39 replies to this topic

[Lyoto Machida]

Bishop Steiner, on 03 June 2015 - 04:02 PM, said:

um...I think you are talking to the wrong person.


Bank fees, credit card fees, the various third merchant marketers all charge fees.

Plus the Locust factory guys were highly unionized, so there's that as well.

[Revis Volek]

Bishop Steiner, on 03 June 2015 - 03:51 PM, said:

short sighted view. All good companies keep "loss leaders" out there, knowing it draws customers many of whom eventually invest in profitable things. And it creates good will to have cheap product available.

Cheap yes, a loosing one. NO

If it cost $4 for every $3 earned its bad, no way around it.

Escef, on 03 June 2015 - 03:48 PM, said:

I know, who would have thought that the MAY sale would end at the beginning of JUNE?

^ Who would have thunk it?!

[Bishop Steiner]

DarthRevis, on 04 June 2015 - 08:25 AM, said:

Cheap yes, a loosing one. NO

If it cost $4 for every $3 earned its bad, no way around it.



^ Who would have thunk it?!

really depends.

Got a scuba shop where I used to live that actually lost money on every diver they certified. 99$ doesn't pay the wages of the Instructors and Divemasters. Let alone insurance, gear maintenance, rent, etc.

But that didn't matter, as most of those people would then spend a huge chunk of money on SCUBA gear. Which thye made a solid profit on. Yeah some people already had gear or got it elsewhere, but the law of averages, they were way in the black, despite losing money on every Diver Certification Course.

Just one example.

[Revis Volek]

bad arcade kitty, on 03 June 2015 - 04:01 PM, said:

>the locusts was costing them money in fees

what
how is it? it's their shop, they can generate as many codes as they want and i'm sure their bank don't charge them 2$ per each depositing

My Merchant company charges me crazy rates for cards sometimes....Like AMEX and stuff is over 12%. I literally wont accept AMEX unless its a $200 order or more....even then its just not worth it.

You have no idea what they are being charged, plus any international rates from US to Canada. Im sure it was decent enough loss if they took it down. If you are breaking even on something and its bringing others in then maybe you think about it.




Also whoever said that BS about mechbays, go play CW for 3 days and you will have a free one.

[Joseph Mallan]

Deathlike, on 03 June 2015 - 05:43 PM, said:

I got the jist, but you'd think you'd want a fee based off a commission instead of a fixed value...

Still, they could've improved the system to favor buying say multiple Lolcusts (say 5 or 10 of them), and that would probably affect PGI's cut in a more positive way.

What we want is not always similar to what we get.

I wanted to do 30 and out. But 20 years in I bought a new house with a 30 year mortgage.

Edited by Joseph Mallan, 04 June 2015 - 10:15 AM.

[Scout Derek]

For some reason I think my Lolcust giveaway caused this...

[Lyoto Machida]

DarthRevis, on 04 June 2015 - 08:25 AM, said:

Cheap yes, a loosing one. NO

If it cost $4 for every $3 earned its bad, no way around it.



^ Who would have thunk it?!

http://www.inc.com/e...er-pricing.html

Quote

Loss leader pricing is an aggressive pricing strategy in which a store sells selected goods below cost in order to attract customers who will, according to the loss leader philosophy, make up for the losses on highlighted products with additional purchases of profitable goods.

[Revis Volek]

Bishop Steiner, on 04 June 2015 - 08:29 AM, said:

really depends.

Got a scuba shop where I used to live that actually lost money on every diver they certified. 99$ doesn't pay the wages of the Instructors and Divemasters. Let alone insurance, gear maintenance, rent, etc.

But that didn't matter, as most of those people would then spend a huge chunk of money on SCUBA gear. Which thye made a solid profit on. Yeah some people already had gear or got it elsewhere, but the law of averages, they were way in the black, despite losing money on every Diver Certification Course.

Just one example.

Now i do see that as being lucrative they can't /wont spend ANY money until they can use the services and gear....then its just selling them that stuff, They already want it and could use it.

But the only real reason they lost so bad on that locust was the free mech bay. That a few dollars lost right there...would have more then enough to cover the cost of the fees I bet if you figured in a mech bay was need extra for that mech.

Anything under $5 should be NO MECH BAY INCLUDED, I may tweet that to Russ just to see if we can get that Lolcust back in the Store.

Edited by DarthRevis, 04 June 2015 - 11:58 AM.

[Bishop Steiner]

DarthRevis, on 04 June 2015 - 11:57 AM, said:

Now i do see that as being lucrative they can't /wont spend ANY money until they can use the services and gear....then its just selling them that stuff, They already want it and could use it.

But the only real reason they lost so bad on that locust was the free mech bay. That a few dollars lost right there...would have more then enough to cover the cost of the fees I bet if you figured in a mech bay was need extra for that mech.

Anything under $5 should be NO MECH BAY INCLUDED, I may tweet that to Russ just to see if we can get that Lolcust back in the Store.

this would of course, have been ideal.

[CDLord HHGD]

There was a sale on the Locust? O.o

[3xnihilo]

Scout Derek, on 04 June 2015 - 10:53 AM, said:

For some reason I think my Lolcust giveaway caused this...

Scout Derek broke the gift store!!!!!

[masCh]

They could have tried the Steam way.

Preload a £5 value on your account (min), and then buy your £2 Locusts from your balance.

[DAYLEET]

DarthRevis, on 04 June 2015 - 11:57 AM, said:

Now i do see that as being lucrative they can't /wont spend ANY money until they can use the services and gear....then its just selling them that stuff, They already want it and could use it.

But the only real reason they lost so bad on that locust was the free mech bay. That a few dollars lost right there...would have more then enough to cover the cost of the fees I bet if you figured in a mech bay was need extra for that mech.

Anything under $5 should be NO MECH BAY INCLUDED, I may tweet that to Russ just to see if we can get that Lolcust back in the Store.

Or you know they could lower the mechbay price accordingly. All in All is shows that the pricing for the stuff isnt done yet and if their answer is to raise the cost of anything then i say they are doing it wrong.

[Ace Selin]

Allow to buy multiple of one mech or multiple of all mechs combined in one transaction. Then limit purchases to a minimum $ value. So buying 10 Locusts is ok or buying a Griffin 2N & a Locust is ok; in one transaction. Its better for buyers and the seller.

[Elizander]

Monkey Lover, on 03 June 2015 - 02:44 PM, said:

Russ said the locusts was costing them money in fees.

I'm not quite sure why they'd put out a product that wouldn't earn them any money unless someone just didn't do the math. That's quite an oversight though.

A more logical reason would be that they didn't put a premium enough profit margin on the Locus after the transaction fees and the percentage of money spent at the gift store on Locusts might be spent on other things that bring in a higher profit. Opportunity cost and all that. If Mech bay sales went down then they'd certainly look at it too.

I guess they are still learning? Stuff like this should have been projected in various scenarios even before they put out the item instead of just slapping on standard price tag and good to go.

[627]

masCh, on 04 June 2015 - 02:35 PM, said:

They could have tried the Steam way.

Preload a £5 value on your account (min), and then buy your £2 Locusts from your balance.

You mean like they invent a virtual currency that can be used to pay for micro things like colors, camo and mechs?

[Appogee]

bad arcade kitty, on 03 June 2015 - 04:01 PM, said:

what
how is it? it's their shop, they can generate as many codes as they want and i'm sure their bank don't charge them 2$ per each depositing

Perhaps there's a minimum fee from the credit transaction providers and that minimum fee exceeded the cost of each Locust sale.

But I think we should be happy on behalf of all the people who aren't going to have to experience the pain of Levelling Locusts

[Yosharian]

So what was the deal? I missed this completely, kinda sucks cos I was interested in buying some Locusts =p

[Joseph Mallan]

bad arcade kitty, on 03 June 2015 - 04:07 PM, said:

but bank charges for transferring money, not for receiving them... i dunno about karmakoins, paypal etc stupid crap

Some local stores have a minimum purchase amount for Credit or they charge you $0.50 to swipe it. Cause they lose money on small purchases. And because I'm a frequent face in their store and generally a nice guy, they sometimes wave it for me.

[happy mech]

627, on 06 June 2015 - 12:13 AM, said:

You mean like they invent a virtual currency that can be used to pay for micro things like colors, camo and mechs?

nice, just use mc in the gift store, all on pgi side