PC to PC Trading

[jcljules]

How many of you buy from or sell to PCs? I try too as much as I can--and I do buy most of my raw materials from PCs. However, its hard for me to find PCs to -sell- to--since most people either don't need my goods or have already bought similar goods from NPC merchants (grrrr).

Any suggestions on how to increase trading between PCs? I'd REALLY REALLY like to see a mercantile board--the city boards aren't used often enough in my opinion, and there should be a separate one for trade.

[Barzalene]

I disagree about the boards. Boards are for news that would engage the interest not just of the pc's but of a huge portion of the city's vnpc and npc populace. So, unless pc merchants are selling something extraordinary,  I don't think that the fact that merchants sell things is really noteworthy.

That said, I think that once people become more aware of your pc's presence, and they will over time, more of them will come to you before going to the shops. I also think that people should with new pc's unless they find the starting gear completely unsuitable should take a look for a pc merchant before beginning their starting equipment search. It's more fun to buy from pc's. You get a better deal. It's good for everyone.

[Mood]

I deal with PCs when it's practical.

[Maybe42or54]

Well, when I envision PC to PC selling, I don't envision a pc buying hides and then selling those hides to PCs.

I envision a PC "Taking over" a city. Now, that PC will buy good from PCs that "control" another city.

So, if I am from the south, and you are from the north, then I will collect good from hunters in the south, and sell/trade them to you in the north. I will take the goods from you and sell them in the southern shops, then use that money to buy more stuff from PC hunter/gatherers, then trade with you again.

When you get the stuff from me, you sell it up north to shops and the occasional PC, then buy/trade/sell to me.


In doing so, there is a somewhat alive trade system that keeps other players employed.

I buy goods from PC hunter/gatherers, I go north using a band of Bynners to escort me there, then I use a band of bynners to go south, then I buy more goods from hunters. It all works out.

[JustAnotherGuy]

I know on one of my previous characters I had a PC that I went to for all of my weapons and armor after finding out what a deal I could get and the quality was much better that way also.  That PC was recommended by another PC and then the group I played with them all IC decided to use said merchant PC as their go-to merchant.  Was really cool to be honest and it was all via PC word of mouth.  Pretty influential right there.

[Cutthroat]

The main problem with dealing with PCs IMO is that it is more convenient to deal with NPCs, who will almost always have everything a person needs.

So, if you want to increase PC to PC trading, I think you could  supply or demand the things NPC's don't offer, which are not the things a person NEEDS, but WANTS. Illegal goods are a fine example of this, and so are the high-quality variations on the items the NPCs sell.

[Archbaron]

The main problem with dealing with PCs IMO is that it is more convenient to deal with NPCs, who will almost always have everything a person needs.

So, if you want to increase PC to PC trading, I think you could  supply or demand the things NPC's don't offer, which are not the things a person NEEDS, but WANTS. Illegal goods are a fine example of this, and so are the high-quality variations on the items the NPCs sell.

I whole-heartedly agree with this.

[Maybe42or54]

I don't think they have to close up/diminish the NPC shops for PCs to start trading to PCs. What I think we need is another thread by Mansa that is similar in mission to the Great Karma off thread.

If we all agree that we want to RP.
If we all agree that shops=little/no RP.
If we all agree it is more fun to be swindled/swindle other PCs.
Then why can't we agree that we should fuck with each other more?

[RogueGunslinger]

My character has been doing a fair share of fucking with people, I don't know about yours. 

[Spoon]

How many of you buy from or sell to PCs? I try too as much as I can--and I do buy most of my raw materials from PCs. However, its hard for me to find PCs to -sell- to--since most people either don't need my goods or have already bought similar goods from NPC merchants (grrrr).

Did you by any chance sell your goods to those NPCs? 

If so, there's your problem!

[jstorrie]

Here's the biggest problem with PC to PC trading:

The tall, tall man Ways you: "Hey, can you get me a pair of spiky thingamajiggers?"
You Way the tall, tall man: "Sure. just give me a couple of weeks."

One hour later:
The tall, tall man Ways you: "Where's my shit?"

Two hours later:
The tall, tall man Ways you: "Where's my shit?"

Three hours later:
The tall, tall man Ways you: "Where's my shit?"

Four hours later:
The tall, tall man Ways you: "Where's my shit?"

Five hours later:
The tall, tall man Ways you: "Where's my shit?"

Six hours later:
The tall, tall man Ways you: "You are the worst merchant ever and I hate you and also I am now dying to a scrab. BYE."

[musashi]

Here's the biggest problem with PC to PC trading:

The tall, tall man Ways you: "Hey, can you get me a pair of spiky thingamajiggers?"
You Way the tall, tall man: "Sure. just give me a couple of weeks."

One hour later:
The tall, tall man Ways you: "Where's my shit?"

Two hours later:
The tall, tall man Ways you: "Where's my shit?"

Three hours later:
The tall, tall man Ways you: "Where's my shit?"

Four hours later:
The tall, tall man Ways you: "Where's my shit?"

Five hours later:
The tall, tall man Ways you: "Where's my shit?"

Six hours later:
The tall, tall man Ways you: "You are the worst merchant ever and I hate you and also I am now dying to a scrab. BYE."

That goes both ways. PC merchants (in my experience anyway) forget about the orders other PCs place to them perhaps just as often.

[FuSoYa]

That goes both ways. PC merchants (in my experience anyway) forget about the orders other PCs place to them perhaps just as often.

Not if they are well organized they don't.

Brandon

[musashi]

That goes both ways. PC merchants (in my experience anyway) forget about the orders other PCs place to them perhaps just as often.

Not if they are well organized they don't.

Brandon

I must have just had bad run ins ... but that's been my experience with every single PC merchant/agent my PC has ever dealt with. So I felt it worth mentioning that it isn't always the buyers messing things up.

[jstorrie]

And these merchants should be inputting all their orders into Excel files on their laptops, right?

You are, for the most part, dealing with illiterate peasants who have to juggle, in my experience, about a dozen orders from different PCs. Expect slip-ups.

[Tarx]

And these merchants should be inputting all their orders into Excel files on their laptops, right?

You are, for the most part, dealing with illiterate peasants who have to juggle, in my experience, about a dozen orders from different PCs. Expect slip-ups.

I actually did this with my Kadian merchant I had.  I used the spreadsheet to process markups and everything too, had a nice little formula all worked out so it was just a matter of inputting it.

(Granted, not everyone liked doing orders as much as I did.  But I thought it was funny you mentioned Excel spreadsheets!)

[touringCompl3t3]

Jhljules,

I totally agree with you that PC/PC economy is far, far more exciting than PC/NPC interaction.  And believe you me, many of the players agree, even though a lot of them won't pipe up. 

But you're running up against several problems.  For starters, a lot of players are lazy and want the convenience of McDonalds.  They want to go to the same store all the time and have the same easy, fast and convenient experience.  They're not really a market for you.

What you want to tap into is the role-play geeks.  Plenty of people will buy from you if you can provide them with an experience that is more pleasant than just typing command lines at a shop.  Make the interaction memorable. 

Another good undertapped market is noobs.  I've made a tone of money selling to noobs in the past for the reason that a lot of them don't know what they need or where to buy it.  If you can help them out, there's no harm in making some cash off them.  Mostly they'll be happy to get some starting tips as well as the role-play interaction. 

Hope this helps!!

[Maybe42or54]

Well the main problem that I've seen with buying from PC merchants and getting orders filled is.. that they are humans.
A PC filling orders is a process filled with obstacles.

A major thing you should do is convince people that have already bought your goods that this new spear, even though it is identical to the previous one they bought, is sharp and overall better than the last one you sold them.

[staggerlee]

There are a few of us that are more than willing to part with sid for a roleplaying experience.  After a certain point hoarding sid doesn't mean much and I could be convinced to buy something even if my character didn't necessarily need it.

Actually I think the vast majority if items my characters have acquired have been from pcs, I've had very few interactions with vendors.  Part of that may be because I'm cheap and/or lazy? 

Either way I'd rather rp the whole thing out chatting with a merchant than go through the shops, it's far more fun, and the item you get feels a little bit more earned I suppose.

[musashi]

And these merchants should be inputting all their orders into Excel files on their laptops, right?

You are, for the most part, dealing with illiterate peasants who have to juggle, in my experience, about a dozen orders from different PCs. Expect slip-ups.

And that's fine. My only point is that those slip ups are also a problem with PC to PC trade, or at least a reason why people tend to head to the NPCs when they can.

In your first post it sounded to me like you wanted to place the blame and frustration entirely on the PCs who want to buy something, which struck me as silly. The way I see it, if you don't care about your customers at all, you can expect them to take their business elsewhere, and you shouldn't complain on the GDB that they should have treated you better and waited till things were perfectly conveiniant for you to give you their money.

That very well might not have been the message you were trying to convey, it's just the way I read it 

Oh, and as a small aside, I thought merchants were allowed to learn reading and writing in calvish soley for the purpose of keeping their merchant affairs in order, making them literate peasants? Am I wrong on that?

[FuSoYa]

Oh, and as a small aside, I thought merchants were allowed to learn reading and writing in calvish soley for the purpose of keeping their merchant affairs in order, making them literate peasants? Am I wrong on that?

Yep.  That is wrong.  It's very much illegal for them to do so.

Brandon

[musashi]

Ah ha. Just GMH family members who are allowed to learn to read and write it. Got it.

Still standing by the points I made though, minus that last question.

[Agent_137]

Ah ha. Just GMH family members who are allowed to learn to read and write it. Got it.

Still standing by the points I made though, minus that last question.

well even then it's not talked about much that they can read and write it. speak it sure, read and write? uh, i'm not even sure if that's anywhere in the docs that they can do that.

[musashi]

Ah ha. Just GMH family members who are allowed to learn to read and write it. Got it.

Still standing by the points I made though, minus that last question.

well even then it's not talked about much that they can read and write it. speak it sure, read and write? uh, i'm not even sure if that's anywhere in the docs that they can do that.

http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/topic,30089.0.html

I knew I had remembered reading it somewhere, just got my facts a little mixed up.

[Hot_Dancer]

The biggest problem I find with pc trading is that players often only want what is immediately codewise useful to them, or an upgrade. May as well leave them to doing runs in WoW to upgrade their leet gear.

This means the exact right piece of specially weighted armor or the hardest hitting most decorated sword.

[Archbaron]

The biggest problem I find with pc trading is that players often only want what is immediately codewise useful to them, or an upgrade. May as well leave them to doing runs in WoW to upgrade their leet gear.

This means the exact right piece of specially weighted armor or the hardest hitting most decorated sword.

Yeah, you rarely stumble across the character who merely wants a different colored hat or small, cheap ring they can't seem to find.

[Synthesis]

The easiest (read: most effortless...not most lucrative) way to make money as a merchant is to act as an agent, using your uber haggling skills to trade shit for other PCs to NPC shops.

Once you're good at it, you can take a 70:30 or 80:20 split and both of you end up with more coin than if the seller had gone directly to the NPC shop.

Take note, players:  that means that your non-haggling, spam-hunting ranger can -still- get 10-15% haggle markup simply by allowing a PC haggler to sell your phat lewt.