Market Discussions

Its not often we speak up - for those of us living on this quiet Island of Empire space have become accustomed to silence in local, and acknowledge the rarity of passing another pilot in its skies. I'm not proposing we change this: part of the appeal of Solitude is its namesake, and for those of us living here, its what we've come to love.

However, I think trade in the region is something that merits a discussion. One of the few frustrations of living in Solitude space is the market: its buy and sell orders are disparate at best, and those that do stand charge 50% over/under estimated value in the fairest cases. This is obviously to be expected: there are perhaps 75 pilots online at any time, and for that number, its a big place - what traders there are can charge high prices, and as a result there are few sales, and no-one goes home happy.

So I propose that we traders and manufacturers of Solitude talk that over here. In Eve's past, concerted efforts by New Eden's pilots and succeeded in moving some traffic away from Jita: in the last few years, Dodixie and Hek have seen increases in activity, and decentralisation has (slowly) begun - resulting in improved, more diverse gameplay for everybody.

As things stand, I've noticed that the Federal Intelligence Office Assembly Plant in the Boystin system is the closest to what you could (perhaps laughably) call a trade-hub in the region. That makes sense too. Its a 0.5 system, closest to the neighboring Syndicate region, and the bridge to mainland Hi-Sec. It has belts, agents, and (occasionally) some ice.
As such, I've begun manufacturing and selling some simple tech1 goods there, at est. value price, to attempt to draw trade to this system. However, as I am only one pilot, and as my industry is miniscule in comparison to some of those boasted by New Eden pilots, I doubt I'll be able to effect a change on my own.

With that in mind, I invite any traders and manufacturers operating out of Solitude to speak up - where are you trading? Lour? Maire? Lets draw in together - it doesn't make sense to litter the region with sales and buys - everybody wins if we come together in this. (At least, until we jump over to Synd. and the pewpew begins again )

So share your thoughts. I know that some who live in Solitude consider it a taboo to speak about the region, for fear that it will be flooded with Carebears and Pirates, and devolve into a clone of Hi-Sec main. However, I think some minor changes in the way we do business, and the construction of a humble trade hub in the region, will not result in drastic changes for Solitude life at large - the area remains an island, it continues to lack a level 5 agent - and besides, one or two new pilots drawn in by a successful market might even help brighten this green space up!

And in the meantime, I'll be in Boystin, selling you cheap(er) gear. Come say hi

H

TL;DR - Traders and Manufacturers of the Island, Unite!

Note to self. Head to Solitude, buy stuff in this system low, resell high.

At least the guy tried. Keep it up OP. Ignore the trolls

Alright, i'll bite... What does Solitude need as a priority right now?

I saw a wall of text and stopped reading 2.5 paragraphs in... (still haven't read it, it apparently didn't get to the point quick enough)... but what I did understand in reading only ~15-25% of the wall was.... Stuff is too expensive in Solitude and I could make a few ISK out of this predicament.

I've had a plan in play to work towards a market in solitude as a pet project. The problem being that you can't realistically invest until you have capital that is totally spare. This is an issue, since when I run into "spare capital" issues, I just make another alt and those problems go away. One day though, I'll have so much spare capital that no amount of alts can use it and ill chuck 100b towards stocking the market there.
I have this weird desire to see solitude as a bustling mini high-sec.

Creativity = stocking LVL 4 trade hubs with commonly used items with chars trained for a day or 2, the chars you already have.

50M? 3B? try your luck today.

For peace & quiet.
One day I'm gonna open a bookstore someplace deserted just so I can sit in my own bookstore and enjoy all the books.

However it'd be probably not really a big honor to be universally remembered as "Tim, the fool that built a shop in the Sahara".


Now let's Delve in the matter: at location XYZ prices are too high.

"Too" is a subjective concept. It means the person who says that believes that prices are too high. Yet he's evidently in the minority. Why? Simple. Markets are self optimizing and self healing entities. If a price stands at NNNN ISK it's because hundreds of minor and major factors converge into making that price be NNNN and not less (or more).

One of the factors could be: "why take the belly ache and risk ferrying stuff down there?". How many T1 mods shall you sell in there and in how long time, before you could recover from the loss of whatever you used to ferry a load of stock over there?

I still recall the early JF courier days, we'd get asked for 3-5M per 1000m3 of JF space. That is a cost that shall reflect on the ferried items.

Now, if the OP believes he can do better, he's welcome to try! But he should always keep into account about why prices are what they are and thus have an steel hardened strategy to deal against those odds.

That's the spirit! Tim is awesome. Roman Coppola will write the biopic and Wes Anderson will cast Jason Schwartzman in the lead role - (unbeknownst to Tim, who doesn't get Netflix in the desert)

Maire is also a fine candidate - I look forward to seeing you there