EVE New Citizens Q&A

Hey guys, so far eve has been great, i just subb'ed my first month and am enjoying the game alot.

I hate a few questions/concerns about the Contract System and i could not really find any definite answers so I figured I woul d try here.


First question

(1) Why for instance do some people request insane collaterals such as 1 billion when reward is only 500k
(2) Does the person get your collateral to hold onto and are they in charge of giving it back
(3) If someone puts a contract for 1 billion collateral and items are worth only 1 mil, can they just keep your collateral ?
(4) What are the scams known/involved with contracts and what to watch out for
(5) Tips on how to use the contracting system correctly/efficently ?
(6) Is there anyway at all I can lose my collateral money / any money / etc ?

1.) The collateral is a deposit the courier guy has to make. If he fails the contract or steals it, the collateral goes to the guy who issued the contract. A 1 billion collateral isn't that high if the thing you are transporting is worth about 1 billion too. It's just a safety measure to prevent easy stealing of stuff.

The other option is, it's a scam. You deposit that 1 billion, the cargo is something worthless, but en route to the destination they are waiting for you locked&loaded to kill you and claim that 1 billion.

2.) No, collateral, like rewards go into an escrow state (which means it's substracted from your wallet and the game itself keeps it safe). Upon completion, the collateral is given back to the hauling guy and the reward is paid out, upon failing / stealing the courier contract, the reward is given back to the issuer and the collateral is paid out.

3.) No, because of teh escrow part. They however can, like explained in 1, kill you and thus claim the collateral.

4.) Like said in 1, the kill the courier to claim collateral and another favourite is to make a courier contract into null-sec to a player owned station that refuses you the ability to dock (which means you can't complete the contract).

5.) For couriers....I suggest you use Red Frog. They are a corporation that is 100% build just to courier stuff for people. They have fixed fees and have a very outstanding reputation on finishing their contracts.

6.) Yes, if you fail to complete the contract or steal the contract (break open the courier box) then the other party can claim the collateral.

1.
If the customer has 1 billion ISK worth of goods to haul, he needs to have the hauler deposit at least 1 billion ISK collateral, to make sure the hauler doesn't simply steal all his stuff instead of hauling it.

For a reward, some customers offer as low a reward as possible, and figure someone will pick up the contract eventually (it sometimes takes days). Other players offer a higher reward to attract haulers quickly, especially if there is extra risk involved (a high value cargo that needs to travel a long distance outside of high security space, for example).

The "Haulers Channel" is a public chat channel in-game that often has interesting discussions about appropriate pricing from the haulers' point of view.


3.
Yes. That is one of the scams people like to run. A pirate places the contract, blows up your ship when you try to make the delivery, then gets to keep the inflated collateral the hauler paid. Or the scammer sets a contract for a cargo to be delivered to a station owned by a player corporation in null space, the hauler doesn't have permission to dock at the player-owned station, so the contract fails when the time runs out and the scammer gets to keep the inflated collateral. Or the scammer makes his cheap cargo a bit larger than a freighter can carry, hoping a hauler won't notice that on the contract and will be unable to haul the cargo and so forfeit the inflated collateral.

4.
You can hang out in Jita for a while, or another major trade hub, and watch local chat for which contract scams other players are making fun of.

Most scams simply involve the scammer lying about what the contract says in the fine print, or lying to you about the normal price of the items.

The scammer says he will charge you 10 ISK, but the contract charges you 100 ISK.
The scammer says he will charge you 10 ISK for a Tribble. The contract does say you will pay 10 ISK, but it says nothing about you getting a Tribble.
The scammer says he will pay you 10 ISK for a Tribble. The contract says you will give him both a Tribble and 10 ISK, and he will pay nothing. (Sometimes the contract will say he really does pay you 10 ISK, but you still give him both the Tribble and 10 ISK.)
The scammer offers to sell you Tribbles for 15 ISK on the contract, but you can buy them cheaper on the Market.

A bit more complicated scam is for the scammer to first place a buy order on the market for Tribbles at two hundred ISK each (but with a "Min volume" of 30). He then offers a contract to sell you 27 Tribbles for one hundred ISK each. How convenient! You buy his 27 expensive Tribbles, expecting to double your money. But you can't sell the 27 Tribbles to the Market's buy order, because the "Min volume" on the buy order is 30 (meaning you need 30 or more Tribbles for the buy order to trigger). You can watch for this sort of trick by always checking the price history on the Market to see what an item usually sells for.

Similarly, a scammer can place a sell order on the Market for Tribbles at a much higher price than anyone ever pays, then he offers to sell Tribbles to you at "less than the current market price." Again, checking the price history on the Market will show you the price people really pay for Tribbles on the Market.

The scammer says he is selling you a facton ship, but the contract says he is only selling you a regular ship.
The scammer says he is selliing you a spaceship with 10 pieces of ship equipment included, but the contract says he is giving you only the equipment, not the spaceship.
The scammer says he is selling you a Large item, but the contract says it is a Small or Medium.
The scammer offers to sell you 15 items, but the contract says you only get 12 items.

The scammer says he is selling you a Blueprint Original, but the contract says it is a Blueprint Copy.
The scammer is selling Blueprints, but lies about the Material Level, Productivity Level, or number of Runs.
The scammer pretends the goods he is selling are in this solar system, but the goods are actually 30 jumps away and surrounded by pirates.
The scammer sells you the goods honestly, but then tries to blow up your ship when you leave to recover some of the goods from your wreckage.

Also beware of pretty young avatars who bat their eyelashes and flirt with you, sweet little old lady avatars who only fly to Market on Sundays, polite and helpful avatars who cut you a good deal just because they really like you, and desperately poor avatars who are only parting with the family crystals because they need to raise ISK to buy gas for the flight home.

This all makes the contracting business a very shady and untrustworthy system, I am thinking now maybe I am going t oavoid it. A question I have is for the guy saying a person is going to :

Sell you a ship and modules,
But the contract is selling you a ship blue print and modules,

Wouldn't the contract say its only a blueprint or does ti come up the exact same thing whether its a BP or actual Ship?


Is there a way to tell whether or not the delievery is going to a player owned station where you do not have access to dock ? And if you die while carrying someones cargo do you auto fail,or only fail if someone steals the particular cargo that you are shipping, what if you can amke it back and pick up your own items from wreck ?

A good way to protect yourself against scams is to go to Jita and read the contracts and offers posted in local. Obviously don't accept any of them, just read them.

Now they're all scams. Your job is to work out what the scam is on each one. Once you can immediately identify the scam upon opening a contract, you're reasonably well protected against that type of scam.

And as J'Poll says: no one is going to give you cheap stuff because they like your face out of the crowd. People will sell at lower prices than normal for a quick sale or because they can't be bothered to move large volumes, but any deal that's better than market in or near a trade hub will be a scam.

(1) Why for instance do some people request insane collaterals such as 1 billion when reward is only 500k

If they need to transport 800m worth of stuff (say, a bunch of blueprints) for 1 jump, the high collateral ensures the person transporting the blueprints won't just steal them, while the low reward is appropriate for such an easy job.

Of course, others may just be underpaying the couriers, but that's up to you to decide.

(2) Does the person get your collateral to hold onto and are they in charge of giving it back

No. The collateral is placed in "limbo" in neither of the characters' possession. If the courier completes the contract successfully, he receives it back. If he fails, the other party receives it.

(3) If someone puts a contract for 1 billion collateral and items are worth only 1 mil, can they just keep your collateral ?

As above, they do not get the collateral. If you do that, you are simply ensuring above and beyond that they won't take your 1 mil worth of stuff.

Keep in mind that the higher the collateral is, the fewer people will be able/willing to accept the contract (since it puts more of their money in limbo).

(4) What are the scams known/involved with contracts and what to watch out for
(some tips regarding courier contacts, since other contracts were mentioned above)

Check the route, especially the originating location and the destination. If either is in lowsec or nullsec, beware of traps.

After you accept a contract, if the stuff you're carrying is worth far less than the value of the collateral, beware ganks on your way. The person who gave you the contract may just be trying to rip you off of your collateral by shooting you out of the sky.

Other than that, just double-check everything for accuracy and you should be fine.

(5) Tips on how to use the contracting system correctly/efficently ?

Double check all the things.

I'm serious. Don't rush, go through the confirmation page step by step, and make sure everything is in order. Especially make sure that name-able things are what you think they are (e.g. that Stabber Fleet Issue is actually that, and not just a Stabber named "Stabber Fleet Issue").

(6) Is there anyway at all I can lose my collateral money / any money / etc ?

Yes, by not double checking things, or by failing a courier contract (either by getting blown up, not delivering on time, or by refusing to deliver it and stealing it).

Good luck!