Dead Horses: Clothworking as a marketable skill.

[fearwig]

Unless you're doing it for a house, clothworking is a skill that pays in negative quantities of sid. Cloth is expensive, there is nothing (or nothing readily available) cheaper than X-some sid a pop (*edited quantity as IC), which is of course a good deal more than most if not all items will sell to a third-party dealer. This is an unrealistic market and needs some tweaking. Doesn't seem like much work to me. Thought I'd post it on the boards as well as ideaing it, for feedback, to see if I'm being a ninny, et cetera. Enjoy.

The best option would probably be to introduce more second-or-third-rate materials available to tailors, and to increase the market value of the current linen-and-better products. Anything that turns something raw into something finished and useful should turn a profit somewhere--as it is, the independent market doesn't pay you unless you are restricted solely to PC sales (which is unrealistic, especially as you wouldn't be offering them much of a market benefit).

[Cenghiz]

Here's not the place... Just a couple of days ago I found out a burned material was worth more than a normal material, bugged it, the bug was nearly instantly fixed. Just bug them.

[fearwig]

You sure? Because that sounds like a bug, and this just sounds like a uh... well, hell, I guess it is a bug of sorts. Guess I should stop sending it up in idea format. Thanks.

If you think I've said too much that's IC, give me a hint, and I'll edit it out. I'm awful about that stuff, I've realized.

edit: Before any more responses come, I've talked to a helper and found out that typo is the best way to report price discrepancies. Thanks, bub!

[Agent_137]

If the thing made from the materials sells for less than the total cost of the materials, bug it. (unless, of course, you botched the craft job)

You shouldn't make much off buying retail and selling to retailers, but you should make more than negative.

[JollyGreenGiant]

If the thing made from the materials sells for less than the total cost of the materials, bug it.

Bug is acceptable, but I'm too lazy to search for the thread in Ask the Staff where they said that if it's a matter of correcting something numerically, typo is preferable.  Bug is usually for things that aren't functioning.  If the barter command wasn't working on some clothing, that's a bug.  A possibly mistaken price would be a typo.

[ashyom]

It's not a bug.

I've made sure that major pieces of clothes are worth more than the length of <whatever>.  The smaller pieces, less, but I'm working on making it so that you can produce more than 1 scarf from a length of <whatever>.  Anyways, the shopkeepers often won't buy any item for its actual value; rather, they'll buy for less than what it's worth.

This makes it difficult, I know.  However, there have been other tailors who were successful after a rough beginning.  This's why haggle skill is important.
Please don't bug this.
Ashyom

[Marauder Moe]

Lets not forget that most NPC merchants have HORRIBLE prices.  Like, they'll sell at 2x value and buy at 1/2 value.  It is certainly possible to make a profit on clothes, though.  You just have to make use of a few ancillary skills.

[JollyGreenGiant]

And since we're kicking dead horses, I'll throw in the obligatory, "If you're not getting enough from NPC vendors, try selling to players."

[Angela Christine]

Only suckers pay retail.

You are buying your materials at jacked up retail prices, and then selling your finished goods at wholesale prices, so OF COURSE you're not making a profit.  That's just basic economics.  You need to find a way to lower your materials cost and/or increase your selling price.   Barter is very good for this.  Joining caravans to every corner of the known world to check local cloth and clothing prices might help.  Buying in bulk from the fabric manufacturer, rather than a retailer, might work too.  Selling direct to the consumer rather than to a second-party retailer can be profitable, but it is time consuming and there may be additional fees and taxes levied by local government.

Clothworkers really don't have it worse than other crafters.  Ok, you can't "forage cloth" but you do get barter, which most crafters do not.  If a stonecarver or jeweler buys his stones at retail from a raw materials shop and then sells the finished goods at wholesale to another shopkeeper, he isn't going to be making a profit either.  Nor would a wood carver, unless perhaps he bought his wood cheap in Tuluk and traveled to sell his finished goods in Allanak and Red Storm.  Most crafters can increase their profit by increasing their personal danger, in effect trading blood for sids.  Apprentice tailors have to find other ways, nobody wants their blood, but in the long run Bartering is much less likely to get you killed than Foraging.


AC

[Cuusardo]

I idea'ed some time ago that bolts of cloth such as cotton and sandcloth should be available as well as linen and silk in Tuluk.  It just doesn't make sense that all an indy PC tailor who never leaves Tuluk has to work with are the two most expensive types of cloth there are.  Lots of people need cotton and sandcloth clothing.

[fearwig]

Well, looks like I've been Tek's hairy balls today. Sorry for the trouble, I'll just put some elbow grease into it. Thanks for the replies.

Though, I will hold out long enough to say that I'd like to agree with Cuusardo on the issue of low-quality clothworking supplies needing to be as common (more common, likely) than the high-quality stuff. But really the rest you can just chalk up to me being a late-night putz.

I would also stick my neck out again to say that bartering is not significant when talking about the margins I'm discussing, even when used to its fullest. Wait! No! Said I was stopping. Okay. Elbow grease.

[Seeker]

A few other ways to cut costs that might not have been suggested:

- Use clothworking tools to reduce your chance of ruining your material.
- Work with other players to have material transported to you from cheaper, and possibly more distant, suppliers.
- Try to barter your work for other goods from PCs.  You want a kank?  Offer a complete wardrobe in red for the seller's lover in exchange.

For off-hours players, it can be challenging, but then again, you DO have your primary guild to work with.

Seeker

[Agent_137]

*cough*thebynaren'tabovecarryingsomematerialsontheirmanytripsbetweenthetwocitiesifyoumakeitworththeirwhile*cough*