LF advice from 3-star Crafters: How to properly commission a set of i220 gear?

[FoxyAreku]

You just need to find someone who isn't over-entitled.

I'd make you the full set for 50k or so if you were on my server. People who overcharge for crafting service is a huge pet peeve of mine.

[LineageRazor]

You just need to find someone who isn't over-entitled.

I'd make you the full set for 50k or so if you were on my server. People who overcharge for crafting service is a huge pet peeve of mine.

Ask ten different crafters what an appropriate charge is, and you'll get eleven different answers. And they'll all be correct answers.

No one has any right to decide what is a fair price for someone else. Different people consider their time to be worth different amounts. It's all subjective, and no one is right or wrong.

If you think someone is overcharging, and they still get business, then they're not overcharging. The only deciding factor is if the customer says "no", and how eager the crafter was for the customer to say "yes". I'm sure there's plenty of crafters out there who set their prices high because they don't WANT a ton of business, but still have a price at which they're willing to work. By the same token, there are crafters who charge low because crafting for folks is what they love to do.

[Eorzean_username]

Well, all the advice here gave me the confidence to keep trying — I think trying to do this entirely on my own, I would have run away, given up, and re-sold all the mats by now.

The diverse opinions in this discussion seem to also be reflected in Eorzea. So far, I've encountered a range of Crafters... several who messaged my PF ad just to tell me my offered tip was pathetic/insulting/etc, some very harshly (I'm sorry, I'm trying!), and also several enthusiastic Crafters who have said anything I offer is fine (or even tried to talk me down on my tip / Food quality). All on the same day. And the same server.

I'm still not done with all the pieces, but I'm making good progress. Without this thread I wouldn't even have known how to properly begin, I would have gotten bullied into enormous fees, I wouldn't have realized proper etiquette (like providing Food)... etc.

So, TY everyone! This has been an adventure and an education.

[FoxyAreku]

Ask ten different crafters what an appropriate charge is, and you'll get eleven different answers. And they'll all be correct answers.

No one has any right to decide what is a fair price for someone else. Different people consider their time to be worth different amounts. It's all subjective, and no one is right or wrong.

If you think someone is overcharging, and they still get business, then they're not overcharging. The only deciding factor is if the customer says "no", and how eager the crafter was for the customer to say "yes". I'm sure there's plenty of crafters out there who set their prices high because they don't WANT a ton of business, but still have a price at which they're willing to work. By the same token, there are crafters who charge low because crafting for folks is what they love to do.

Yes and that's great and all, you haven't said a single thing I didn't already know.

Doesn't make it any less over-entitled feeling when someone charges you so much that it would have been cheaper to just buy the item you want made when you give them all mats AND food.

That isn't even what upsets me though, I just won't use them. What REALLY upsets me is when someone says they will craft for you, and you go all the way to them and give them all the materials with food and a big tip, and they suddenly stop you and give you all the mats back saying what you gave them was unacceptable and they won't work for you now. What? You didn't tell me there was a charge, I gave you that 50k-100k to be nice. If you're going to charge someone, tell them beforehand you are and how much at least! I'm not a mind reader....

I've blacklisted people over this before because it is ridiculously annoying and rude, and it's happened to me multiple times.

Well, all the advice here gave me the confidence to keep trying — I think trying to do this entirely on my own, I would have run away, given up, and re-sold all the mats by now.

The diverse opinions in this discussion seem to also be reflected in Eorzea. So far, I've encountered a range of Crafters... several who messaged my PF ad just to tell me my offered tip was pathetic/insulting/etc, some very harshly (I'm sorry, I'm trying!), and also several enthusiastic Crafters who have said anything I offer is fine (or even tried to talk me down on my tip / Food quality). All on the same day. And the same server.

I'm still not done with all the pieces, but I'm making good progress. Without this thread I wouldn't even have known how to properly begin, I would have gotten bullied into enormous fees, I wouldn't have realized proper etiquette (like providing Food)... etc.

So, TY everyone! This has been an adventure and an education.

Glad to hear it's going well for you. Some people are so rude when Gil is involved (as you can see with my story above), but I'm glad you're finding some nice people on your server.

Maybe don't put the amount you're offering in the party finder, assuming that is what you are doing, just say "Will tip" and ask them if that's enough when they message you? Just a thought. Good luck with the rest.

[Eorzean_username]

Glad to hear it's going well for you. Some people are so rude when Gil is involved (as you can see with my story above), but I'm glad you're finding some nice people on your server.

Maybe don't put the amount you're offering in the party finder, assuming that is what you are doing, just say "Will tip" and ask them if that's enough when they message you? Just a thought. Good luck with the rest.

Honestly it was a little rough at first, without this thread I probably would have just been shellshocked and gave up with the responses I was getting. They ranged from kind-of harsh (like dead silence after my offer) to almost mean (like questioning my IQ).

That was with me offering 100% HQ mats (many pre-refined), all clusters, as much HQ Stew as needed, and making clear it's not a rush order. It was like... 'I thought I was doing this right!'

I started listing the tip as the very first thing in the PF message, figuring that Crafters who wanted more could just stop reading and ignore me after seeing the number. It sort-of worked (everything got much quieter) and sort-of didn't (since now they messaged me to tell me how much my tip sucked).

But then it made my day when I heard the Tell bloop, was expecting another lecture, and instead it was just: "Sure, I can do that for you" ... "Don't stress about counting clusters, if you're missing a few it's nbd" ... "Don't waste money on HQ stew, I can do it with NQ" ... "No, your tip is fine, don't stress about it" ... etc. ^^

[FoxyAreku]

Honestly it was a little rough at first, without this thread I probably would have just been shellshocked and gave up with the responses I was getting. They ranged from kind-of harsh (like dead silence after my offer) to almost mean (like questioning my IQ).

That was with me offering 100% HQ mats (many pre-refined), all clusters, as much HQ Stew as needed, and making clear it's not a rush order. It was like... 'I thought I was doing this right!'

I started listing the tip as the very first thing in the PF message, figuring that Crafters who wanted more could just stop reading and ignore me after seeing the number. It sort-of worked (everything got much quieter) and sort-of didn't (since now they messaged me to tell me how much my tip sucked).

But then it made my day when I heard the Tell bloop, was expecting another lecture, and instead it was just: "Sure, I can do that for you" ... "Don't stress about counting clusters, if you're missing a few it's nbd" ... "Don't waste money on HQ stew, I can do it with NQ" ... "No, your tip is fine, don't stress about it" ... etc. ^^

It sounds like you'd be a pleasure to work for from my perspective, it's great that a few bad eggs haven't spoiled it for you.

[Nekotee]

Most of the time I tell customer that I don't want food nor cluster
(Except water one)

One time I even cut the price in half if I got water cluster
The person was so happy not to pay gils that he gave me so much cluster that i got twice the price in cluster ._.

[Eorzean_username]

And — done! The entire set is complete now.

One last 'Thank you' to everyone who guided me along in this discussion, as well as all the really friendly Crafters I've met on Gilgamesh.

My best advice to anyone else that wants to get high-end items commissioned: Respect the Crafter that's volunteering their time, and the Crafter will be a lot more willing to respect your own desire to have the item. You might not be able to actually craft the 3-Star item yourself, but you should do everything else that you can do — which is actually a lot.

[panderin]

And with any MMO don't let the trolls get you down, they aren't just in Dungeons and Raids there are crafting Trolls to. Super glad you found some good people on your server to help you!