Is there a need for low-end gear vendors ?

[Leira of Asrai]

I've been playing UO off and on for the last 8 years. It seems to me that most of the 'new' players around UO are only players returning to the game.

I'm wondering just how many 'new' players are truly new to UO?
I remember first starting out and how difficult it was to find better gear than the loot you got from low-end mobs.

I would like to open a couple vendors with low cost gear for the new player, but am wondering if there is a market for it. Making a profit isn't really important. I play on Pacific shard, so I know there's probably less new players there than other higher populated shards.

Returning players will probably already have decent gear or at least have a crafting character to make new gear.

 

[Maximus of Lck]

Not really. At least not on my shard, which is Baja. New players are almost non-existant. If there are any, chances are they won't be able to find your specific vendor anyway to purchase low-end items. Plus you can put together pretty decent suits from the new style item drops.

What you CAN sell though, is everything that is consumable. That's really the only steady market of things to sell. Resources are always popular. Any imbuing ingredients sell fairly well and some sell really, really well. Potions, blue alacrity scrolls, recall scrolls, natural dyes, orange petals, arrows and bolts all sell at a reasonable rate, provided people can find your store.

 

[Ducan IronWeaver]

On Catskills I craft a good amount of suits. I always end up with some lower end pcs when trying to reforge certain parts for suits like getting 1 mod eaters and such. I have a vendor at my house where i throw lower end armor/weapons/shields that I get from reforging. I throw them up for 5-25k per part. I'm not trying to make a profit from it. As long as the vendor makes enough gold to cover the vendor fees i am happy. I would rather see it goto someone who will use it then throw away or unravel it. They don't sell like hot cakes but it slowly sells. I fully stock it once or twice a month.

I also do the same with low end clean jewelery and nice cursed jewelery that I get from farming in shame.

 

[Tina Small]

Leira, I truly wouldn't bother with trying to sell anything that can be unraveled. Someone with more gold than they know what to do with and who doesn't understand or care that you are trying to sell things that will benefit new or returning players will just see your low-cost magic items as stuff they can unravel for quick imbuing gains. It's probably better to just keep your eye on general chat or the help channel in chat or pop by Haven periodically and see if anyone needs a suit or jewels. Or donate them to a guild on your shard that is specifically set up to help new and returning players.

Other low-cost stuff might sell, but I really wouldn't waste your time or materials on trying to sell low-end suits, jewelry, or weapons. The only shards where you might actually see those items get into the hands of the players who really need them is on Siege and Mugen and your vendors are in New Magincia or accessible from a guard zone (moongate areas, near the inner Luna walls, near the Zento walls, close to the moat around Umbra).

You might also consider putting a "crafter for hire" message in your shard's trade forum and say what you can make for new/returning players. It may be a bit of a hassle connecting with people, though. Could set up a "custom orders" vendor that's empty most of the time and just plop the stuff on there after you've touched bases with your prospective customer through PM or ICQ.