Doing Melds for others(what to charge)

I've just started being asked to do Melds for people as a level 47 WVR. I'm totally in the dark as to what I should charge/expect the tip to be.

If anyone could point me to a thread/guide on what is fair for both parties, I'd really appreciate it.

I usually don't ask for money and let the customers decide.

More often than not they give a satisfying amount, and it helps building relations.

I mean, melding is free, so even if you don't charge anything you don't lose anything.

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Originally Posted by Vyniea

I usually don't ask for money and let the customers decide.

More often than not they give a satisfying amount, and it helps building relations.

I mean, melding is free, so even if you don't charge anything you don't lose anything.

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Actually you lose whatever amount they would have paid you.

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Originally Posted by Draemos

Actually you lose whatever amount they would have paid you.

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Not gaining, and losing, are not interchangeable terms.

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Originally Posted by Draemos

Actually you lose whatever amount they would have paid you.

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They usually end up paying me, sometimes a thousand gil, sometimes more. Had a guy pay me 15k for a bunch of meld attempts.

If they see you're not after their money, and that you're just nice to them there's a big chance they'll come back to you later if they need more melds.

Charging money might be better on the short term, but leaving payment to the customer to decide encourage long-lasting relationships.

I don't ever charge anyone for it because all I have to do is push a button. I've had a few people tip, but I don't actually care. Any reasonable amount to charge is barely worth anything.

Also, similar to what the person above said... thanks to the cross-server duty finder, the opportunities to meet and talk with people are few and far between. I'd rather make my first impression the best I can by not asking for a pittance of gil.

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Originally Posted by Vyniea

I usually don't ask for money and let the customers decide.

More often than not they give a satisfying amount, and it helps building relations.

I mean, melding is free, so even if you don't charge anything you don't lose anything.

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Melding isn't free. It takes many hours to get your gathering/craft up to 50 to be in the position to do those melds. People need to realize this.

Time is worth compensation.

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Originally Posted by Trife

Melding isn't free. It takes many, many, many hours to get your gathering/craft up to 50 to be in the position to do those melds. People need to realize this.

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But that's a choice the individual made for themself. They like the class and leveled it up. Thats like a tank charging people to tank cause he put time in to level that class, WHM might as well charge too, cause they put hours n hour into level that class too right??? LOL


Some people just like to craft, and if they feel like helping others , there's nothing wrong with that. I like the way they said they do exchanges .

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Originally Posted by Dreey

But that's a choice the individual made for themself. They like the class and leveled it up. Thats like a tank charging people to tank cause he put time in to level that class, WHM might as well charge too, cause they put hours n hour into level that class too right??? LOL


Some people just like to craft, and if they feel like helping others , there's nothing wrong with that. I like the way they said they do exchanges .

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You're right crafting is a choice we make, so we don't end up being broke in the end-game. Just because we took the conscious effort to be successful before racing to end-game like the world is gonna end tomorrow, doesn't mean we don't deserve to be compensated for it...

And your tank/ WHM comparison isn't even close to the situation, now you're just reaching for an excuse. Where do you kids come up with your logic these days? It's really ridiculous, these excuses you come up with. All I see is me, me, me from you guys...

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Originally Posted by SouthernStar71

I've just started being asked to do Melds for people as a level 47 WVR. I'm totally in the dark as to what I should charge/expect the tip to be.

If anyone could point me to a thread/guide on what is fair for both parties, I'd really appreciate it.

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You should charge how much it costs you to actually do it.

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Originally Posted by Trife

Melding isn't free. It takes many hours to get your gathering/craft up to 50 to be in the position to do those melds. People need to realize this.

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The reason I got both of my crafts to 50 wasn't for melds, it was to make the items being 50 gave me access to.

And the money I made selling said items more than make up for the money I spent grinding to 50.

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Originally Posted by Trife

And your tank/ WHM comparison isn't even close to the situation, now you're just reaching for an excuse. Where do you kids come up with your logic these days? It's really ridiculous, these excuses you come up with. All I see is me, me, me from you guys...

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Protip: Blindly refuting someone else's argument without giving a reason and then immediately following with name-calling weakens your own argument, not the other person's.

To be fair though the Tank/Healer analogy was bad. In a party everyone is playing a specific role in return for other party members doing their role. So as a tank you arent actually tanking for free. You get heals from the healer and dps from dpsers in return for tanking. Its a mutual exchange of services.

Do it for free. I got someone to meld for me and I paid them 15k.

I have personally always charged. Right now it is 3k per meld and I almost never run into people unwilling to pay it, some tip on top of that. I am not that big into giving away a service which is what materia melding is. If they wanted it for "free" they have FC mates, friends and the ability to level the craft themselves.

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Originally Posted by Raldo

I don't ever charge anyone for it because all I have to do is push a button.

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No, all you have to do is take a craft to 50. That takes a decent time investment.

/shrug If all I had to do to help hitch-hikers get from point A to point B was push a button, then I'd do that for free too, despite the time/money investment of owning a vehicle.

I did 3 melds the other day and didn't bother setting a price. Would have done them for free but got paid 5000 for each.

More often then not I get asked by strangers to do this for them. And more often then not I'm busy doing something else (like leveling another craft). Because of this I have started to charge people 15k for melds, because i have to stop what I am doing to assist them. If i wasn't busy, or it was a friend/FC/Ls mate I'd do it for free.

I've done over a hundred melds (over 95% of those melds, for free), and have never requested tips. It does tickle me, however, when a client tips me, even if that tip is 100 gil, as that informs me they appreciate my services. In that time, the highest tip I've accepted was 6k, but the player was generous and persistent-generally tips over 1K, I refuse.

I do wonder, if majority of the players realize that, rarely is it "free" on our ends as crafters and melders, especially when our food buffs are active, sometimes costing 2k for the buffs. Or that for the duration it takes for me to meld, that I could have made simple synths which could have profited 5k, if not more.

To the OP and anyone else who'll listen, you might not find melding a 'profitable' endeavor. What you may find is a social gateway which could lead to opportunities yet to come.

Everyone I know (on my server) Friends/FC members do it for free for the community.
Tips are nice, but Melding something to someone else's gear does not cost the melder anything but 2 seconds of time.
Tips is like being a waiter in a restaurant. Sometimes you get 50 cents sometimes you get $10.

To OP, on your server, most people charge between 5k and 10k per meld.

Doing it for free is pretty silly. It costs you time and repair costs at the very least, nevermind the time and investment it took to get to 50. Right now, with endgame crafting gimped into uselessness, you're not making any money off DoW/M to begin with; doing free repairs is just handing money out to DoW/M. It's even sillier when they're selling you the essential materials for making your two-star recipes. You're shooting yourself in the foot white-knighting the fortunate.

I've been running a Humble Indie Bundle deal, kind of. Pay whatever you're comfortable with, as long as it's at least 1gil.

The lowest I've gotten so far was 3 gil, with the highest tip being 20'000 gil. Overall, people usually tip 5'000 gil, and I get pestered quite often for melds, so I can hardly complain. :p

Edit: This is as an Alchemist, by the way.

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Originally Posted by Raminax

I've been running a Humble Indie Bundle deal, kind of. Pay whatever you're comfortable with, as long as it's at least 1gil.

The lowest I've gotten so far was 3 gil, with the highest tip being 20'000 gil. Overall, people usually tip 5'000 gil, and I get pestered quite often for melds, so I can hardly complain. :p

Edit: This is as an Alchemist, by the way.

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This, I pretty much do the same thing.

It results in a lot of requests and still good money since people tend to pay, as you said, 5k per melds, which is higher than what I would even ask for were I asking for payment (I'd ask for 1k or so).

I get charged 250g a piece. In return I do the same.

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Originally Posted by Trife

Melding isn't free. It takes many hours to get your gathering/craft up to 50 to be in the position to do those melds. People need to realize this.

Time is worth compensation.

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It also takes many hours and a lot of hard work to level a DoM/DoW class to 50, what's your point? The act of melding doesn't cost anything and that's all that matters. Besides, if you spent a lot of cash to level crafting instead of doing it the cheaper way, that's your choice, not theirs.

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Originally Posted by Leiloni

It also takes many hours and a lot of hard work to level a DoM/DoW class to 50, what's your point? The act of melding doesn't cost anything and that's all that matters. Besides, if you spent a lot of cash to level crafting instead of doing it the cheaper way, that's your choice, not theirs.

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Neither does the act of handing me a few units of coke, but I have never seen a DoM/DoW do that for free...

Edit: Holy Crap! That's IT!. When I get my crafts to 50, I'll do melds for no gil - 1 unit of rare materials in trade please! It ought to keep people from bugging me, anyway :p

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Originally Posted by Leiloni

It also takes many hours and a lot of hard work to level a DoM/DoW class to 50, what's your point? The act of melding doesn't cost anything and that's all that matters. Besides, if you spent a lot of cash to level crafting instead of doing it the cheaper way, that's your choice, not theirs.

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LOL, hard work for a DoM/DoW class... Don't make me laugh. Grinding FATE's is soooo hard LMAO!!!!!

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Originally Posted by Leiloni

The act of melding doesn't cost anything and that's all that matters.

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Obviously, if a power company is using PV, wind, or hydroelectric sources, then the power they provide should be freeeeee!

how the heck do you even find players to meld for? I'm a lvl 50 alchemist and I've only gotten on meld request =P

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Originally Posted by Gamemako

Obviously, if a power company is using PV, wind, or hydroelectric sources, then the power they provide should be freeeeee!

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Generating that power isn't free though. They need to pay people for maintenance, or just having people on site 24/7 for the biggest installations.

Melds don't even damage gear, so it doesn't cost us a single gil.

Besides, it's not like people don't give money if you don't ask for it, they do, and they often give more than what you would've asked for.

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Originally Posted by Vyniea

Generating that power isn't free though. They need to pay people for maintenance, or just having people on site 24/7 for the biggest installations.

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Actually, PV has little to no maintenance. No moving parts. Can afford to clean it off now and then, but that's about it. Pretty much all of the cost of PV is in the initial investment, and that investment is large enough to to make it one of the most expensive sources of energy per kWh (25-year basis, IIRC).

There is no substantive logic behind the "all I have to do is push a button" argument. This is a video game and all things being equal all anyone ever has to do is push a button and pay a subscription. But its not always that easy is it? Else people wouldn't be coming to you for their button presses if they could just do it themselves, right? That one button press to meld is only accessible to you because of the preceding fifty thousand button presses which were required to unlock it. Asking for a commission is not unreasonable, and hoping for a tip is more than fair.

Here is my 2c

Don't charge FC mates
If you have a fee be upfront about it
Its okay to encourage tipping, or even suggest a tip amount
If someone doesn't tip, you are under no obligation to help them in the future, but...
Remember the people you helped, one day when you need a favor look them up
Help other crafters! This I cant stress enough, it will pay off over time.

well on Shiva they charge 5k/meld... For now I can`t pay that, it`s too much IMO.

whats wrong with charging free? if some1 wants to do melds for free they should b allowed to,,, generally most people would tip or offer to pay eithier way.. its better then charging 100k+ for somethin that isnt even close to bein worth that much lol

Well i'm not leveling blacksmith to 50 just to do free melding
Sorry but some crafts are harder to level compared to others

I have all crafts at 50 and do melding regularly for both FC and the general population. I've never once charged anyone for melding, nor do I request tips. However, only one time so far has a customer not tipped me anyways, and the tips generally range between 5-10k. The largest tips have actually come from the people that don't understand the melding process. I'm nice and patient, and walk them through how to do it and what they need.

Ive actually gotten more friend requests from melding than for anything else I've done in the game.

I could have posted what Manila just wrote word for word. I get more repeat business from free melding than anything else. I have many people refer their friends/FC mates for crafted gear and most of my relationships with customers started with melding. I agree that melding is a service and you should be paid for services provided but sometimes payment can be measured by future business and as many people have stated most customers tip a reasonable amount anyways.

Leave the customer with a positive taste in their mouth instead of making them feel like you are trying to get as much gil out of them as you can. It goes a long ways in many peoples eyes. As crafters we are salesman but don't be that shady used car salesman that is always out for a quick buck, do things to make your customers feel good about the process and you will generate repeat business from them and most of the time their friends and FC mates.