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Vendor Fees

Doubleplay

Lore Keeper
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Vendor fees make no sense at all. If you live away from Luna, you cannot afford to run a vendor for long, as the daily fees soon consume your selling price. Even in Luna, with the shopping traffic nowdays, fees are prohibitive. The goal of the Devs should be to encourage trade, not restrict it. Perhaps a transaction fee would be more appropriate. A one time fee at the time of sale would at least allow you to put up expensive items for sale at a reasonable price.
 

TullyMars

Sage
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I think vendor fees are fine and make a lot of sense.
0.6% a day on an item is not too prohibitive.
Without vendor fees, people would just price items amazingly high so no one would buy them and then use the vendor as storage.
Without vendor fees, prices would rise because people would feel no pain for an item not being sold.
They could just buy and raise the price to resell more so than they do now.
If an item stays on your vendor too long, perhaps they are priced too high or just not in demand.
If it is a stackable item, you can always look at selling to the magincia bazaar rather than putting it on a vendor, than someone else will incur the vendor fee (which is larger per week than on a regular vendor) not to mention commission fees.

Running a vendor or a mall is not something that is meant to be easy money.
You have to know what will sell, and at what price will it sell, and how to advertise and balance everything.
 

Xalan Dementia

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
perhaps have different areas have a different vendor fee rate? kinda like local sales tax ?

Selling items out in the boonies could have just a base vendor fee.
Places near towns could have the base vendor fee and an added local fee?
 

Madrid

Slightly Crazed
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I agree with the OP. They should do away with vendor fees completely.

I've seen beautiful vendor shops go out of business because of the fees.

Needs to be a % of the item at the time of sale or nothing.

And there should be a search system in the game that does all vendors throughout Britannia.
 

Blood Ghoul

Sage
Stratics Veteran
I also agree with the OP. The economy has driven up the costs of rare/desirable items to the point where vendors are painful. If your vendor does not get hit with a search program its hard to stay in business. I agree there should be a one time transaction fee or something.

And the counter where people will just use them for storage they already do with the "not for sale." Outside Luna on catskills is a vendor house with 100's upon 100's of holiday boxes not for sale. And seriously have you ever seen the mass of vendors holding BODS?

I think the fee structure should be changed
 

Serafi

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I don`t think there is a need to change the vendor fees. They are fine as is. If you run a vendor house outside Luna you need to plan accordingly. If your customer traffic is low you can`t place very expensive items on your vendor if you are not willing to pay the fee. Either stock vendors so that your fees are where you think they should be, drive up sales by dropping runes - or find other means of selling the more expensive items.

If your shop has to close because of vendor fees then you are blaming the system for your own poor planning. Tsk.

I have run a large shop outside Luna for 7 years, and I have been running one in Luna for a shorter time. I think the vendor fees are fine - you just need to understand the market of your shard.
 

Salivern_Diago

Lore Master
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I think the vendor fee's are fine, and in some cases probably too cheap. If you run a shop and the vendor fee's are crippling you.. then try advertising, dropping runes and gating or lowering your prices so people buy them. If your not in Luna, then dont charge Luna prices. Almost all of my shops in the past have been in weird locations and I've never been too worried about the vendor fee's. My items are priced to sell and sell they do.

If anything you should be charged 20% of the sale fee as and when your item sells plus have to pay a daily charge for your vendor.
 
S

Sevin0oo0

Guest
I think fees are fine also. There are other ways to sell high end items if you can't afford, or just don't want to pay fees. Chat channels, dropping runes, announcing at banks, trade forums here and at UOForums are 5 easy ways, and there Are more ways. You just have to be creative if you want to get the equiv of a vendor fee savings coupon.
 

Blood Ghoul

Sage
Stratics Veteran
We can agree to disagree. I believe the fee should be lowered as those outside of a few select locations are at a disadvantage.

Or..Have the cities/moongates charge a city tax that people out in the country do not pay. That can be your 20% hit when you sell something if inside the walls of Luna. That would be fair.
 

Ricsreturn

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
I'd like to see them eliminate the house vendors and make a bazaar in all the cities allowing players to bid on the vendors spots .
 

THP

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
getting rid of vendor fees would only mean one thing and thats why a lot of people want it!!!! free storage at silly high prices so nobody would buy stuff and people could stick 100s of items on vendor for storage...THIS IS BS...
 

NuSair

Crazed Zealot
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
The problem with vendor fees is that there are ways for them to be completely circumvented.

The last time I posted what I thought was the easiest way, someone replied with- no, it's easier than that, but never elaborated. So, I can just guess it's easier than I think it is.
 

Serafi

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
We can agree to disagree. I believe the fee should be lowered as those outside of a few select locations are at a disadvantage.
Disadvantage? Yes - it requires you to advertise more. And you cannot charge Luna prices.

The current system rewards those that actually takes the time to consider the current market on the specific shard, location of the shop, and make some concious choices with that in mind. Those who do not understand or do not bother to educate themselves, fail. Others thrive.

If you run a shop in the middle of nowhere:
Sell items cheaper than Luna. Understand that location mean something and act accordingly.

If you want some items to move really fast set the price at a reseller friendly price, then advertise. If the items move too fast (yes it happens) change price.

Mix expensive items with items of lesser cost.
Mix consumeables with other items.
Mix items in high demand with lesser ones.
This way the faster moving items will cover for the items that takes a longer time to sell.

Build up a customer base by being fully stocked. (No - 4 items on your vendor doesn`t even come close)

Everything will sell eventually.

If you just want to sell off a few items and run a vendor:
Wait until you have a few items, a bag or container full.
Set up a vendor at your own home. One vendor - you dont have items for more.
Price as above
Advertise, drop runes, post on the boards,

If you have done your thing right, the vendor should be empty within a few days. Take it down.

If you want to sell at Luna prices - get a vendor in Luna.
 

UOPlayer4LYFE

Visitor
Stratics Veteran
Vendor fees make no sense at all. If you live away from Luna, you cannot afford to run a vendor for long, as the daily fees soon consume your selling price. Even in Luna, with the shopping traffic nowdays, fees are prohibitive. The goal of the Devs should be to encourage trade, not restrict it. Perhaps a transaction fee would be more appropriate. A one time fee at the time of sale would at least allow you to put up expensive items for sale at a reasonable price.
You would have to be extremely poor to complain about vendor fees.
 

Lord Frodo

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
If you did away with vendor fees then everyone would just put stuff on vendors at very high prices so they do not sell and use them for added storage.
 

Sauteed Onion

Lore Keeper
Stratics Veteran
Disadvantage? Yes - it requires you to advertise more. And you cannot charge Luna prices.

The current system rewards those that actually takes the time to consider the current market on the specific shard, location of the shop, and make some concious choices with that in mind. Those who do not understand or do not bother to educate themselves, fail. Others thrive.

If you run a shop in the middle of nowhere:
Sell items cheaper than Luna. Understand that location mean something and act accordingly.

If you want some items to move really fast set the price at a reseller friendly price, then advertise. If the items move too fast (yes it happens) change price.

Mix expensive items with items of lesser cost.
Mix consumeables with other items.
Mix items in high demand with lesser ones.
This way the faster moving items will cover for the items that takes a longer time to sell.

Build up a customer base by being fully stocked. (No - 4 items on your vendor doesn`t even come close)

Everything will sell eventually.

If you just want to sell off a few items and run a vendor:
Wait until you have a few items, a bag or container full.
Set up a vendor at your own home. One vendor - you dont have items for more.
Price as above
Advertise, drop runes, post on the boards,

If you have done your thing right, the vendor should be empty within a few days. Take it down.

If you want to sell at Luna prices - get a vendor in Luna.
I just want to say, Serafi has said something that has re-inspired me to make another vendor shop with these very knowledgeable words. Any how, with that being said; Lord Froddo hit the nail on the head about people just using it as extra storage if you did away with vendor fees; even though I still run by the occasional house with vendors and see a bag of stuff for 50g, and it's got like Doom Arties, hard to get stealables etc. in it; along with 60,000 hides in uncut state.. so that when you try to purchase that bag, it just says the container cannot hold that much weight; so people are still getting around the fees/storage situation. Ultimately.. I believe if anything needs to be done with vendors it shouldn't be something like remove all vendor fees.

Rather, I think that fees should either one, have a fee based on location as recommended above or have something to do with the actual size of the house. If you're sporting a castle with 284987938472894732982 vendors in it, yeah, you get the full fee.. if you got a 7x7 with 1 or 2 vendors barely scraping by, and that extra couple thousand in fees will seriously set you back, then yeah you get a tax cut. But, who knows. I personally don't have a problem with the way the fees are, and actually feel like that is just something I have to think of to put more lucrative items on my own vendor whilst turning a profit. ^ _^
 

QueenZen

Always Present
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I run have run vendors on 2 shards, but NONE of those ever were in Luna.
I hate Luna !

Not like I usually have extremely pricey items on any of my vendors anyhows.
But what I usually do, do is IF I do have something pricier to slap on a vendor, I let said vendor/s earn me some gp first before I go slappin on pricier items. That way they already have some gp earned on em, and as they get more gp on em, I can then feel freer to put something more expensive on said vendor/s.

Recently though, I had 2 very expensive if sold items, collecting dust in my bank that I knew I would never use. I did look at the prices they get for the identical item at the megazillion rich Luna vendors. 20 mill + a pop for same item.

*Shudder*

I thought ok, I will TRY to put ONE of my TWO of this item on a new vendor at my out of the way Moonglow home. I put said item on a brand new vendor, the fee for said item which I only asked 18 mill. for instead of the 20 mill+ luna prices, was 60k gp a day !! GAH !!

I about fainted cuz I never put such a pricey thing on a vendor EVER before.

Now I coulda put that item on my fishing quest fish vendor @ downtown Zento, which had millions of gp on it already, for just selling fish quest fishes, but I wanted to put that pricey item in Moonglow, [at this time]
cuz of the increased traffic of folks looking for killer pumpkins.

So my lil out of the way Moonglow house
next to a wheatfield has been getting busier recently.

But at 60k a day fees .... I could only put ONE transfer token
on that vendor and then,
I only paid the vendor 120k ie 2 days worth and
I just hoped I SOLD that first transfer token,
so I could afford to sell the other transfer token.

I did *advertise* on that shard's trade forum here on stratics...
and in general chat that I had chr. transfer token/s 2 to sell
but only could/would bother to afford to put ONE on a vendor
at a time, and I gave the location.

Took a grand total of 1.5 days and that first transfer token was SOLD.

The second one sold the very next day, on same out of the way vendor
in Moonglow. 18 mill item and 18 mill item & suddenly that vendor had 36 mill gp on it. Paid me back my 60k a pop fees many times over.

Now the next question was which of my chrs. had room in their bank
for 36 1 mill. gp checks. NONE.
I used every chr. on that same acct. 6,
to take the gp off the vendor in 1 mill increments.

Anyhow, I NEVER sold anything soooo expensive as chr. transfer tokens,
the vendor fee per day on an 18 mill item about made me faint. They been sitting in my bank for yrs. and since I can not use em to go
to from Ches. and Siege they were useless to me, persay.

But since those were pricey items that apparently someone
or shard hoppers/shard x traders wanted,
or chr. xfer tokends are sought after by those that would sell
my 18 mill priced chr. transfer tokens in Luna
for 20 Mill++ regardless, they sold in 2 days, BOTH of em.

Easily made up for the vendor fees for said item/s of tryin to sell 2
chr. transfer tokens in a lil moonglow house in middle of nowhere,
yet where folks are tryin to kill killa pumpkins atm [at this time of year] thus increased traffic there atm. :)

Then I took said earned gp, needing only a bit of it,
to go shopping [in Luna], to buy myself finally,
an overpriced white cloth dye tub. :)

Point is, I myself never even tried to sell such a pricey item
ON A VENDOR before. @ 18 mill a pop,
less than Luna's 20 Mill and up prices.

Seeing the high vendor fees for ONE chr. transfer token, I about fainted.

Luckily I did have gp to cover a few days tryin to sell em [one at a time],
letting the vendor earn the first 18 mill then
before trying to sell that second chr. transfer token.

It can be mere tables and chairs, but that is how I try to do it,
I let each vendor EARN gp before I normally would put more pricier items
on them.

Once some stuff sells, then said vendor HAS gp on em,
to well make more gp for us.

But yeh I did about faint to see 60k fee per day on vendor
just throwing ONE 18 mill gp item on a vendor !! :)

Prob why I hardly ever put such pricey items on a vendor to begin with
till they first earn gp for themselves and me. LOL


I also got/recovered an extremely pricey item, some magicaly wonder glasses, in an IDOC recently on Chesapeake, an item my own chrs. would never need or use anyhow.

I did not even try to put that item on a vendor.
I gave it to an auction house instead,
to try to sell that item for me on Ches.*a trusted* buncha peeps,
knowing if my said item
didn't sell [I would] get it back.
IT SOLD for lotsa millions of gp, in their auction house.

Auction houses are also a way to beat *vendor fees* if ya got some people whom you would trust to display/ then sell your items at their auction houses, items that may be way too high end for ya to even think of puttin on your vendors to begin with esp. if one is not a mega billionarre in UO, like some *other* folks are or may be.
 
R

RavenWinterHawk

Guest
Vendor fees make no sense at all. If you live away from Luna, you cannot afford to run a vendor for long, as the daily fees soon consume your selling price. Even in Luna, with the shopping traffic nowdays, fees are prohibitive. The goal of the Devs should be to encourage trade, not restrict it. Perhaps a transaction fee would be more appropriate. A one time fee at the time of sale would at least allow you to put up expensive items for sale at a reasonable price.
You cant do away with fees or you will end up with free storage.

You need to drop runes and/or drop prices, and or sell or add things people want to buy.


I always suggest this. Go to Abyss. Kill slimes. Get 10 of those black essences. They sell for 350k most places. Put them on your vendor for 250k.

Drop a rune saying 250k black essence per 10.

Youll get all the fee money you need. Even on atlantic it might take 20 minutes to get 10 of those essence.

Part of the game.
 

KingHen

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Vendor Fees can be an issue, but as others has said previously... know your market.

I sell things within the Luna walls, I just sell them cheaper than everyone else (usually). When I ran a vendor shop outside I ran runes 2 times a week when I restocked. Never had a problem covering the fees. Certain items always sell, and those items are your fee cover. (and then some)
 

Tina Small

Stratics Legend
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
The Merchant's Trinket gives a 10% discount on the vendor fees. Do folks selling really expensive items ever use those?

A pair that has 40 charges (each charge covers one day's fees) costs $3.60 USD at the game code store and a pair that has 90 charges costs $5.99 USD. You can put them on and take them off your vendor's paperdoll at will, so maybe if you have something really expensive to sell that you hope will sell in just a few days, you put the earrings on the vendor for those couple of days to cut down on the vendor fee a bit and then put the earrings away until the next time you have something really expensive to sell.
 

Ned888

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Never had a vendor before, but I was considering opening one up, especially now that there is going to be a market for Lucky equipment.

That being said, I could not imagine a system that would be free. There has to be some cost associated with selling products; it's just a part of the system that needs to be factored in when you are putting your merchandise together.

I suppose if it were easy, then everyone would be doing it, right?
 
R

RavenWinterHawk

Guest
Never had a vendor before, but I was considering opening one up, especially now that there is going to be a market for Lucky equipment.

That being said, I could not imagine a system that would be free. There has to be some cost associated with selling products; it's just a part of the system that needs to be factored in when you are putting your merchandise together.

I suppose if it were easy, then everyone would be doing it, right?
There is a system that is free and thats why I am pretty harsh with people (not you) but in general that complain about fees.

You hired a vendor... pay a fee.

There is no fee to stand at a bank and list your items in your profile that your are selling.

That is free of gold fees.

Id rather load my vendors up and pay 250k a day in fees then waste hours spamming read my profile.
 

KingHen

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
There is a system that is free and thats why I am pretty harsh with people (not you) but in general that complain about fees.

You hired a vendor... pay a fee.

There is no fee to stand at a bank and list your items in your profile that your are selling.

That is free of gold fees.

Id rather load my vendors up and pay 250k a day in fees then waste hours spamming read my profile.
I hate bank spamming, i cant stand to do it for more than about 30 sec...
 

Ned888

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
There is a system that is free and thats why I am pretty harsh with people (not you) but in general that complain about fees.

You hired a vendor... pay a fee.

There is no fee to stand at a bank and list your items in your profile that your are selling.

That is free of gold fees.

Id rather load my vendors up and pay 250k a day in fees then waste hours spamming read my profile.
I promise, I won't hang out at the bank and spam... I'm too lazy for that. I do however like Spam! ;)

If I'm hanging out at the bank, it's for giveaways, not sales.
 
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