The first one hundred million ISK is the hardest

As I refine scrap mission loot in my current Core Complexion, Inc. base, before gathering more scrap from my cobweb-gathering home base and on to my Caldari Navy mission base, I take jumping around the region as an opportunity to modify the few sell orders I have outstanding. The orders still have a while to run before expiring, but there must be a reason why the modules are not selling. The lack of sales is likely owing to being undercut since placing the items on the market, because although it is possible, for whatever reason, for modules to experience a flux in popularity those I have yet to sell are still being bought for similar prices in other stations.

Modules and ammunition I place on the market always have a decent profit margin. Any module that won't sell for a good profit can safely be ignored, as there is always a better alternative to fill a manufacturing slot. Insisting on good profits means I have some leeway in my pricing that I can modify later to stimulate sales over the competition without dumping goods. I tend to ignore small quantities of what is probably mission loot undercutting my own prices, as it will sell out quickly and my own modules will then become the best option and I don't lose any ISK overall, but occasionally another industrialist will undercut me with a quantity significant enough not to be ignored.

My options to battle competition are generally limited. I can modify my own price to undercut the competition, which only really works when the competition also looks for a high enough profit margin. Otherwise, I either need to bite the bullet and let my stock sit stagnant on the market whilst the cheaper units sell or cancel the order and relocate the modules to a different station, which will lose me some ISK to taxes. In my current run I only need to relocate a couple of items, one in to a wonderfully criminally neglected market, with the rest of them able to have their prices reduced. It takes a little while to modify the orders, if only because I need to be in the station where the sell order was set-up. I need to make an extra stop or two on my journey to set the new prices, but it will be worth it if the stock sells and makes me the ISK I have invested in to their production.

The results are seen relatively quickly, with the new prices stimulating a boost in my sales figures, without sacrificing much profit, within a couple of days. The difference is readily seen in my wallet. Combined with the recent peak in sales that gains me forty million ISK quickly the current boost finally pushes my wallet over the one hundred million ISK mark! I am only half a million over the mark, but with new modules about to come on to the market made from solely refined minerals I am hoping to sustain the figure for a while until I work out what to do with my wealth.

One purchase option that quickly comes to mind is the daytrading skill book, which would allow me to modify buy and sell orders remotely, up to region-wide at the highest level. It is defintely nifty to start manufacturing runs when I am a few jumps away from my production base using the equivalent science skill and being able to alter orders from a distance would not only save a lot of travelling time but also encourage more market manipulation than my time currently allows. Whilst it sounds like a good way to invest my ISK I have to wonder if it is worth the quite hefty eleven million ISK price tag. I doubt the skill book will ever pay for itself as such, but it certainly is an effective reminder that 'time is ISK' and my current experience shows that it is better to have ISK in the wallet then potential sales on the market. I switch my training queue around a little so that I will have trading IV within the day, a prerequisite skill for daytrading, and will ponder the purchase further.

Posted in Gaming |
Tags: eve online, industry, mmorpg, penny ibramovic