ScriptUO
Ultima Online Fan Board => UO-Related Tutorials => Topic started by: Paulonius on July 15, 2009, 11:41:15 AM
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I don't profess to be an expert in economics, but I thought some folks might find it helpful if I shared my philosophy on making gold in UO. I have run vendors pretty consistently for around eight years. I script and play and chase items like everyone else, but that probably accounts for only a small fraction of what I have in UO gold. Actually, I am pretty sure that my game play is a losing proposition without vendors. All of my gold savings have come from buying and selling items from/to other players on vendors in Luna. Here is my program for doing just that:
To start you need to get on www.finduo.com and www.searchuo.com and get a sense for what things cost. Next get a vendor inside the Luna walls. You don't need a house and you don't need ten vendors. You can make all the gold you need with one, maybe two vendors tops. Vendors in other locations are great, but the search engines work best for vendors in the Luna walls and you really want your vendor updating all the time. I use the search websites all the time to get feedback on the market for the things I am selling. You probably can't know the value of everything there is, so pick out a few things to sell that appeal to you and become an expert on how much it costs, how to get it, etc.
Something I don't do, but that lots of people tell me is a great way to make a higher margin is to go to vendors outside of Luna and look for underpriced items. I don't have time for this, so I rely on the Luna vendors for my merchant acquisition work.
Pick a niche market and consistently stock your vendor. Buy the items you sell when you see them on other vendors at a discount from your pricing. Be warned, this is a tricky process if you are dealing with resources that are readily available. If you run into a competitor with a huge stockpile or endless time to farm it can eat up all of your cash, so be prepared to be patient.
Be patient and be consistent. Keeping your vendor stocked will build a client base. I am generally not the cheapest, but my stuff is always there. Even when the search is down I sell out my stock because people know its going to be there. This will also serve you when you have a competitor trying to undercut you. Some people will still buy from you because they are in the habit.
Only accept comptetitors who prove themselves: If you don't have the gold to buy them into submission, wait them out. Most players don't have the patience to keep stocking a vendor over time. However, their patience will dry up a lot faster if you are buying their stuff all the time and they can't stay stocked. Two or three competitors are alright. Ten is a pain in the butt. I generally buy my cheapest competitors into submission. If your would be competitor has to spend all the time he has gaming swinging a pick axe while you spend five minutes a week buying everything he mined, you can guess how this will end. When you see the pricing on items line up with your middle of the road pricing its a good thing. When your price becomes the cheapest, move it up a bit. At some point you may find yourself the market leader dictating the price of the goods you sell.
Renewable resources are great for long term vendering. I have a few resources that I specialize in and I farm them when I run low. However, if you want to speculate for really significant returns, look for items with limited availability. For the most part I look for items that are available for a short period of time that have some relatively unique value. Items that can be had from some sort of farming can be in this category, but its best if there is a limited supply window. Here are three examples of speculating I did in the last year*:
Conjurers Trinket: I identified this as my idea of a perfect item for UO mercantile work. Hit chance and damage increase on a tali, plus a super slayer make it greatly superior to the then existing "must have" primer on arms tali that everyone was buying for 1.5M or getting from turn ins. I farmed the cemeteries during this event and got three or four trinkets myself. Thereafter I bought every trinket I saw under 2.5M during the Halloween event and kept at it after it ended. While I was doing this, I maintained pricing on my vendor at 3M, buying anything I saw below my price. When the market started to get tighter, I incrementally increase the price, continuing to buy trinkets that were 10% or more below my price. The market just dried up in the last few weeks and the price escalated dramatically. It looks like I may be the only seller holding trinkets anymore and I raised the price to 10M per. Estimated earnings: 75M to 100M, current stock is 5 trinkets. *Update* When trinkets jumped to 10M I sold four more and raised the price to 12.5M. I have not sold any in two weeks, but feel pretty good about it. I will watch for them on other vendors at 8M or less and pick them up to sell for 10M.
Melissa's Cloak: I got as many as I could and projected a base price at around 1M. The market for these on Atl has not been that strong and I was probably optimistic. I have not pushed the market on these as hard as trinkets because I perceive these as having more limited value, so I only buy them if I see someone selling under 500K. Estimated earnings 10M to 15M, current stock around 30 cloaks. *Update* The value of these has gone over 1M and I am currently selling at about 1 per week.
Cloak of Corruption: I didn't farm any of these because it seemed like too much of a pain in the butt, but I collected them because they seemed like a relatively unique item and there was the promise of future value the dev team mentioned in posts. I bought 35 to 40 cloaks over time, trying to maintain a 1M price on my vendor. When I saw them within 20% of my price, I bought them most of the time. I definitely grabbed every cloak I could at or under 500K, but I was inconsistent because I didn't know whether or not these would ever be worth it. I got more aggressive when I found a use for them on my own. The cloaks kill you if you wear them long enough, but it turns out if you are in Lich form and wear a cloak you lose hits at a crazy rate, but never go below 0. Very cool for training healing. Once I found this property I started buying anything that was cheaper than 1M and for a while I was the most expensive seller on Atl (if you could find them anywhere other than my vendor...:) I probably sold one every week or two at 1M until this last week. At the beginning of the current event I raised the price to 2.5M and sold six cloaks in a day. I raised the price over 6M and sold another six today. Estimated earnings 50M to 60M, current stock 10 Power Cloaks, 2 Death Cloaks, 6 Cloaks of corruption. Projected earnings around 200M. *Update* The sale of these cloaks stalled after the first day and there are still a lot of them around under 5M. I think the real value of the Death and Power cloaks is closer to 10M, but they won't sell for that until the air clears a bit. I may have to revise my expectations downward and sell at 7.5M. I would still make a significant margin at that price point (115% on cloaks I buy now, something like 850% and up on cloaks I bought before the event started up). The current pricing has to be a bummer for anyone who bought my corruption cloaks at 6M only to see the finished cloaks selling cheaper. I am sitting on a large inventory and have a lot invested, but I continue to believe that these cloaks have considerable value. I am going to continue to buy at the 3M price point and hold to sell later.
I hope this is helpful. Feel free to add your own comments or criticism based on your experiences. I am always happy to listen to another perspective to refine my own.
-P
*Please understand that I play on Atlantic, which tends to have the most players and the most economic activity of any shard. After reading TT's journal on his move from Sonoma to Atlantic to make gold this doesn't always translate into the highest prices, and may mean prices are lower on some things on Atlantic than elsewhere.
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My exact philosophy! It works and I have made millions doing this!
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Excellent post paul! Thanks for taking your time to write this up...
now....off to find my niche
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I have lots of fish steaks for sale!! Gett'em before they're gone!
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LOL!!!
I thought you had a ready made buyer.....Thought Cerv was good for every FISH steak you got?!?!?!
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I'd love to turn my empty luna house, into a money making mustache mall.
I've really been trying to find something in UO to keep me playing. Thanks for the write up! Maybe I should work on that house.
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What shard do you have a Luna house on OMG? Might have to get a vendor if it is one of the shards i play on :)
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I threw some updates into my original post, so thought I would bump it for anyone interestd.
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Its a good write up... Im currently sitting on about 30 misc cloaks. Waiting for the price to go up as well .. but being on pac thats a longer wait.
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If anyone needs a luna vendor on Chessy send me a ICQ at 261-398-459
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Thanks for the info Paulonius!!
This knowledge is priceless... Hope I can use some of that into making my own UO fortune
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Well those cloaks have totally stalled and buttoned out and can be picked up in the 500k range on Pacific.. im still stiting on 30 or so.. havent calced profit loss as i didnt track it but i estimate im about 50% down spent vs received.. but still sitting on a fair inventory .. Only have to sell about a 1/4 of inventory to be back in profit so in the very long run might still work out.
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Ageed, I have not made anything on the cloaks either. I would have been better off unloading all of my unimproved cloaks of corruption in the first few days of the event rather than holding on to them.
On a more positive note, I have been able to net about 50M selling relic fragments this month.
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Relic frags are a bit slow....but they deffinatly sell good. Since I have hit 120 imbuing I have sold almost 35M worth of frags...so got the 7M back it cost me to train, and am up 28M so far! :)
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Ive been abit slow getting on this boat and am still only 85 imbueing .. ow for more time in a day...
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On Pacific I have 2 Vender Houses and 2-3 Venders at each house. I did not realize that there would be so much maintenance. About once a week I need to go Spam at Luna Bank to let people know that I have Vender Spots for Rent. There is so much turn-over. Sometimes I lose about 4-5 Venders a week. It seems like contant juggling to make sure I have Vender Contracts in stock. The pain is when people need to reclaim their inventory from the House Sign and then I need to replace their Vender (I tell them to put a 1 Million Gold Piece Check on your Vender and have a friend buy it) or they forgot all together and it goes into the Moving Crate. On the other hand, what goes into the Moving Crate is now mine and I have received some pretty nice items from forgetful venders. My philosophy is this: If you do not have time to check your Venders at least once a week, then you have no business having a Vender at my House.
On the other hand, Paulonius is correct in saying that you need to sell "What is Hot at the Moment". Right now, it seems to be the Imbuing Ingredients, especially Crystalline Blackrock and Relic Fragments. Also Oak Boards, Mining Gems, Balms and Lotions including Gems of Salvation...
Having a Vender is a Love-Hate relationship -- Ihate doing it, but love the gold that they give me... ;D
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Really, really good post. I think it's interesting that, as a fellow successful merchant, I follow precisely the same strategy.
Great minds...
:)
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Great Read! This makes me want to start using my vendor for real instead of just throwing a few 120's on it a month. When I first set my vendor up I was putting frost wood on it hardcore (Before the LJ change) the guy down the street was the leader for wood so I under cut him just a bit. Now that I read this I bet he was buying all my wood HAHA. Later his house was burned, bummer for him. I lost interest when the LJ changes came though. Again Great Read.