Because I'm really curious how you do become one.
How do you become a merchant?
Sat, 06/04/2016 - 17:06
Sat, 06/04/2016 - 17:35
#2
Huh?
That thing is reaallllly outdated Bopp. Like, seriously. It has some stuff that's relevant to being a general merchant, but honestly I'm having issues figuring out the specifics:
How do you know what's in demand?
If it is in demand, how do you manage your pricing?
How do you buy to sell?
Sat, 06/04/2016 - 18:03
#3
which thing?
That thing is reaallllly outdated Bopp.
Which thing? I gave you two things, with instructions for finding more things. They're mostly old, but the game hasn't changed much since they were made.
I'm not saying that it's all been said, and there's no reason to discussion the topic more. But what do you really want? From watching these threads over the years, I can tell you that they all boil down to watching Auction House prices, and buying and selling accordingly. No thread is going to tell you the specifics. But maybe I'm wrong, and a leprechaun will appear and tell you what you want to know. Good luck.
Sat, 06/04/2016 - 18:10
#4
Learn prices, find good
Learn prices, find good deals, buy lower than average market value, sell at average (or above) market values. Simple provided you have a couple years of spying on AH and trade chat behind you.
Sun, 06/05/2016 - 02:00
#5
gosh
If it were as simple as inserting a quarter into a machine and then gaining merchant knowledge then we'd all be merchants.
It's something you learn over time through doing. If the simple response "watch prices and learn" is confusing then merchanting might just not be something that comes naturally. It benefits the patient and observant, but if you are neither then you won't make much profit.
Sun, 06/05/2016 - 03:30
#6
Spend a lot of time in game
Spend a lot of time in game just watching the market.
Sun, 06/05/2016 - 05:48
#7
You buy and sell stuff and then you're a merchant. Whether you're successful at this is a different story-- you have to be able to predict when you can resell something higher than you can buy it at, and when. The most simple way of doing this is to buy promotional items when they come out and then resell them at a later point in time.
Sun, 06/05/2016 - 07:34
#8
You are experiencing a PICNIC ERROR!
One little trick I found it to filter stuff in the AH by End Time. Then you can see all the things that are about to end. You might even catch some things that are really close to ending without bids. I've gotten a small stash of accessories by doing this, and since the beginning bid price tends to be low, I made a profit by reselling them at the typical price.
If you want to make sure you get a good profit, try TradeTrax. It's really handy, because it lets you manage the wares you've acquired, and also tells you if you got a good profit or not.
But even if you don't have lots of crowns to buy accessories, you can try selling your mats. I've started with that. Just make sure you don't undersell. If you do, people will just buy and resell, and you'll make less money. Try to find what the current price is and just put a few of those mats up there at that price, as the wiki guide said.
If you want to know what's in demand, you'll be able to tell if there are very few of that given mat. It probably means people are buying them faster than they can be sold. It can be tricky in this case, as you'll just have to set a price that you think people will buy. Also think, "What do people grind a lot?" DaN? FSC? This may choke out some mats, like Gremlin or Beast mats, so then those may be in higher demand. This means that otherwise unprofitable Beast/Gremlin areas can become profitable if you count the mats you pickup.
Of course, this isn't the case for accessories. The supply for accessories is so low. Maybe everyone wants Prismatic Bolted Vees (for example) and buys them up right away, or maybe no one has them and no one is interested in buying. Check around!
But yes, follow Bopp's advice. You can probably find this same advice on the forums. I know that there was also a Steam guide that was helpful. Check there. (Even if you aren't a Steam player.)
Sun, 06/05/2016 - 08:49
#9
I always found it amazing
I always found it amazing that people thought materials qualified as "resellables". Let's break it down real quick because in a lot of minds still Auction House mats prices are representative of they real value. They're not; most people won't bother listing materials, and even less will bother buying them. Let's be clear here, players buying materials in bulk (like myself) use it for crafting; reselling mats is the pettiest and least profitable business you could possibly get yourself into. They're available by tens of thousands, barely used at all and therefore generally worthless with a few notable exceptions being 5* materials and monster bones/bushy tails/warp dusts (and event materials but they're usually not tradable anyway).
Sun, 06/05/2016 - 10:35
#10
!
Pricing:
#1. Tips for price checking: bid bid bid. Throw bids out on items while the price is low. You dont necessarily need to have intent to buy, but keeping track of how much items sell for is a key to success.
#2. Befriend other vendors. If you see what you think could be a really great deal, it always helps to have someone experienced on your friends list to get a second opinion.
#3. Scan forums for past sales logs.
#4. Estimate. The thing about all the price checking is that its not 100% accurate, prices fluctuate drastically and often. Basically things under and oversell all the time, so you cant always try to carbon copy the last price you saw and expect to get the sale. Use your brain and guesstimate based on other similar items.
#5. Determining when to invest: A general rule of thumb is if you can guarantee net 30% proffit it's worth it to invest no matter the price.
#6. Selling on ah. always make your minimum bid high enough to profit, or atleasssst break even if its a tough sell.
I always have a buyout price that is close enough to my minimum bid amount to make someone too nervous to bid. if they want the item they realize that the bid isnt too far away from the buyout, and if they wait to get a better deal then they risk losing the item entirely. This strategy has worked very well for me.
#7. Bid wars. If you find someone bidding against you, dont get caught up in a bid war, keep calm and carry out your game plan. Set a budget to allow for your desired profit margin, then only really try to win the item once the duration hits very short. Each bid at very short will refresh the duration by 5 minutes, so to avoid the price quickly rising beyond your limit bid only once every 3 minutes or so. Get a timer ready, whenever the bid duration is refreshed start counting and wait the couple minutes before instantly bidding back. This does two things, 1, drives your bidding opponent crazy, 2, keeps the price low. win win!
Thats it for the pricing tips. If you'd like I can continue to give tips on more strategies that have been successful to my overall vending experience.
People have asked this question a lot over the years, although the answers may have changed somewhat, due to rule changes and population changes. I found many guides, including the ones below, by searching Google for "merchant site:forums.spiralknights.com". I hope that this helps you.
http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Auction_House_and_Trading_guide_for_Beginners
http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/112634