Topic

Prices of meat and milk

Let's put it this way.
I have about four butterflies and ten pigs in my home. I used to have five butterflies but three died (including my favorite, which I sang to every day), so I had to buy a few more eggs. I decided to leave one caterpillar as a caterpillar and named a new butterfly after my old favorite. So I have an obsession, so?

I mean, disregarding the butterfly story, I have four butterflies and ten pigs. Not that much compared to some people I know. One egg tree, as well. I live off of the meat and milk my collectors gave me. I auctioned them off nicely. 450 for a stack of meat or milk, which was less than the lowest price. At least that's what the auction thing said.

Then I sold some today and 450 for a stack was higher.

I had to lower my price to 350 to get a guaranteed sale, and now I'm worried. I live in Chakra Phool, and herbs just rose in price, I think, but how am I supposed to live on only 350/stack? And my piggies will die one by one. Plus I'll have to go to hell every day. Maybe I can live in hell. There are tomatoes there, after all.

tl;dr this post was 25% serious but why have the prices of meat and milk suddenly dropped?

Posted 13 months ago by Sororia Rose Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • At auction? Because auction prices are always fluctuating. Think about it, you sold your meat for less than the lowest price. Then someone decides to do exactly what you did and go lower, and so on and so forth until they've dropped.

    I barely use the auction system anymore. Too unreliable, and too many people don't care about pricing or don't pay attention. I'll wait for the marketplaces to come into being.
    Posted 13 months ago by Rev. Desdemona Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Piggies don't die unless you let them be hungry :)

    I've made 10k on herbs just today, so you could do that for a short time until they go back to normal.

    After you hit higher levels money becomes completely irrelevant. It sounds silly, but it is true. I actually get a little ticked off if my money drops below 70k. What do I think I'm going to do with 70k? NOTHING. After you've settled into a home you enjoy, money is pretty much entirely useless. Or, it is just a way to make the things you like doing a tiny bit easier. The only thing I ever buy now is General Vapor (because I don't like running around for it), and I can make back what I spend on that by selling a tiny portion of what I make with it.

    Also uh, aren't you now selling your meat for less than the vendor pays for it? 350/60=5.8c per meat, meat sells for what, 7c at a vendor? 8c at Tool Vendors. 350/80=4.4c per milk, which sells at 5.6 to a vendor or 6.4 to a Tool Vendor. It's extremely likely that the people who bought your low-priced stacks just re-sold them to a vendor for profit.

    A stack of meat is, assuming you have the patience to go to a Tool Vendor, worth 480c. You are ripping yourself off by selling it for any less. A stack of milk is worth 512!
    Posted 13 months ago by Biohazard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Biohazard wrote: Piggies don't die unless you let them be hungry :)

    yes they do!

    But they have longer lifespans than butterflies,  according the guides in Live help anyway. Chickens are between the two in lifespan
    Posted 13 months ago by IrenicRhonda Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Here's why: the bottom price for most goods is the result of players camping at a Tool vendor and arbitraging the prices of goods.  That is, they use scripts to find everything at auction that will sell for a few currants more to a tool vendor, buy all of it automatically and sell it as it arrives.  

    That's the other half to "I'll sell my stuff for a little less than what the auction thing says is the bottom price for this thing."

    But, over the last day or two there've been big distracting world events (rook flurry and then Rasanna construction) that have pulled the arbitragers away from the (somewhat) tedious process of keeping a floor on the market.  As a result, there've only been sellers who, like you, just subtract a few currants from whatever the lowest price is and post their sales.

    My advice: if you can teleport, set a spot at Cebarkul, and if auction prices are too low to compete with porting over to sell it all (at 480 a stack), do that.  Keep in mind, of course, that the port will cost you energy (which you might figure as costing 1c per E), and that the auction will cost you almost 10% of your take (maybe 50c per stack), so there's your tradeoff.  You might also consider joining the arbitragers - they tend to be a pretty friendly bunch.
    Posted 13 months ago by Yarrow Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ooh, alright, thanks guys. (Does this mean I was selling them for lower than the vendor price even when I sold 'em for 450c?) I can teleport, and never mind energy. ENERGY IS FREEEEEEE.

    Well, A FIXED AMOUNT OF ENERGY IS FREE and I can always chomp on meat if I don't feel like cooking awesome stew. \o/
    Posted 13 months ago by Sororia Rose Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @ IrenicRhonda
    I have had pigs and constant harvesters going at them for over a month. To me, being able to be almost constantly harvested for an entire month means that they do not die. If they do, it is so far in the future that nobody should worry about it, because by the time they die you will be 20 levels higher and completely capable of making more pigs.
    Posted 13 months ago by Biohazard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • A tip: sell your 80 Butterfly Milk at a Kitchen Tools Vendor. I sell mine from my 5 butterflies there for 480... 
    Posted 13 months ago by I'm Chris Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hmm... so... is it no longer true that all vendors pay 70% of the info worth for everything except tool vendors, who pay 80% (unless it's unbundled grain, it which case they pay 100%)?
    Posted 13 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @ Pinkkea, at 450 you were selling a stack of meat a little above the regular vendor price and a little below the tool vendor price - but you were paying the auction house a commission on every stack, so you were always coming out with less than you would have just from selling to the vendor on your block.  
    Posted 13 months ago by oscarette Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Don't forget the rounding, the reason grain sells for 100% is that its 1₡, per grain.  You take either 70% or 80% of that and round up to the nearest current and you get 1₡ again.  The same goes for sparkly/milk, sparkly/milk is 8₡, 70% is 5.6₡ and 80% is 6.4₡, both round to 6₡ so technically you can sell sparkly/milk to any vendor (as long as its not a mining vendor who is 60% I think) and get 6₡ each
    Posted 13 months ago by Mithax Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Mithax: There is an inconsistency here. When donating to shrines, the fractional worth of an item is multiplied by the total number of items, THEN rounded. When selling to vendors, the fractional worth of the item is rounded, THEN multiplied by the number of items. This doesn't make any sense.

    ETA: And it makes bundled grain worth LESS than unbundled grain, which really doesn't make any sense.
    Posted 13 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I don't know about the shrine, I've never worried about it as it gives you 100% of value plus whatever powder you might use. (I personally use meat to hit the number dead on, so I don't have to round).

    But I do know you're correct about the vendors, they round the per unit price and then multiply it by the number sold. I think TS does it this way so they're not dealing with fractions, with vendors by rounding first you will get the same price per unit no matter how many you sell. I've tried this at multiple times and always got the same result. Its been awhile since I've last tried though, if you have a different experience let me know, it might have been part of one of the updates.
    Posted 13 months ago by Mithax Subscriber! | Permalink