Why you need extra retainers

[Solaria_Luna]

It really depends on your server. Some materials are in demand more than others. Sometimes the raw materials are actually worth more than the finished product. In order to get an accurate answer to your question you would have to examine the price history of the items you think you might be able to sell and then decide if the process of making or obtaining the items would be worth it.

Prices can also vary, sometimes wildly, based on the day of the week and even the time of day, so study the market carefully before investing a lot of time and gil into it!

lol the one known is Alumen...it seems people need Alumen a lot. "I mine Alumen, people love Alumen." (people is a self censor)

[Gamer3427]

lol the one known is Alumen...it seems people need Alumen a lot. "I mine Alumen, people love Alumen." (people is a self censor)

It's because of Aldgoat leather. It's used in quite a bit of crafting, and you can't buy it anywhere but the MB. The only two ingredients for it are Alumen and Aldgoat Skin, which can be farmed easily, (I think I got nearly 200 Aldgoat skins in a short session while a miner friend of mine was gathering about 30 Alumen). On my server, Aldgoat Skins are practically worthless on the market, but Alumen sells for about 100 gil each. The finished leather on the other hand sells for closer to 500 gil each, and can be crafted pretty early on in leatherworker....

[UBERHAXED]

It's because of Aldgoat leather. It's used in quite a bit of crafting, and you can't buy it anywhere but the MB. The only two ingredients for it are Alumen and Aldgoat Skin, which can be farmed easily, (I think I got nearly 200 Aldgoat skins in a short session while a miner friend of mine was gathering about 30 Alumen). On my server, Aldgoat Skins are practically worthless on the market, but Alumen sells for about 100 gil each. The finished leather on the other hand sells for closer to 500 gil each, and can be crafted pretty early on in leatherworker....

Alumen is used for all leather before raptor, starting from aldgoat. Also it goes without saying, you can't buy any leather anywhere (and probably skins for that matter). The low level stuff below lvl 10 don't count...

It's not regular though, that sales volume is pretty bad and we have no idea what the actual margins are. If anything he is proving a point by saying even if you do this horribly inefficient way of making money, one of many you can do without being a 4 star crafter, you will be able to make whatever you need.

Also as with above, Japanese servers actually have competitive prices since people tend to gather and craft their own stuff a lot more. The prices are closer to equilibrium, NA servers are a turkey shoot to make gil in comparison so I don't know what people are complaining about.

Doesn't that mean it's less competitive and worse because no one buys as often?

[Gamer3427]

Alumen is used for all leather before raptor, starting from aldgoat. Also it goes without saying, you can't buy any leather anywhere (and probably skins for that matter). The low level stuff below lvl 10 don't count...

Ah. I wasn't aware of the other. My main two crafters I've leveled to any point beyond level 15-20 are Alchemist and Culinarian, which don't exactly have much need of leather, (maybe one or two Grimoirs, but even then I'm not sure since I'm not looking at a crafting log right now).....

[SarcasmMisser]

Doesn't that mean it's less competitive and worse because no one buys as often?

Less buyers puts downward pressure on prices, this is not very ambiguous

[UBERHAXED]

Less buyers puts downward pressure on prices, this is not very ambiguous

Ah, you were referring to a buyer's market. Not convenient for making money though.

[Shadray]

The ingots...I got nothin.

Steel ingots are turned in for leve quests, it'll be people lvling trade skills wanting x2 for HQ turnins.

This is whe he'll have the same customer for a bit then it changes.

[Solaria_Luna]

Ah. I wasn't aware of the other. My main two crafters I've leveled to any point beyond level 15-20 are Alchemist and Culinarian, which don't exactly have much need of leather, (maybe one or two Grimoirs, but even then I'm not sure since I'm not looking at a crafting log right now).....

On the other hand my Weaver is almost 30. (I checked and yep it's my WVR not LTW)

[Ashkendor]

Here's the thing though: a lot of players will NOT look up where you can purchase mats from NPCs. If it's not available within a town vendor or their class' guild, they automatically assume you can't buy it from an NPC. I know quite a few people that will buy things from the residence districts' vendors and from beast tribe vendors and put those items immediately back on the MB at double or triple the price. And it sells. Quickly.

Yep. When I have a dearth of things to sell, I'll go buy a stack of linen or velveteen from the sylph vendor and list it in stacks of 5 at a steep markup. It usually sells out pretty quickly. Honestly, most of the key to making money is just making sure that you have as many items as you possibly can listed on the market at any given time. I sell everything from dodore crafting/gathering gear to ingots to allagan crafting mats to fleece to food... well, you get the picture. Diversify!

Hell, I probably make as much money selling Krakka Roots as I do selling Thavnairian Onions. It's not always about selling big ticket items. Listing high-volume items in small quantities allows you to make a pretty hefty profit off of them.

[Twilite]

Since the OP ran his mouth, these items are now gonna be pointless to put up in a few months.