People aren't using vendor search - why not?

[DifferenceDifference]

Good afternoon!

I have my vendor stocked with some items that usually sell well. I know from other people who run a well known shop that the same items there actually get sold - my items don't receive enough attention sadly. The thing is: I am 10%-20% cheaper than all other shops on my shard.

Conclusion: People aren't using vendor search.

Question: Why not?

Is it too tedious?

 

[DJAd]

I use vendor search all the time. It's one of the best additions to the game in a long time.

What items are you trying to sell?

 

[Tanivar]

I use it. It would be nice if it was set to update more often though. Searches keep turning up items no longer for sale and checking each listing only to find it's long gone has gotten old.

 

[DifferenceDifference]

I use vendor search all the time. It's one of the best additions to the game in a long time.

What items are you trying to sell?

Well, this and that. Natural dye, enhanced bandages, imbuing stuff. When I tried laying out some runes at the banks and moongates sales almost instantly got better, but I don't have time to do this daily or even 4 times a day. I'm rather a casual player.

 

[Caelyr]

Many people pay 10-20% more for convenience in a well-stocked shop - online or off. It's possible the items you're selling aren't being searched for, yes, and I would guess that is because there are well-established and regularly restocked venues that players have kept runes for, or in easily accessible locations. I personally will overpay for inexpensive and consumable items if it means I don't have to go out of my way to buy them.

 

[OREOGL]

Well, this and that. Natural dye, enhanced bandages, imbuing stuff. When I tried laying out some runes at the banks and moongates sales almost instantly got better, but I don't have time to do this daily or even 4 times a day. I'm rather a casual player.

The difference is people would have to search directly for an item vs when placing a rune people will eventually pop over to check it out and notice that the particular item is lower and possibly buy it just because of the price.

In my experience enhanced bandages dont sell very well and imbuing ingredients are a wash.

 

[Elenni]

Do you have a lot of vendors, and are they and the shop names (and their containers) descriptive so it's easy to find things?

My personal experience as a shopper: sometimes I VS, pop over and then once at the (crowded) shop I have trouble either finding the original item, or accessing the vendor to purchase. (I didn't know at first you can use the map to also access the vendor, if you recalled from it...I'm sure some returning players or newbies don't know that either.)

The difference when I pop to a shop via a dropped rune is that I'm in a "browsing" mood, so I'm much more likely to page through each vendor to see what's available, whereas when I Vendor Search I'm looking for something specific. If I don't find it easily, I move on.

 

[Larisa]

The difference is people would have to search directly for an item vs when placing a rune people will eventually pop over to check it out and notice that the particular item is lower and possibly buy it just because of the price.

In my experience enhanced bandages dont sell very well and imbuing ingredients are a wash.

I just spent almost 200 mil on imbuing ingredients, some people (yeah I'm talking about me) can't gather all that is necessary to build suits for an entire guild and I'd rather buy then gather.

Enhanced bandies are so so, they sell well on Origin, especially when we have an event and the off-sharders come over and need supplies.

Vendor search is funky.......so you're items (The OP's) might not even be coming up.

 

[old gypsy]

I use it, and still feel it is one of the best additions made to the game.

 

[Angel of Sonoma]

i use vendor search all the time. i'm thrifty so i'm going to pick the best priced vendor. then i use the "while i'm there" rule ... if there are other vendors on premise i will take a look at their goods in case they carry something else i might want to buy. most important of all is that the vendor's inventory is laid out well. i hate, hate, hate having to open bag after bag. labelling bags is all fine and good except when it's laggy and the description doesn't show up when you hover the mouse over the item.

 

[OREOGL]

I just spent almost 200 mil on imbuing ingredients, some people (yeah I'm talking about me) can't gather all that is necessary to build suits for an entire guild and I'd rather buy then gather.

Enhanced bandies are so so, they sell well on Origin, especially when we have an event and the off-sharders come over and need supplies.

Vendor search is funky.......so you're items (The OP's) might not even be coming up.

Why did you spend 200 mil on imbuing ingredients?

I guess I could see origin where the economy is based in supply or lack there of but I can't imagine the need to hoard 200 m worth of ingredients.

I don't think I've spent that on imbuing all my suits for 50+ characters

 

[WhiteWitch]

Have you checked your item comes up in search?
Often with powerscrolls I have for sale Ill search the term "provocation scroll" for instance, and other peoples provocation scrolls will come up, mine wont.

I have no idea why this is but it seems to happen reasonably often, sometimes I search terms on one char and see a result, swap to the char with money to go and buy it, and the char I swapped to doesn't get that result in a search with the same conditions and search phrase.

I use vendor search exclusively to buy everything, it does seem to be buggy though.

 

[Val'lyn De'ana]

I only use the search when looking for items. I no longer go vendor to vendor hoping to find a deal. When I am looking for scrolls, or slayer weapons, a simple search tells me if there are any for sale. If not, I'll throw a quick message out on GC, but that rarely turns up what I'm looking for, for the price I'm interested in paying.

-Val'lyn

 

[Thoronnar]

Well, this and that. Natural dye, enhanced bandages, imbuing stuff. When I tried laying out some runes at the banks and moongates sales almost instantly got better, but I don't have time to do this daily or even 4 times a day. I'm rather a casual player.

I use the vendor search all the time. I am also constantly buying imbuing stuff, are you in Atlantic? If you are in Atlantic tell me where you are and I'll buy stuff from you . I always buy the cheapest even if I have to go to 10 different stores.

 

[Rimeny]

I tell you what though why did the Devs usethe same name for the fishing stone pavers for the new craftable tiles?

...makes shopping hard

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

 

[Merlin]

I use vendor search 99% of the time now. Prior to vendor search, I used to use some of the third party website which weren't up to date all that often. As said by others, vendor search is best addition in a long time. I use vendor search not only for shopping, but also for general price checks (especially when stocking my vendor).

However, while Vendor Search probably took a little bit of activity away from Luna, having a prime location is still fairly important and does make somewhat of a difference. Casual shoppers who might be wandering are more likely to stumble upon your vendor and look at things.

Also, think about just some general strategies just to get people to come to your vendor. In example, I have a vendor that primarily sells Sorcery rings and bracelets. I have 100+ of these items on this particular vendor and there are hundreds of others available out there on vendor search. However, on occasion, I will throw a cheaply priced pink scroll or white scroll on this particular vendor, and that usually ends up being when I see most of the jewels sold. Sometimes you have to just get other people there to have a look. I also use the "price at 10% lower than the lowest price" strategy.

Last... it also depends on the shard you're on. I have a non-Atlantic vendor that sells close to nothing despite bare bottom prices, but my Atlantic vendor shop in Luna is fairly busy depending on what I have on there.

 

[Scribbles]

Vendor search will be Mesanna's legacy so to speak. The greatest thing since aos.

with that said, i still get asked price checks by certain players all the time. The items they are asking about could easily be searched on the vendor search but they dont seem to like it.

Vendor search = the code that killed luna.

 

[Smoot]

a well placed front row luna vendor can yield about 30% more than a backwoods one for the same item. my arties vendors are usually the most expensive on the shard, but are well stocked, highly visible, easy and convenient.

This is also highly true for jewels / armor. its very time consuming to search thru many many pages for these (especially because vendor search greys out many times a day, slow search times, etc. I would never put a jewels shop somwhere not visible where search had to be used to find it.

yes, it would be nice to have a vendor at my house but just not worth the loss of gold.

it takes ALOT of work to have a well known house shop thats not in luna. Even luna, 90 percent of the vendor spots are "bad" You want front row, at a good house, sourrounded by other well stocked, high traffic vendors ideally.

note - this is for atlantic, where the sheer number of vendors / items makes the searching process difficult. may not hold true for low-pop shards.

 

[Elenni]

Vendor search will be Mesanna's legacy so to speak. The greatest thing since aos.
...
Vendor search = the code that killed luna.

I dunno...80% of the vendors I visit are empty, so I'm guessing that's what might have killed Luna on my shard.

That being said, I wish the folks trying to sell their deserted/empty Luna houses realized that the values have decreased since Vendor Search was introduced. The few plots that are offered for sale are asking between $100-$1000 USD...it's like they still think it's 2007 (which may have been when they last stocked their vendors, now I think about it!)

 

[old gypsy]

As others have noted, what shard you're on can make a difference. Regardless, I appreciate vendor search and would miss it if it were gone.

As far as selling goes, vendor search doesn't (and I don't expect it to) attract many people to my little island vendor, which is basically a role-play prop to make free food and drink available to anyone who visits. Of course, whenever I have a few useful items to offer, I price them very cheaply just to move them.

 

[Arcus]

Back in my day vendors left runes around town to their vendor house so you had at least some assurance that the place was still active. Met many friends just browsing around the world. It was more of an adventure game back then.

 

[Merlin]

That being said, I wish the folks trying to sell their deserted/empty Luna houses realized that the values have decreased since Vendor Search was introduced. The few plots that are offered for sale are asking between $100-$1000 USD...it's like they still think it's 2007 (which may have been when they last stocked their vendors, now I think about it!)

Agreed... insane. Asking price for a small Luna House on ATL is nearly $2500 bucks. I think it's a real shame to see Luna houses on Atlantic going unused, just sitting for weeks with a "FOR SALE" sign on there. I'm normally a big free market guy, but when they're sitting there like that for months and months... it becomes an eye sore.

 

[DifferenceDifference]

Have you checked your item comes up in search?
Often with powerscrolls I have for sale Ill search the term "provocation scroll" for instance, and other peoples provocation scrolls will come up, mine wont..

For me it works with my vendor.

 

[Assia Penryn]

I'd look at possibly other factors as to why your shop isn't doing well. Vendor search is used a lot by many folks. I'd suggest alternate advertising such as ads, dropping runes or tossing up gates.

 

[DifferenceDifference]

Thanks to all who replied. It boils down to general rules on how to tend vendors, of course. Runes, location and everything else.

It's just the fact that I'm cheaper, my vendor is in Luna - but a well known shop sells the same items at a higher price.

One of you mentioned the inconvenience - greyed out several times a day etc.; And some returners and other players might not know (enough) about vendor search to take advantage of it. We should write a guide for all players "How to make a bargain with Vendor Search" and hand it out to all players, maybe that would help

 

[Capt. Lucky]

If you search for item XXX from high to low and then low to high you'll see sometimes the games cuts off a couple of the lowest priced items and sometimes the highest priced items. I think if there's not enough to list for a full page on the last page of the search it just cuts them off. Maybe your stuff is too cheap

 

[DifferenceDifference]

If you search for item XXX from high to low and then low to high you'll see sometimes the games cuts off a couple of the lowest priced items and sometimes the highest priced items. I think if there's not enough to list for a full page on the last page of the search it just cuts them off. Maybe your stuff is too cheap

If that's the case, I owe the devs a huge facepalm.

 

[AtlanticRealtor]

I Love in game search, sometimes can be very trick to find an item!
I created a "system" to stock my vendor, that may help some people...

I used 3 Different Monitors, (You can use 3 Tabs if you want as well).

1 Screen) - My main Guy that will be stocking the Vendor!
2 Screen) - A Toon at the bank or my house with the In Game Search Screen open and doing all the price search that I need
3 Screen) - a 3rd part Website that we all know to help with the Search and also bc I copy and paste the Item that name I need to sell
and I paste the name on the screen # 2, instead of type all over again!!


So works like a charm for me:

I take 1 item of my backpack, look at the website for the item price on all shards and than Atl, CTRL+C and CTRL+V the name of the Item on my UO INGAME SEARCH Field , look for the current market price and than I price the Item on my vendor!!!

 

[Tanivar]

... look for the current market price and than I price the Item on my vendor!!!

The prices on Vendor Search can have a pretty wide range, you use the low end, high end, or a mid range 'current market price'?

 

[SoulWeaver]

Good afternoon!

I have my vendor stocked with some items that usually sell well. I know from other people who run a well known shop that the same items there actually get sold - my items don't receive enough attention sadly. The thing is: I am 10%-20% cheaper than all other shops on my shard.

Conclusion: People aren't using vendor search.

Question: Why not?

Is it too tedious?

Most people dont know about it.... dont know how to use it...... Its not published enough for people that are just returning or coming back to the game. They are clueless to its existence.

 

[Balrog]

When you stocking items that stack, It's often up to how a person searches for said items. I used to only stock Relic frags for example in stacks of 100 and they hardly ever sold. I then started putting up deeds of 1000 and now I can't keep them in stock. The reason? People are using the "high to low price" criteria. Your bandies for example may be the cheapest but if you're lost in the middle of the search because someone is searching either high-low or low-high you're not going to get any hits from vendor search. One thing I've started doing is putting up 1 of something with the written tag "Available in 100 and 1000". Good Luck Vendor buddy.

 

[Capt. Lucky]

I like hitting the space bar once in the search field and searching high to low. Everything on the shard is listed. Nice for searching odd ball rares and such. If I get a hit on something I like then I'll search for that item to check for a lower price.

 

[Capt. Lucky]

Most people dont know about it.... dont know how to use it...... Its not published enough for people that are just returning or coming back to the game. They are clueless to its existence.

I was talking to a returning player about vendor search and how it worked. It finally dawned on me they were talking about the Luna vendor search on the web and had no idea there was an in game search. Now I tend to say to someone in chat "I have one listed on the in game vendor search!" lol

 

[Elenni]

We should write a guide for all players "How to make a bargain with Vendor Search" and hand it out to all players, maybe that would help

And perhaps here on Stratics as well...would make a great topic for the new wiki we'll be bringing live soon.

 

[Elenni]

Agreed... insane. Asking price for a small Luna House on ATL is nearly $2500 bucks. I think it's a real shame to see Luna houses on Atlantic going unused, just sitting for weeks with a "FOR SALE" sign on there. I'm normally a big free market guy, but when they're sitting there like that for months and months... it becomes an eye sore.

We have at least one that's been for sale for *years* -- the posts on their bulletin board go back that long. It's right outside the entrance to Luna in a prime spot, and it makes my eyes hurt every time I run past it. What's really sick is the same person has the same spot on multiple shards, all for sale for huge USD, and all empty eyesores.

I'm generally a free-market person as well and I guess they pay their monthly fees but sheesh...at least make it look decent if you're going to put it someplace so prominent and leave it there unused for years, and maybe rent out some vendor spots so it's getting some use by someone. But even a blank plot would look nicer.

Hmmm...maybe the devs (@Kyronix) should consider making Luna "townhouses" require weekly refreshes. Might encourage the owners to restock their vendors more regularly and help bring Luna back a bit as a market town, even with Vendor Search.

I just really mourn the days when players engaged in active sales and trade. I miss it as both a buyer and a seller/crafter, and I think its an integral part of gameplay -- especially for newer or returning players.

 

[Merlin]

For the EC hot bar... just like there is a button to open your pack, or actions, or skills, etc... I think there should be a button that opens Vendor Search.

 

[Merlin]

We have at least one that's been for sale for *years* -- the posts on their bulletin board go back that long. It's right outside the entrance to Luna in a prime spot, and it makes my eyes hurt every time I run past it. What's really sick is the same person has the same spot on multiple shards, all for sale for huge USD, and all empty eyesores.

I'm generally a free-market person as well and I guess they pay their monthly fees but sheesh...at least make it look decent if you're going to put it someplace so prominent and leave it there unused for years, and maybe rent out some vendor spots so it's getting some use by someone. But even a blank plot would look nicer.

Hmmm...maybe the devs (@Kyronix) should consider making Luna "townhouses" require weekly refreshes. Might encourage the owners to restock their vendors more regularly and help bring Luna back a bit as a market town, even with Vendor Search.

I just really mourn the days when players engaged in active sales and trade. I miss it as both a buyer and a seller/crafter, and I think its an integral part of gameplay -- especially for newer or returning players.

Especially if any of those accounts are playing the "I'm only going to pay once every 90 days" BS - I hope those houses are monitored by developers and action is taken on the 91st day to delete houses without going through decay cycle.

 

[Tanivar]

Hmmm...maybe the devs (@Kyronix) should consider making Luna "townhouses" require weekly refreshes. Might encourage the owners to restock their vendors more regularly and help bring Luna back a bit as a market town, even with Vendor Search.

Empty Vendors need a 30 day timer that dumps their gold to the new banking system and makes them quit due to boredom or due to the glares of the annoyed customers who find them always empty. At least add a 5% of the funds on them fine for every RL day they sit empty after a one week grace period.

 

[Lord Frodo]

Empty Vendors need a 30 day timer that dumps their gold to the new banking system and makes them quit due to boredom or due to the glares of the annoyed customers who find them always empty. At least add a 5% of the funds on them fine for every RL day they sit empty after a one week grace period.

with the new banking/trade system %100 agree on removing empty vendors that are not opted out of vendor search. These vendors are no longer needed for shard hoppers that sell items on off shards. I will be dropping all vendors on off shards now.

 

[Uriah Heep]

Empty Vendors need a 30 day timer that dumps their gold to the new banking system and makes them quit due to boredom or due to the glares of the annoyed customers who find them always empty. At least add a 5% of the funds on them fine for every RL day they sit empty after a one week grace period.

Is there any reason, in particular, why vendors are keeping a separate set of books? seems like with the current banking setup, all their sales should just go in the bank, and their daily fees withdrawn from the bank conglomerate...without having to be paid manually..This was maybe the thing I was hoping for the most when they started talking about changes lol.

 

[Elenni]

Is there any reason, in particular, why vendors are keeping a separate set of books? seems like with the current banking setup, all their sales should just go in the bank, and their daily fees withdrawn from the bank conglomerate...without having to be paid manually..This was maybe the thing I was hoping for the most when they started talking about changes lol.

That would be even less reason for people to visit their vendors and re-stock them. :-(

 

[Merlin]

Is there any reason, in particular, why vendors are keeping a separate set of books? seems like with the current banking setup, all their sales should just go in the bank, and their daily fees withdrawn from the bank conglomerate...without having to be paid manually..This was maybe the thing I was hoping for the most when they started talking about changes lol.

For those of us who have multiple vendors, we like to see our balance on each vendor. It allows us to see how much $$$ each vendor is bringing in. If all gold was just going directly to the primary banking account, it would be difficult to tell.

 

[DifferenceDifference]

For those of us who have multiple vendors, we like to see our balance on each vendor. It allows us to see how much $$$ each vendor is bringing in. If all gold was just going directly to the primary banking account, it would be difficult to tell.

If they are good employees then they write down everything needed in a book that they hand over to their boss.

 

[Uriah Heep]

That would be even less reason for people to visit their vendors and re-stock them. :-(

If making people log in to pay a vendor is the only way you can get them ingame, then this game has a lot more serious problems than vendor search not working.

 

[Elenni]

If making people log in to pay a vendor is the only way you can get them ingame, then this game has a lot more serious problems than vendor search not working.

I agree. It's a serious problem that most people don't log in to stock their vendors.

 

[Kirthag]

Vendor search is used a lot... however people typically search for those hard to get things and not so much the normal fare or consumables.

Rares, decos, certain plants, armor, scrolls and such are searched a lot.
Bandies, recalls, imbuing resources, not so much.

Most times people will find that item they want, then IF they look at other items or vendors, they might buy those bandies and imbuing resources.


I will say convenience is atypical for any shopper. They will go for what the want, then if you have other items they need, they will buy them.


I have a single vendor in a friend's house in Luna. I put items that I believe would be searched. Most times, that is how ppl find the vendor.

I've noticed, people will always get that item they looked for (and yes, at Luna price) and then stock up on the resources/bandies/consumables right there, even if marked up higher than some vendors in Trammel.

Something to keep in mind when stocking up your vendor.

 

[Lord Arm]

it not that people don't use vender search, could be many factors. what shard, the price, do people need, it could be people are busy doing the new eodon area, ect. on my shard, nothing sells so venders are few or empty. they also go get what they need or already have it.

 

[DifferenceDifference]

Kirthag's answer suddenly makes sense to me. So... if you are a returner and in desperate need of gold and want to sell some essentials (like bandaids, relic fragments, stuff), it is still hard to compete even now with vendor search.
Sosaria is a brutal world.

 

[Capt. Lucky]

Selling things in UO is a tough way to go. At this point I'd say most people have multiple accounts and probably every crafting skill available. And they likely also have a character that can get about anything they want. What sells on my vendors are rares and things that are simply a pain to do. For example granite is popular right now. It's a pain and boring to get. So that kinda thing sells. Rares, high end equipment, and stuff people don't want to spend the time on. The days of selling furniture and normal crafting items are long gone. On Legends if you need a couple of tables or something people will probably make it for you for free. If your the only potion seller on your shard you might make enough to pay your vendor, but that's about it. No matter how many new items you introduce everyone pretty much has the skills to make it. Recipes slow the process a little and new recipe items might have some value for a brief time. If people aren't using vendor search it's probably cause they don't need anything.

 

[Tanivar]

It's a pain and boring to get. So that kinda thing sells. Rares, high end equipment, and stuff people don't want to spend the time on.

So true, we're selling our time doing the gathering & crafting we enjoy to make things people want. Time many would rather spend hunting where Bad Things play as they enjoy. Make and supply what there is a demand for and you can make decent gold selling at the Magincia Bazaar and on vendors.