with making your item the same as the 50 lowest priced items is that you have no idea if yours is put first or last on that list, and people will again buy the first one on the list even if it is the same price. The best way to ensure that is ti simply force it to be infront of the list by reducing the price by a single energy credit.