Ban people from shop

[TimUnleashed]

Well, this would have been true if there were any other business model to try.

But as you know a lot of them(?), give us one business model that allows you to sell something in any other way than the present in a shop.

It's kind of difficult to change track if there only is one way...

Lo, the thing that makes your question (tell us a way of running a shop other than what's presently available) difficult to answer is the underlying assumption that what slither is trying to get out of his shop is the only use for a shop.

My point has been that while shops can be useful, slither is fighting a losing battle by trying to only sell to the people he wants to.

There are plenty of other business models that can be applied to running a shop. For example, you can have a model based on selling at a market price, but to whoever wants to buy it.

At the risk of slither having another crack at me for plugging SFE, a model that works for us is "create a solution for people". We craft and sell armour and price it according to what it costs us to make it, and we don't care who buys it, as long as they get something out of it and are happy. That's the service and solution we want to provide to the community and it's a sustainable business model that is one alternative to slither's.

And there are plenty of others too. There are societies that run shops to sell their loots from hunting. There are shop owners that simply resell stuff to try and make a profit. There are all sorts.

My point is, (from a consumers point of view) that it's a total waste of time to go shopping in any of the ingame playerowned stores if the items are available in auction. And IF you'd like to put stuff up at lower markup in your store, it's not that easy to do.

But one thing that could work is a VIP-list or buyersclub that gets a lower +% from a specific shop.


I think that would be the best solution. And GIFT CARDS!

yeh!

I agree - if you can get it in auction easily and reliably and regularly for a good price, why would you go anywhere else? It's definitely the easiest solution.

Shop owners who are going to survive need to accept this and work around it. I strongly believe there CAN BE plenty of reasons to go shopping, and it is my hope that shopkeepers will use this knowledge to create better shops and give people reasons to come in and then come back as well.

Nice idea with the VIP list and gift card etc. We've been thinking about that kind of stuff and how to manage it and may bring out something like that at some stage.

Please don't hate me slither - I'm making the case for shops and shopkeepers in general, not just us.

 

[Daikiba Old]

We craft and sell armour and price it according to what it costs us to make it, and we don't care who buys it, as long as they get something out of it and are happy. That's the service and solution we want to provide to the community and it's a sustainable business model that is one alternative to slither's.

Great to hear that it is possible - that crafters can sell at their costs, and that they are willing to once they reach that level. (the only time I can sell my crafted stuff at my costs is when i get really lucky)

I can only say +rep for making a sustainable business and taking the time to promote it properly - cool website, cool shop. You are a true entropian entrepreneur in my eyes. As far as I understand, roleplaying a business in EU is what counts for you rather than just profits or whatever strange reasons people might have for owning a shop. More people like the guys in SFE please so we don't have to come to malls with restricted shops and shops that are used as personal storage room for players with too many peds.

PS: I'm not a friend of tim, i don't know him..just really dig his (SFE's) style

 

[silas]

uhm

to me this seems like alot whining (not sure whining spelled corect)

if people buy stuff from your shop and sell on auc and make money on it, they obviously have a better sense of buisness then you. no offence

or how would u know is that person bougth it in your shop then found out he/she couldnt afford having it and then sold it on auc.

well anyways to the point.. i totally disagree in all the ideas u suggested.

just my opinion.


regards

 

[Ishkode Kaikaik]

Ban the resellers

I agree with Slither, there needs to be a ban option for shops, HIT the resellers every way possible. But at the same time lets make all auction areas PvP, so we can shoot the resellers as well.



Ishkode

 

[burnsey]

When your business model fails then develope new ones, do not try to piss off your customers by trying to cripple your product beyone usability.

If you don't want to sell stuff to certain avatars, then don't activate the 'buy now' option of your stuff and be present in your shop at normal service hours (which are 24/7 in EU) to do p2p trades with the people you want to have your stuff. Or come up with something better.

But behaving like the MPAA Mafia ... ?

Tussi

This made me think of an interesting way of doing business, but it might be a lot more hassle than one might manage.

You could try a different model for your shop if you want to be selective about who you sell to by doing the following.

Set out the item you wish to sell but with out a price tag, have a sign that explains what you have to do to purchase the item at the price you want. Then put for sale something that is low cost as a ticket, like a decoy or something in front of the item, as many as you have for sale at that price.

The ppl who then buy those tickets will have a make-shift contract to buy those items from you at that listed price, you will have the pop ups that tell you who bought it and can find them (somehow, lol) to do the p2p trade. If the person who buys it is someone you don't want to sell it too, you can tell them to get lost, or refund their "ticket".

Might be more trouble than it's worth, but could help solve the problem in the meantime.

 

[Photon]

I dunno ... at the moment my shop is doing pretty slow trade. The only people buying stuff at the moment are the resellers, so at least I'm doing some trade as opposed to none.

I do also sell lots of my stock on auction atm too, but the fees are awful. The point really is that I can afford to price items lower than auction simply because the shops have better fees. It makes sense for customers to visit my shop - but apparently it takes too much time for them to visit. Shame really. Resellers win.

 

[Alice]

I dunno ... at the moment my shop is doing pretty slow trade. The only people buying stuff at the moment are the resellers, so at least I'm doing some trade as opposed to none.

I do also sell lots of my stock on auction atm too, but the fees are awful. The point really is that I can afford to price items lower than auction simply because the shops have better fees. It makes sense for customers to visit my shop - but apparently it takes too much time for them to visit. Shame really. Resellers win.

well, i dont know exactly about your shop, but i could take a look around the prices in shops and compare them to BOs at auction


often enough i find way better deals at auction BOs than in shops

ofc, if you are below auction the nasty resellers come

not to mention that shops are kinda time consuming to visit

 

[Zib Black Onyx]

the shops system sucks because it takes too much time to go visit the shop - deal with the extra lag that exists in malls and shops etc, just to find out the shop you went to doesn't even have the item you were looking for - so much easier to goto auction.

What would be nice would be if there was a way to see like online somewhere - some kind of system that showed you what was in someone's shop with the price etc - then you could travel to that shop and buy it - or maybe even buy it online they go pick it up after.

But if MA bans a reseller then they make less money overall from fees etc so I don't see why they would make a change that makes them less money.

money is what motivates their decisions.

 

[Raffaele Meiers]

the shops system sucks because it takes too much time to go visit the shop - deal with the extra lag that exists in malls and shops etc, just to find out the shop you went to doesn't even have the item you were looking for - so much easier to goto auction.

What would be nice would be if there was a way to see like online somewhere - some kind of system that showed you what was in someone's shop with the price etc - then you could travel to that shop and buy it - or maybe even buy it online they go pick it up after.

But if MA bans a reseller then they make less money overall from fees etc so I don't see why they would make a change that makes them less money.

money is what motivates their decisions.

Right in most parts but still, MA stated several times their source of income is part of the decay and all the rest is recyceled into Economie so Auction Fee's are not income to MA. So a banned Reseller is not less income to MA but more because the one who would have payed to the Reseller stays in the Card of the buyer and he can generate Decay with it and therefore income to MA.

 

[TimUnleashed]

I agree with Slither, there needs to be a ban option for shops, HIT the resellers every way possible. But at the same time lets make all auction areas PvP, so we can shoot the resellers as well.



Ishkode

ROFL! That'd be hilarious for a while! (until all the innocent people quit playing cos the resellers start fighting back). Hahaha EU civil war!

the shops system sucks because it takes too much time to go visit the shop - deal with the extra lag that exists in malls and shops etc, just to find out the shop you went to doesn't even have the item you were looking for - so much easier to goto auction.

What would be nice would be if there was a way to see like online somewhere - some kind of system that showed you what was in someone's shop with the price etc - then you could travel to that shop and buy it - or maybe even buy it online they go pick it up after.

But if MA bans a reseller then they make less money overall from fees etc so I don't see why they would make a change that makes them less money.

money is what motivates their decisions.

Zib, I would be heartened if you took a look at our website, www.southernfortress.com.au. I agree with what you're saying about shops not having what you want, etc. Hopefully, on the crafted armour side of things, we are solving the challenges you mention. Let me know what you think.

 

[mastermesh]

bumping an old post... I know...

bumping an old post... I know...

but...

I would like MA to introduce a way to ban certain avatars from my shop.

This already exist sort of... It's called Guest. The option is there on the estate terminal. Simply set it up so that those you want to add as buyers are on the guest list.

 

[Nadie]

bumping an old post... I know...

but...


This already exist sort of... It's called Guest. The option is there on the estate terminal. Simply set it up so that those you want to add as buyers are on the guest list.

And if they aren't on your (far too limited and short) FL to add in the first place you're screwed. It would be far easier to implement something to add the very few people you don't want to let in than all those you do.