Crafting as a service outside de Market Board?

Hi all, I am madly in love with this game and I just uploaded all my professions to level 50, in 4 of them I reach the three stars in high quality. I've never liked Gil sellers, in fact I report to all who send me private. However I think it is not bad offer my crafting services outside the market board, I would like to do this to generate giles for me and someday buy a home. My question is : i would break the rules of the game?, another question: sell runs for gils is also illegal? you know some forum where you can advertise services players to other players? thanks to all, I ask these things because i do not want to be banned... ;)

Crafting as a service is not illegal, a lot of people do it succesfully and it's a very good way for people to get stuff done without paying absurd ammounts of money. Now, to be fair, without everything at 4stars you might not be very popular as the people that will require your services will most likely want 4stars of certain crafts for their needs. My advice is: find a good market for you, search the market board and see what sells more often, or has a huge margin and sells at least 2 or 3 times a day (I.E. artisan gear), use that money to get everything to 4stars and then you can sell your services.

Just my humble opinion, I also don't have 4stars on all crafts.

It would also help to set up some basic contract in case of nq and what not. People don't want to be responsible for your bad luck, vice versa. People are paying you to make them an hq item, and there will be that off chance you'll make an nq instead, what will you do? Try and get that out in the clear beforehand.
Make it professional. Do not send random tells to advertise, standing in cities or teleporting around the 4 major hubs (Limsa, Gridania, Ul'dah, Mor Dhona) should be enough to get your name out. Also, make a pf party with the advertisement and mention that in your shouts.

95+% of the time people who want to hire a crafter outside the market board just want stuff cheaper than what it is worth on the market board. Not only will you make less than selling on the MB, but you will also waste a lot of time coordinating with that person. I'll do stuff off the MB for my friends and FC mates, but it is because I am doing them a favor, not because it is a profitable or efficient business model.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by giantslayer

95+% of the time people who want to hire a crafter outside the market board just want stuff cheaper than what it is worth on the market board. Not only will you make less than selling on the MB, but you will also waste a lot of time coordinating with that person.

---

That's making the huge assumption that if you don't craft for them nobody else will, and you will know what they want, make it, and put it on the MB, and that they will buy it off the MB, and that they will buy yours.

Crafting on demand is faster sales for less per sale, it's a trade-off.

You might have trouble finding buyers though with only 4 crafts at 3-star.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StouterTaru

That's making the huge assumption that if you don't craft for them nobody else will, and you will know what they want, make it, and put it on the MB, and that they will buy it off the MB, and that they will buy yours.

Crafting on demand is faster sales for less per sale, it's a trade-off.

You might have trouble finding buyers though with only 4 crafts at 3-star.

---

True. Another crafter could take the sale off-MB. On the other hand, another buyer could show up on the MB if you stuck the item there instead.

Ultimately, the main issue for me is not how long it takes to get my Gil, but how much of my time is spent. I don't have as much time to play this game as a lot of other people do, and I try to use it efficiently. In my limited experience, coordinating an off-MB transaction usually takes up about 10-30 minutes of time for a modest profit. It takes me 2 minutes to make an i90 item that will generate 300k in profit on the MB. Chasing off-MB sales isn't a good use of time in comparison. If you have more time on your hands and/or enjoy off-MB transactions more, then go for it. I wouldn't really recommend it to someone like the OP who is mainly interested in making Gil.

I often times make better money by not selling on the MB, I have customers than come back to me and pay me a fair amount. There is no wasted time coordinating, they mail me the materials and a note saying what they want, I do it in my own time and mail it back. Some mail payment in advance and some after, I know others that do this too and they make good money. The MB is for higher profit margins but on some servers it's cutthroat with undercutting. It's all about networking, when you sell off the MB, if you see people putting out a shout to find a crafter, reply to them all if you can do what they're asking for, even the simpler things that a lot of 4 star crafters see as beneath them to do, this can lead to people coming back for more sales that can eventually become reliable sells.

Yep, crafting outside of the MB is more or less about building relationships..
People will come back to you again and again for more needs, even make referrals. I don't charge anything for crafting if people come to me, it's too much hassle to figure out the right price, etc.. and getting the details down. So I don't ever technically ask for any money, but people still pay me between 50k-200k each time with repeated business.

Also, sometimes you get some good trade deals with people.. Don't expect to make more than you would by going to MB, just consider it a side endeavor with eventual payout from the connections you make.. Now I have quick, reliable sources for BC3, 3 star mats, mcDs, coil clears, and more.. Just for offering my services as a crafter.

You get McDonalds or Mastercraft Demimateria? O_O

I usually hang out right next to MB, I do a lot of PTP crafting works, I do not charge players, I just ask them to tip me whatever they can afford.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by giantslayer

95+% of the time people who want to hire a crafter outside the market board just want stuff cheaper than what it is worth on the market board. Not only will you make less than selling on the MB, but you will also waste a lot of time coordinating with that person. I'll do stuff off the MB for my friends and FC mates, but it is because I am doing them a favor, not because it is a profitable or efficient business model.

---

This is not necessarily a problem.

Selling on the MB has a lot of disadvantages:

1) Taxes
2) Time it takes to sell (I would much prefer selling 10 HQ Artisan's Aprons at 900k, if they sold instantly than having them take up space in the retainers' sales.)
3) Investment. You don't know if your item will sell soon, or if it will decrease price. With a direct buyer, you know how much he'll be paying and it will be instant.

Also when u sell on MB u have to always factor in how far is the server progressing.
When gear becomes unlocked in coil etc the needs for high end accessories kinda plummet as ppl won't really need them as time goes by so ppl who want em will most likely pm private crafters due to the high prices on the MB that don't match the flow of progression.
I.e 2.5 mill platinum accessories seem decent when accessories 1st came out. But now tht more ppl have a lucis / and fcob being unlocked the monopolization of meeting reqs for coil is slowly dropping therefore making the MB a slower / gil inefficient investment.

When i hadn't enough skills and gear to craft 3-4 stars myself, i sent tells to sellers of needed items on the market to buy items directly. It saves at least 5% of the market price for seller and 10% for market buyer.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Darra

but on some servers it's cutthroat with undercutting.

---

:rolleyes:

It also depends on the buyer. I have had people contact me after they see a listing because they want a better price or just to buy directly so both parties avoid the tax involved in buying and selling off the market board. Making a name for yourself and having a good reputation goes a long way. Like someone above mentioned when crafting directly make sure all cards are on the table and both parties know what happens if you happen to NQ an item. Also if mass crafting, its not a bad idea to find direct distributors instead of Market Board. For example, I hate farming my own clusters. It eats a percentage of the profit but I don't like spending hours farming so I found a direct provider who will sell them to me cheaper if I buy in bulk.

Promoting your crafting services on PF is perfectly fine. Promoting your Battle services as well.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by scarebearz

:rolleyes:

---

I'm still not happy with you! Want to buy more platinum nuggets?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Darra

I'm still not happy with you! Want to buy more platinum nuggets?

---

xD

Not yet, but Could do with some other stuff! xD PM me m8 if you wanna make em :D

I sometimes see high level crafters advertising on the party finder.

I liked all the answers and I think will be useful. thank you very much