Curse

xRustyx · Mar 06, 2007, 02:54 AM // 02:54

Target Audience: Everyone, especially PVErs.

Dear GWGers,

Have you ever dreamed of being so rich even Donald Trump would be jealous? Finally getting that last piece of Fissure of Woe armor so all the ladies are looking at you? Gold farmers burning with envious hate? Gaile Gray asking you to a personal date? I have. And today, I’ll tell you how to be so filthy rich even the Canthan Undercity peasants would look spotless compared to you. You’ll be riding that 15k through every town. And all of this is available right from your fingertips.

From (what I hope) will be a continuing bi-weekly/monthly article, I’ll thoroughly explain all my methods and tricks (all legal of course), that has made me quite the wealthy merchant. I’ll reveal all those secrets you always wanted to know. Maybe even Victoria’s secret. But remember, everybody knows different things. Every article will not be a divine revelation, but I hope at least one article will be of use to you.

On this week’s article I will focus on the General Art Of Selling. You can’t make money if you can’t sell. Now you don’t have to be a natural born salesman, all you have to do is follow my tips and you’ll be making a lot more than you believe you could’ve.

Always be polite. Even if “X Naruto Ninja X” is throwing enough elementary school insults for your whole family tree, you should always be polite. Being cocky or annoying will only anger and drive away your would-be customers. Do this often enough, and you might find a bad reputation preceding you. Maybe the Merchant NPC will sidestep a little to the left when you’re going to the right, maybe the Rune Trader will only sell you his wrinkled runes. Now I understand that every person has his/her breaking points, and there be occasions where you’ll just snap and fire off insults harsh enough to make Condoleezza Rice cry. Just keep it to a minimum and you shouldn’t have a problem.

A simple “Thankyou, enjoy your item” after a successful transaction, or a “Thankyou for your time” after an unsuccessful one can make all the difference. Maybe they’ll add you to friends list and whisper you if they change their mind or if they decide to purchase more goods. I don’t believe in Karma, but being nice is almost always a good thing. Notice how I said “Be polite, and not be nice and lenient.” If a person is pushing you too far, instead of replying “@#$@%!!” and putting him on the ignore list, simply say “Sorry, but I can’t do it. I have a family to feed too, you know.” They’ll understand, and if they don’t, that’s when you put them on the ignore list. =)

Always be clear. If you are not precise in marketing your wares, people will not know what they’re looking for. This is especially important when advertising your wares. When you’re trying to fit your message through Lion’s Arch AD1, I’m sure you’ll find it convenient enough to put symbols or attractions to differentiate your message. Just make sure you don’t fill your messages with too many attracting symbols that cloud your actual message.

For example, I’ll give you my own format (Remove []s):

*** W T S [Type of item] | [Item #1] | [Item #2] | [etc.] | - PM!

Quite beautiful if I can say so myself. I’d marry it if it was a woman.

Know the market. There is a rule that applies to every MMO Merchant. The higher the price that deviates from the current market value, the longer it will be for you to sell it. The higher the price, the fewer players will be willing to pay for it. The higher your price, the less ability it is for players to pay for it. Sure, you may get lucky and find the newbie that will buy your Starter Wand for 70k, but in the long run this rule always applies. Always know the market values and the price boundaries for your items. If you expect to sell the item for much higher, prepare to be patient.

Use the Search function. The search function is a great function, courtesy of Arena.net (albeit a bit late). When I go into populated towns, I always have a look through the Search list and scan through the “WTBs” or “B>s”. If they want something I have, I’ll whisper them. What makes this function so great is that it works across all districts. This means you won’t have to individually scan through the barrages of messages from every Lion’s Arch district. Unfortunately not THAT many people use this function, due to some minor inconveniences. I won’t delve too much, but it’s quite annoying when you have to re-enter your message after every district switch. I hope after reading this message you’ll start using the Search function and make both our lives easier. =D

That’s all for this week, and if you haven’t learnt something new, I hope at least you’ve enjoyed the time you spent on this.

Rusty is a freelance writer that loves to make people laugh. For any questions (on the article or whatever it may be), or work, please contact him at new.canadian.rusty *A-T* gmail.com He also does graphic design mainly with Photoshop, so don’t hesitate to contact him!

NEXT ARTICLE: More specific tips and hints on how to get rich! We'll really start to dig into this topic!

Jetdoc · Mar 07, 2007, 08:05 PM // 20:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by xRustyx

For example, I’ll give you my own format (Remove []s):

*** W T S [Type of item] | [Item #1] | [Item #2] | [etc.] | - PM!

Based on this format (i.e. the spaces between the WTS), I really, really, really hope that you aren't encouraging people to post in the local chat.

Ascalon Chariot · Mar 07, 2007, 09:28 PM // 21:28

Well, everyone once in awhile when no one is talking in local chat and everyone is in trade chat, you wanna post one in Local Chat to make yours obvious(just a guess, dont flame)

Bowstring Badass · Mar 07, 2007, 09:29 PM // 21:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jetdoc

Based on this format (i.e. the spaces between the WTS), I really, really, really hope that you aren't encouraging people to post in the local chat.

Lions Arch AD1. lol

xRustyx · Mar 07, 2007, 11:38 PM // 23:38

Quote:

Based on this format (i.e. the spaces between the WTS), I really, really, really hope that you aren't encouraging people to post in the local chat.

Whether I encourage it or not is irrelevant, because everyone spams it anyway.

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This is a very general and simplistic guide, but as I go on with more guides it will get a lot more sophisicated, so tell your friends to keep an eye out! We will really start to explore every tip, trick, nook & cranny of merchanting.

Eldin · Mar 08, 2007, 01:46 AM // 01:46

This will be an interesting guide. Can't wait for the "real" tips. This was like an etiquette primer, but was nice nonetheless.

IMO, ANet should implement a filter so if someone types in the "All" chat something containing the strings "WTS, WTB, WTT, sell, buy, trade" then the message doesn't go through, or automatically the message is sent through as a trade channel message. People will find ways to bypass this filter through slang and such, but half of the people who sell items by spamming in the "all" chat aren't even smart enough to try and bypass it. :P

Yunas Ele · Mar 08, 2007, 01:50 AM // 01:50

Nice tips for starting off. Looking forward to some of the "real" tips as well.

Btw, love the writing style. Keep up the good work.

Thom Bangalter · Mar 08, 2007, 02:46 AM // 02:46

Rusty, babies?

feedmenow · Mar 08, 2007, 05:34 AM // 05:34

So this is basically a selling guide. I thought it would be one like: GO TO FOW,UW,URGOZ!!! Well at least it gives some nice tips on selling.

RPGmaniac · Mar 08, 2007, 05:39 AM // 05:39

Yea, this looks like a potentially helpful guide. I already knew what you said on top (to me it's just common sense) but I can't wait to see the in depth parts.

Alien Bobster · Mar 08, 2007, 08:55 AM // 08:55

The best thing to do is to use capital letters in start of a sentance and speak complicated english. People think you're clever and won't scamm them so they accept. Got req 9 dead sword 15^50 +30 for 40k this way

Malice Black · Mar 08, 2007, 11:29 AM // 11:29

Some things you might want to add.

Know your target audience - No point spamming a req8 15^50 Crysttaline as 99% of the general populace couldn't afford.

Know when to sell - There comes a time when selling for slightly less then you orginally wanted becomes the better option. Time is money.

Know when to barter - Just by people reply I can tell if they will be willing to haggle slghtly or not, learning this will earn/save you gold.

Know when to refuse - Know when to refuse a good offer. If you're spamming and someone comes in with a really decent offer straight away play with them a little see how much you can tease out of them *this can result in the loss of trade*

Modding to sell - Biggest mistake in trading. High end items sell their self, low-mid range items (chaos axes,zodiacs,fells etc) on occasion need a little treatment (zealous mods,+5AR,vampiric) but spending 50k on mods to only make 20k of that back is stupid and pointless.

Make contacts - Just like in real life business your contact list is your life line. I'm regualry PM'd by people either offering me something or asking if I have something. If your contacts are not interested then they could have friend or guildie that might. Easiest way to trade bar none.

All this is what I've gained from trading.

Did it make me rich? what do you think

ryanryanryan0310 · Mar 08, 2007, 12:13 PM // 12:13

SPEED SELLING: Sell for less and gain more

If the market value of an item is 100k just sell 80-90k. I usually sell my items 10-15 percent less than market value. You'll usually see the same people everyday trying to get that extra 10-15k, while you selling multiple items.

Also remember the market changes real fast. One week an item will worth thousands the next week it's worth 50% less.

-----------------
I'm not rich cause I have a problem of buying too much items and customizing them, then never use them. It's just like RL....

Iscana · Mar 08, 2007, 01:39 PM // 13:39

yeah, go spam more WTS in each district go out and let all spam WTS this and that and whatever. The best thing for getting fast money is farm around 200k with your character which is doable in a week or 2. Then go onto the market an buy and sell certain items. I did that with the minipets when the update came to show them in town and I had like 80k in less then a few minutes.

Priest Of Sin · Mar 08, 2007, 03:10 PM // 15:10

Since everyone is adding little tips and such, I've found a good way to make money is to sell your purples (from chest runs and stuff) to people just starting out. Like i'll sell a req 11 FDS with 13%^50 and a +20 mod for 1k or so. Things I wouldn't normally be able to sell to the normal populace, I can sell to those just starting out in Ascalon. Or Shing Jea. But I haven't found much luck in Kamadan.

NOTE: Newb is not an insult. Noob is an insult. Newb means that they're just starting, Noob means that they suck at life.

Example:
Me: Selling req 7 11-22 FDS, 13^50, +20hp! Pst me.
Newb: Is that good? How much do you want for it?
Me: 1k. Is that too much? I could go to 800g, if you only had that much.
Newb: I've only got 300g...
Me: That'll work fine. Dump me on your friend's list in case you strike it rich and wanna buy some great items

Newb: thanks!

In most cases, the "newb" will whisper you again quite alot later, but this time he'll have more gold and experience. He'll need very nice items, and you can charge him slightly less than the market price. In many cases I've had them give me more for an item, simply because I was nice to them when they were starting out. Basically, my method involves building a customer base that will always buy from you, because they trust you.

Eli Rela · Mar 08, 2007, 03:11 PM // 15:11

Admin, your are taking bread from xRustyx

I thought I trademarked the phrase "tyvm, please enjoy your purchase"

On the article: very nice start, I love your sense of humor. Keep this good attitude

On the spamming: I always use trade channel only and scan for WTB/B> in search function, but very few people use it.

onerabbit · Mar 08, 2007, 11:18 PM // 23:18

When im selling, i usually try and get in control, set the price, etc, dont let them think you are weak, or they will just low ball with offers..unless your taking offer ofcourse

Jetdoc · Mar 08, 2007, 11:21 PM // 23:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by xRustyx

Whether I encourage it or not is irrelevant, because everyone spams it anyway.

Seriously, Rusty...

You may want to alter the guide to specifically remove any reference (like what I referred to above) to circumventing the controls within the game. This is a pretty sensitive subject, and using the rationale of "well, everyone does it anyways" will discredit some of your advice.

Skyy High · Mar 09, 2007, 02:09 AM // 02:09

Trying to use allchat in dist1 LA or Kamadan is pointless anyway by this point. I only spam to the trade channel, but I'm just perplexed by people who get annoyed by buy/sell messages in allchat there. You want to form a party or talk, go to another dist, not like anyone else is trying to form parties in dist1....

¿Evan¿ · Mar 09, 2007, 03:34 AM // 03:34

Quote:

Gaile Gray asking you to a personal date?

Please No