Cartel market prices are abusive

[Anaesha]

Xoxaan armor set, featured page of CM

 

They must have added that last night after I logged out because that armor wasn't on sale in the CM last night.

[Journ]

they can't fix accounts but more micro charges for all lol

[VanorDM]

A single set of armor shouldn't be ~$20 worth of coins even if you get it with subscription grants.

 

Based on?? I mean are you comparing it the cost of that armor in real life? Or perhaps the cost of armor in other games?

 

How much something should cost, is based purely upon how much people are willing to pay for it.

 

Also the whole "if they lower the price more people will buy it" is simplistic nonsense. While yes lower price does tend to drive up demand, that doesn't mean the profit margin is going to be the same.

[TUXs]

Has anyone ever though that if they stop opening their wallets maybe BW will decided to change the prices a bit? they are only supplying what is in demand. if prices are too high don't buy anything. Simple.

EXACTLY! As long as the cows keep giving milk, there's no need to change anything...this is 100% in the hands of the community.

[TUXs]

Based on?? I mean are you comparing it the cost of that armor in real life? Or perhaps the cost of armor in other games?

Are you honestly thinking he's comparing it to RL armor possibly? You don't think that seems a little bit ludicrous to even suggest? Or do you view these items as "real" yourself to justify the pricing? Do you rationalize the price by saying to yourself "Well, real armor costs more, so..."?

[Loranae]

EXACTLY! As long as the cows keep giving milk, there's no need to change anything...this is 100% in the hands of the community.

 

The community stated herself her position by putting their own prices on GTN for some *items* they decided were very highly valuable.

Check the GTN 49 pages of complete armor set

on Ebon today , 44M for a reven set, 31m for Dark Legionaire, 27 for Shae, going down to 199 credit for a 616 cybernetic.

 

So we are making our own market right ? no one decide this will be but each of us do their own prices and buy or not.

And thus this is a game, we should not really care about profit but more about our fun, but anyway, the prices are what they are and i dont think i saw a post on the forums crying about how players where selling stuff so damn expensive.

 

CM probably analyzed the value curve of some sets before putting an arbitrary price.

If the players are willing to sell it so high and some are willing to buy it, they can not cut the game market by putting a very low price.

People would have rushed here wondering what the hell they did as people would not want to buy things anymore but would wait in the hope of the market featured. And as always CM is not selling indispensable items that would bare you to play, but a visual look, you want it without any effort ? pay the CM price.

[VanorDM]

You don't think that seems a little bit ludicrous to even suggest?

 

No more so than the statement I was quoting. Which is why I said it. It's completely ludicrous to complain about how much a cosmetic item costs in a MMO. If you don't like it, don't buy it.

 

If enough people think it's overpriced it won't sell and Bioware will reduce the price, or not. It's not like these items are taking up shelf space or something.

 

Myself I buy next to nothing on the CM, because little there is worth the price they ask. But I also don't come here and claim the price is abusive.

Edited November 11, 2015 by VanorDM

[TUXs]

The community stated herself her position by putting their own prices on GTN for some *items* they decided were very highly valuable.

Check the GTN 49 pages of complete armor set

on Ebon today , 44M for a reven set, 31m for Dark Legionaire, 27 for Shae, going down to 199 credit for a 616 cybernetic.

 

So we are making our own market right ? no one decide this will be but each of us do their own prices and buy or not.

And thus this is a game, we should not really care about profit but more about our fun, but anyway, the prices are what they are and i dont think i saw a post on the forums crying about how players where selling stuff so damn expensive.

 

CM probably analyzed the value curve of some sets before putting an arbitrary price.

If the players are willing to sell it so high and some are willing to buy it, they can not cut the game market by putting a very low price.

People would have rushed here wondering what the hell they did as people would not want to buy things anymore but would wait in the hope of the market featured. And as always CM is not selling indispensable items that would bare you to play, but a visual look, you want it without any effort ? pay the CM price.

I don't know why you quoted me...are you agreeing with me or disagreeing? I think we agree...

[Pagy]

True, but his point about the cc stuff being way too expensive still stands.

does it?

 

do you typically walk into spas and complain that people are spending too much money on massages and body treatments?

 

it's a luxury. let people pay what they want. and let businesses decide what to charge based on demand.

[TUXs]

No more so than the statement I was quoting. Which is why I said it. It's completely ludicrous to complain about how much a cosmetic item costs in a MMO. If you don't like it, don't buy it.

 

If enough people think it's overpriced it won't sell and Bioware will reduce the price, or not. It's not like these items are taking up shelf space or something.

 

Myself I buy next to nothing on the CM, because little there is worth the price they ask. But I also don't come here and claim the price is abusive.

 

Alright...we're in agreement

[branmakmuffin]

Really??????????????????????

 

2600 CC for a single armor, that's 26 USD, and 800 CC for one stronghold decoration, that's more that one month subcrisption

As already noted: if too expensive, do not buy.

 

/thread

[Loranae]

I don't know why you quoted me...are you agreeing with me or disagreeing? I think we agree...

 

*grins* sorry yes we agree. CM did nothing more than we did to ourselves.

[TUXs]

*grins* sorry yes we agree. CM did nothing more than we did to ourselves.

It's ok I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. And that's very well stated. We created it. We STILL create it. We unknowingly set the prices and determine the randomness of items. Chances are, their CM guy is one of their smartest employees.

[Qouivandes]

When i played SWG i had some really awesome and, on occasion, some rare items. i even spent almost 5million on this one item--i think it was some painting or something...long time ago-- as well as spending 75% of my credits for one of the first manufactured suits of Scout Armor (it sucked, btw) i dont remember how much i spent, but it was a lot. While my abode wasnt a museum, i took pride in showing off some really awesome items and spent hours decorating. I even paid some guy to create an aquarium to show off a couple of fish i caught.

 

do you know where all of that stuff is currently? No where. it was deleted a few years ago. all that time, credits, and "effort" is no more... 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! The items are no more! they have ceased to be! 'E's derezzed and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If I hadnt taken some screen shots, thy'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is digital processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is network coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!!

 

I actually would like to get that armor, too, but i cannot see myself spending the total amount of cc's its to take to get the suite and then unlock in my legacy. i learned my lesson with that Sith outfit with the helmet (i suck at remembering names). i think it cost me almost 3Kccs in total. now, i will buy a weapon when its on sale or a single box here and there (usually depends on how much i had to drink), but just not going to spend that type of money on something i will most likely never use.

 

quick example, many moons ago i wanted to get a suite in my collections. i started selling everything i could on one server in order to buy the pieces there because it was a lot cheaper than on the server i was on. i didnt do it the smart way, though, i vendored everything to afford it. i bought it, got some CCs and, yay, i have it in my legacy. well, it was then i found out i couldnt use a dye for that suite (its been changed now) and i have never once equipped that suite on a any of my toons. not a single piece. ever. (one week later, i decided to head back to ebon hawk and transfered a toon to keep my legacy. sadly, i had vendored almost everything and deleted almost all of my toons.

 

the point is, none of this stuff really matters. just enjoy yourself and try not to worry about that one item that may be out of reach. And, for the record, i could afford to purchase as many CCs that i ever wanted so money isnt the issue at all...i just dont really want to spend it because, so far, none of the items are really that impressive.

 

-------------wallllll ooooooffff teeeexxxttt--------------

[Legolose]

Has anyone ever though that if they stop opening their wallets maybe BW will decided to change the prices a bit? they are only supplying what is in demand. if prices are too high don't buy anything. Simple.

^^This right here^^ Simple isn't it..

[Loranae]

^^This right here^^ Simple isn't it..

 

So if we stop to buy on the GTN players will change their prices ?

[DarthDymond]

Calling a price tag on a completely optional, cosmetic item "abusive" warrants a great big eye roll, no question about it.

 

That being said, giving feedback on such prices in addition to 'voting with your wallet' can be useful. Make no mistake, "don't buy it" is absolutely a necessary part of the equation, but as many people love to point out on these boards, companies can construe their metrics (including sales figures) in several different ways:

• "Hmm, the Xoxaan's Armor Set isn't selling very well at 2600 CCs, I guess it's not as popular a set as we thought. Oh well, I'm sure the Mandalore the Ultimate's Armor Set well do better at 2600 CCs."
  

 

If you feel that no armor is worth 2600 CCs, then giving that express feedback (again, coupled with following through and not buying it) can help get the message across quicker than open-ended lagging sales.

 

Just check the hyperbole at the door, it doesn't help your cause and it tends to engender a lot more push-back from people who otherwise might agree with the underlying point.

Edited November 11, 2015 by DarthDymond

[VanorDM]

So if we stop to buy on the GTN players will change their prices ?

 

Yes. The CM and GTN are prime examples of the free market, the GTN more so, because it's much more reactive.

 

I was selling orange light sabers for 150k and they were selling like hotcakes for a while. But this week all the ones I put up on there got returned. So I'll put them back up for less, and keep going lower until I sell them. So the buyers do have a fair amount of control over the prices on the GTN.

 

That's one nice thing about a 2 day max, you don't have items sitting there for a month at inflated prices.

 

The CM is also going to respond to how well something sells. But not nearly as quickly. Bioware doesn't have sets of armor taking up their inventory space, and their listings never expire. So they can leave it sit there for some time. It also likely cost them very little to produce the art assets for that armor, so they don't have to sell a ton of them to make a profit.

 

But if they put something up there for $25 and no one buys it... They will eventually mark the price down. The real problem is, that there are enough people out there quite willing to spend $25 on a single set of armor that they make money. Again, yes in theory lowering the price would mean more sales. But they only expect to sell so many of these kinds of things, and lowering the price may not produce enough extra sales to make up the difference.

 

The problem with simplistic answers like 'lower the price and sell more' is someone else has had to think of it, and I've seen it said in every MMO out there now... So if it's really as simple as that, why is it we see the same statement made over and over again?

[Bluttoh]

True, but his point about the cc stuff being way too expensive still stands.

 

This!

[Eldrenath]

That would be a great solution if we were all connected together in a hive mind, you know like the borgs in star trek. And every single player is a borg, and every borg reads your advice and in one nanosecond agrees that is the logical course of action and goes with it. Then bioware would be like oh **** whats going on, they are saying no to our high prices, I guess we need to stop being greedy little *****.

 

If your place of work was willing to pay you twice what they current pay you, would you decline it saying "I don't want to be a greedy little *****"? Of course you wouldn't. Neither would I. I'd take the pay raise and say thank you very much.

 

BW is charging what people are willing to pay, period. If people stop paying the prices, the prices will drop. The whole "borg mind" analogy is nonsense. No, we're not going to group up and all at once stop buying, we all have our different opinions on what price we are willing to pay for stuff. Your problem is not with BW, it is with your fellow players.

 

BW is a business--they're going to charge what people are willing to pay, period. You know who else does that? Every other for-profit company selling any product or service to the public. Why do gamers complain about "greedy" game companies? If gamers stopped paying the prices games companies charged, believe me the prices would drop. Your problem is with supply and demand--the market supports a certain price because people are willing to pay it. That's not BW's fault and it doesn't make them greedy.

[Qouivandes]

deleted to save space...scroll up a little

 

this, to be honest, is a great post.

[TUXs]

this, to be honest, is a great post.

It is! Dymond tends to do that from time to time

[Lunafox]

For what it's worth, my thinking is, that I agree with the OP. The price for that armor is too much. I already have the set from before, but I nearly swallowed my own tongue when I saw the price of that thing.

 

I know there are other ways of getting things, like the GTN, it's how I got my Halloween set this week, but if people support this kind of a price hike now, we're looking at a pretty horrible future, where the cartel market is concerned. They're always testing us to see how much they can get away with.

 

While we're at it, I think it sucks that in the new packs you only get like 2 things and most of the time it's crap, considering the price both on GTN and through the Cartel shop. It's not fun anymore.

[Loranae]

Yes. The CM and GTN are prime examples of the free market, the GTN more so, because it's much more reactive.

I was selling orange light sabers for 150k and they were selling like hotcakes for a while. But this week all the ones I put up on there got returned. So I'll put them back up for less, and keep going lower until I sell them. So the buyers do have a fair amount of control over the prices on the GTN.

That's one nice thing about a 2 day max, you don't have items sitting there for a month at inflated prices.

The CM is also going to respond to how well something sells. But not nearly as quickly. Bioware doesn't have sets of armor taking up their inventory space, and their listings never expire. So they can leave it sit there for some time. It also likely cost them very little to produce the art assets for that armor, so they don't have to sell a ton of them to make a profit.

But if they put something up there for $25 and no one buys it... They will eventually mark the price down. The real problem is, that there are enough people out there quite willing to spend $25 on a single set of armor that they make money. Again, yes in theory lowering the price would mean more sales. But they only expect to sell so many of these kinds of things, and lowering the price may not produce enough extra sales to make up the difference.

The problem with simplistic answers like 'lower the price and sell more' is someone else has had to think of it, and I've seen it said in every MMO out there now... So if it's really as simple as that, why is it we see the same statement made over and over again?

 

*smiles* i must admit i was beeing a little sacarstic here, because unfortunatly it is not so simple. You are a seller, and your profit has been cut down but you are not the only seller.

 

For one seller like you, there will be 50 going for profit only : they will wait a little, and come back with the same high price that they will sell. Or .... they will buy your low prices to sell them higher later. They are not in a hurry, they just make the market to be what they want.

 

When i sell something, i am the worst because its maintly about feeling, my feeling :

- if i like this item, yes : i will go check the GTN and usually i cut the higher price by over than half to put mine, hoping that someone with not much money will be happy..

- if i dont like the item, i will sell it for 1 credit (be a set of armor or anything else).

or i simply go on the fleet and give away just to make some of us happy.

 

(for the funny part i had some 1credit piece returned as well, so i just delete them when it happens).

 

My husband wants a rare drop mount from the packs, so each month using the 500cc in the hope of it but it never happened. And no we will not buy on the GTN for 20 or 40 millions, but see plenty of others do it, and the price even went up for that mount to 40millions.

 

So all my discours to say : When us players will realise the power we have or not have about that in game market, may be we will change it but for now there is too much players happy with how it is, no matter if for me it seems way to high and i dont buy, some will do.

 

So no its not so simple in fact.

[XiamaraSimi]

As i said before, you dont -need- to pay silly prices for items you -want-

 

Vote with your wallet, its the -only- thing they pay attention to.

 

I dont like the new pack system, so i spent 0 CC on them, voting with my wallet.

 

Credits i have in overabundance, so if i want something i just buy it off the GTN if i dont like its CM price.