Shopping on Europa

[Serafi]

I am an avid shopper. I just love the UO way of doing it, love to peek into bags and always recall to a shop from a rune I haven`t seen before. Gold never stays long on me, I spend almost as fast as I earn in game. Theres probably not a vendor on Europa I haven`t checked. At the merchant meeting last week I held a short speech. Something I have been wanting to say for some time.

What`s up with the shops on Europa? When I moved here from LS many many years ago Europa was a thriving and bustling market. Not only that, but many shop-owners took pride in things like display, shop design and stock. Whenever I run around these days and do the normal: vendor view, what do I find?

Vendors facing left and right and center with no plan to it.

Ugly, ugly shops.

No text on bags, you need to wade through to see what they sell. Bags within bags within bags. No display.

Empty bags on vendors.

And the worst: Empty vendors. Players even drop runes to their shops when half of their vendors are empty. Eh?

What gives? Where is that proud merchant that is almost equally occupied with keeping things in stock as to get rich? That want to give their customers a good shopping experience? What happened?

Among all the weirdness and uglyness theres still a few shops both in Luna and elsewhere that are of what I would consider old-school, not everything is black. But these are few and far between.

 

[Altpersona]

I'd have to agree on the sad state of Europas market. Though prices are relatively stable the vendors just arn't good enough. There are very few that have inspired me. I like to see vendors with 'themes' items on sale that relate to each other. I'm not sure if anyone else likes that but that's how I display my vendors even if it means duplicating items I have for sale here and there (don't look at my shame vendor though - the Solen). The first and only shop that has and still does leave me in awe is Miss.Pollys.

 

[Nikodemus]

OMG YOU you said duplicating and items in the same sentence!!!!!!!!!
NOooooo
So did I now i feel so so dirty
http://vboards.stratics.com/images/smilies/sad-057.gif

 

[Calis M^N]

i hear ya! there are few shops that i could say i class as shops, most are just random vendors!
i work very hard to keep my vendors neat and stocked!
and il apologise now if im a bitty relaxed on it at mo... very busy with the real world!

i'm glad it aint just me that hates messy vendors!

 

[Altpersona]

Seriously though, look at the state of luna and zento as a whole? Too many people buying property and not doing anything with them, and then people who rent vendors to people and not give a damn about what goes on with them as long as they are getting paid. It's an absolute shambles. In reality I can count on both hands how many shops Europa has.

 

[UOFree]

The lack of shops is mainly because the lack of traders, most players dont want to waste hours trading they rather have a lot of fun hunting and such. Also there are many more items now that might make it harder for a lot of players to keep up.

Europa will never get back to the trading stage it once was, none of the other shards has done it or will do it. The only shard that has improved is Atlantic because all the xfers traders now trade there instead of moving around on shards.

Considering how easy it is to get gold and how the traders got screwed over with the faction items I doubt there will be many new shops on Europa.

There are still a lot of decent shops on Europa, and going to local traders to buy items I think thats better for the community.

Now with imbueing I think its hard to do armor, jewlery and weps on vendors if you dont know the market very well. Since people now can make what they desire instead of having to buy it.

I have lists of things that has gotten worse and better with trading, but I do not have time to play anymore. But when I sold up I used 2 months on Europa where I made less than I made in 2 days on ATL. If people dont buy as much as they used to then trading wont get better on Europa.

 

[Joshua Ravenloft]

The lack of shops is mainly because the lack of traders, most players dont want to waste hours trading they rather have a lot of fun hunting and such. Also there are many more items now that might make it harder for a lot of players to keep up.

Europa will never get back to the trading stage it once was, none of the other shards has done it or will do it. The only shard that has improved is Atlantic because all the xfers traders now trade there instead of moving around on shards.

Considering how easy it is to get gold and how the traders got screwed over with the faction items I doubt there will be many new shops on Europa.

There are still a lot of decent shops on Europa, and going to local traders to buy items I think thats better for the community.

Now with imbueing I think its hard to do armor, jewlery and weps on vendors if you dont know the market very well. Since people now can make what they desire instead of having to buy it.

I have lists of things that has gotten worse and better with trading, but I do not have time to play anymore. But when I sold up I used 2 months on Europa where I made less than I made in 2 days on ATL. If people dont buy as much as they used to then trading wont get better on Europa.

A lot of sense in that post..........

 

[Altpersona]

Aye what you say is true but with attitudes like that Europa will never improve either. There is only so many vendors you can have before you start repeating what everyone is doing but that's why you aim for themes being beautifully layed out and thoughs who actualy enjoy or bother the effort on their vendors are the ones that compete with customers.

Imbuing is never going to be open for everyone to take up themselves. As you say alot don't want to waste hours trading and I think that includes grinding out a skill they would rarely use. In fact, imbuing should do the absolute opposite to what you're suggesting. It should open up new avenues of personnal 1v1 shopping. I enjoy, actualy playing the shop keeper, and when I get SA and get my imbuing up to legendary I will be providing a service giving out appointmets to have me in game, with you, to make that perfect bracelet for you. Imbuing is an oppurtunity to bring us together, not further apart.

Big money can be made running a shop without xfering items to sell. But when the money comes first then you've lost the point of running the shop and point of the game. Unless of course this is how you make real life goldz.

 

[Serafi]

It`s not a lack of shops really, rather a lack of good shops. The amount of trading going on is a result of less playerbase. What I do not understand is how that effects the quality of the shops that are here. Not sure whether that is because other players now utilize vendors that previously didnt, or what the reason is really.

 

[Altpersona]

There is a difference between a shop and a junk stall. Sadly, the majority of vendors are junk stalls.

 

[Melissa Rohan]

Well ones mans junk is another mans treasure, as they say.

There are some decent shops and vendors on Europa but they are few and far between. Its really a shame as there are some great bargains to be had , even in Luna if you search hard enough.

I'm still very surprised at what sells sometimes and even what I get asked for. Unfortunately as I only have a handful of vendors in Luna I'm rather limited with what I can stock and try to concentrate on the main moneymakers, arties, powerscrolls, rewards, peerless, old rares, kits, etc...so its quite a good mix. I also do really well from my SOT business.

I think most of the trouble comes from players who are too eager to make a fast buck. They want the mega millions and are unwilling to do the footwork and hard work that comes with owning a shop. Yes I occassionally cross-shard to bring in items but most of my stock comes from small out of the way vendors, or established lesser shops that have been here years. The point I think I'm trying to make here is that Knowledge is power. You need knowledge of prices, supply shops, and whats currently in demand. You have to work at being a businessman (or woman). You can't macro it, script it or expect to buy bargains and make millions off each sale. I think people get disillusioned after a week or two and close vendors if they dont pull in a lot straight away. It takes time to establish yourself. Persistance pays.

I got a lot more thoughts and I'm probably just rambling on a little bit here , but i might do a new traders guide for people if interested? Just a few hints, tips, guides and things I've noticed over the last few years or so. If enough people are interested I can do something on my site. So....any new traders out there want some information? Let me know.

Melissa

 

[Kiminality]

I have a single vendor, I use for conducting trades, and moving things that are worth more in gold than they are to me.
I try to keep stuff nicely arranged, and reasonably priced, but I'm put off by resellers.
If I price something reasonably on my vendor, it's because I want someone who needs the item to be able to buy it at that price. Not for some vulture to swoop in, buy it up, and sell it for full Luna prices.

 

[AyaraBlue]

For me it's rather the other way round. I have three vendors in my off-the-road-house, and I put the prices low deliberately, so my goods can be resold. For some strange reason I find it very relaxing to do some mining or lumberjacking on my lunch break. But I rarely have any use for the resources I get. I have far too few of them to hand them in for a nice museum reward or to stock an advertised vendor. So for me, the perfect solution is to place the random resources I have on a vendor at a cheap price, and then I will both make some gold, and hopefully help someone else keep their shop stocked.

 

[Nyte Doombringer]

I started out being a merchant in 99, when i got pked in Fel and was like umm no I dont like this. LOL For 6 years I had shops all over Fel and then Trammel. Busy Busy Busy times. After AOS and arties, Doom ect and as the game progressed to more of a grind with bods, kits, hammers, more arties, properties this and that, it took slowly chipped away the worth of the actual craftable goods. I did idocs for a few years to stock as well. People also use the trade forums for higher end items because of what a vendor charges for it to sit there untill its sold.
I know what you mean though and I am guilty of not stocking my shop atm. I have to decide if I should just take the vendors down for now since i really dont have that kind of time anymore or just keep a couple up.

 

[Serafi]

I`m with Avara Blue on the reseller thing. If I want things to move fast, I lower the price deliberately so a reseller still can make a profit. If I don`t mind it sitting on the vendor for eons I do the opposite, but still under Luna. You have to take into account being in the outskirts. When I ran my sorely missed shop I did the same. Keeping an eye on price elsewhere on the shard, and priced accordingly. Thats what you have to do if you run a shop I think, or else you will be hard pressed to keep anything in stock for any length of time. And if I saw a vendor with some low-priced potion kegs you bet I would summon my blue beetle and buy them all up without even feeling guilty!

Setting prices so that new players can afford them is all well and good and with the best of intentions. However, it doesn`t work that way for some commodities. For others, like plain GM Armour it does. No reseller will buy up those

Melissa wrote:

I think most of the trouble comes from players who are too eager to make a fast buck. They want the mega millions and are unwilling to do the footwork and hard work that comes with owning a shop.

Yeah - that might be one reason at least. Players not really into the whole merchant thing pr se, but just as a means to an end, aka gold. It is however a signal of the health of a shard perhaps, how easy/hard it is to get regular things like benches, recalls etc. There are plenty of players with no crafters on their accounts who probably would move elsewhere if it gets hard to come by these things. I am a bit worried that right now we only have 3 major and good shops that sells crafted things. RAA, Miss Polly and OT shop.

Anyone I missed?

Edit: I know there are many others that partly sells potion kegs and stains and whatnot, but the above three stock mostly everything.

 

[Cailleach]

With reference to player vendors stocking all the little things that make life easier, like potions, petals, recalls, furniture, etc. I'm just going to throw this out there, cos it ran through my head when I read Serafis post; does anyone think that our current rl 'global recession' has anything to do with it? It takes the hell of a lot of hard work to stock a shop that covers all those things and I'm wondering if the reason we're not seeing so many at the moment is because people don't have the time to stock the vendors or don't have the money to run their accounts or a combo of both? Just a thought.

 

[Altpersona]

Am I seriously gunna have to start stocking furniture too >< Bah! I've put it off long enough really.

 

[HellaFarris]

With reference to player vendors stocking all the little things that make life easier, like potions, petals, recalls, furniture, etc. I'm just going to throw this out there, cos it ran through my head when I read Serafis post; does anyone think that our current rl 'global recession' has anything to do with it? It takes the hell of a lot of hard work to stock a shop that covers all those things and I'm wondering if the reason we're not seeing so many at the moment is because people don't have the time to stock the vendors or don't have the money to run their accounts or a combo of both? Just a thought.

Quite the opposite in my particular case - the RL recession has left me jobless so I've got all the time in the world to start sorting out my new shop, I was lucky enough to place where Darsus shop fell yesterday - it's gonna take e some time to get organised but I'm hoping to make a very nice emporium in it's place.........

Unless of course anyone needs a very experienced (10 years+) Solaris Systems Administrator?

 

[jack flash uk]

Quite the opposite in my particular case - the RL recession has left me jobless so I've got all the time in the world to start sorting out my new shop, I was lucky enough to place where Darsus shop fell yesterday - it's gonna take e some time to get organised but I'm hoping to make a very nice emporium in it's place.........

Unless of course anyone needs a very experienced (10 years+) Solaris Systems Administrator?

grats with the plot

look forward ot seeing yr shop all sorted

 

[Miss Polly]

Quite the opposite in my particular case - the RL recession has left me jobless so I've got all the time in the world to start sorting out my new shop, I was lucky enough to place where Darsus shop fell yesterday - it's gonna take e some time to get organised but I'm hoping to make a very nice emporium in it's place.........

Unless of course anyone needs a very experienced (10 years+) Solaris Systems Administrator?

Sorry to hear about the job, hope you find something soon.

Congrats on placing, if it was Darsus' place in Zento then welcome to the neighbourhood! Good Luck with your Emporium, the more the merrier!

 

[Barian]

I am a bit worried that right now we only have 3 major and good shops that sells crafted things. RAA, Miss Polly and OT shop.

Anyone I missed?

Yes............................

 

[Serafi]

Yes............................

!

I am so sorry.

HellaFarris congratulations. The Darsus plot fell, and it was a new/returning player that grabbed it and want to make it into a shop? That`s the best news I have heard all day!

 

[HellaFarris]

Thanks

It's going to take a little while for myself and my RL brother to get it up and running - but we're both dead eager and wil try to make it as good a shop as we ca, lots to learn as it's our first.......

 

[Heimi]

Zento is becoming the new Luna, albeit prettier Glad to see the plot went to a player who will make something out of it

 

[Zapatista]

Just please don't make a gargoyle designed shop, I'd scratch my eyeballs out!