To Be Free Trade Or Not To Be (Poll Question and Discusion)

Moderator: Community Team

To Be Free Trade Or Not To Be

Yes to fredom in our market !
9
50%
No !
9
50%
 
Total votes: 18

User avatar
Texas_Knight
Posts: 1270
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:16 am

Re: To Be Free Trade Or Not To Be (Poll Question and Discusi

Post by Texas_Knight »

Balerion,

Nobody is saying you or anyone else in particular has done anything wrong. This is to protect our citizens as well as the traders that come through. Making it fair to all is the goal I believe. If you don't want it to be fair, then feel free to go elsewhere.
Image
Viscount of Northwood and Royal Guard
User avatar
balerion
Posts: 6399
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2009 7:02 am

Re: To Be Free Trade Or Not To Be (Poll Question and Discusi

Post by balerion »

You suggestion would completely undo all that the new law set about to correct. I cannot pretend that i don't think there is a problem with that.
Image
Shaker of Castles
Order of the Pillow | Sunspear
User avatar
Texas_Knight
Posts: 1270
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:16 am

Re: To Be Free Trade Or Not To Be (Poll Question and Discusi

Post by Texas_Knight »

Well please, in detail, point out how that would happen. Instead of just packing up your toys and going home.
Image
Viscount of Northwood and Royal Guard
User avatar
balerion
Posts: 6399
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2009 7:02 am

Re: To Be Free Trade Or Not To Be (Poll Question and Discusi

Post by balerion »

Traders would be able to again flood the market with cheap goods. My milk wouldn't sell. I wouldn't produce milk. It isn't complex.
Image
Shaker of Castles
Order of the Pillow | Sunspear
User avatar
Texas_Knight
Posts: 1270
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:16 am

Re: To Be Free Trade Or Not To Be (Poll Question and Discusi

Post by Texas_Knight »

Bale, I think you missed part of the conversation, so I'll repeat everything I've said so you can make an educated statement once you've understood the things that I have said.
Texas_Knight wrote:Having read the discussion and looked at both sides of the fence I have an alternative idea. Let me start by saying that I am both for free trade AND protecting the citizens of our Viceroy. So a compromise of sorts is in order to assure both.

Here is what I propose:

Fair Market Pricing.

There are suggested prices that each item carries with it. Those are not what I refer to. Each item should have a competitive price on it. Let's take for instance, Eggs. The price range on eggs is 2 - 30 frenzics. But a competitive price is under 4f each. So for that item the Fair Market Pricing would be anything from 2.5f to 4f. It would take some time to put together, but I feel it would be a fair way to regulate the items. All would be posted in the main town page and could be stickied and labeled "Fair Market Prices for Widu" Or something along those lines that would make those wishing to sell on our market aware of the price ranges in which they were allowed to set their goods.

We could have a market watcher that would contact any that were out of the range and advise them to pull their goods and reprice them fairly or not post them again.

Just a quick illustration and idea, but I think you understand where it plays a more practical solution.
And Also


Traders buy low and sell high. It's the only way they can make a profit and keep trading. If the items on our market are too high, then the trader will try to undercut the prices if he/she can still turn a profit. If the prices are too low, then the trader will buy the goods and either sell them back to our market at a higher price (what I call market manipulation), or take them to another town where they can sell them for a higher price and turn a good profit.

If there is a surplus of goods on the market then the prices will probably be low as the seller will try and get the product sold if they can manage a lower price. This is good for traders when they are in a buying mood.

Likewise, if there is a shortage on the market of a certain good, and the trader happens to have that good, then the trader will likely try to sell the goods at the highest possible (legal) practical price. This is good for two reasons. 1: it brings goods that we are short on to the market. 2: It attracts traders who will buy the goods that are priced real cheap and they will take them some place else.

Remember that just because you have something does not mean that you have to keep it. It also does not mean that you have to sell it. But if you have, for instance, wheat that you can't sell because the market is flooded with that item and a trader comes to town. You can contact that trader and work out a price. Or, let the trader buy the cheap wheat on the market that others have posted at a price that you would consider a loss of profit. Then, you can put your wheat on the market for what it would take to make you a profit.

In short, we don't want to scare off traders. We want to make the market prices fair to ALL who come to our town. Be they residents, or visitors. That's why I suggested posting legal price ranges on the items so that ALL know the ranges in which things can be bought or sold. It prevents our residents from being taken advantage of, and allows traders to work within a range that is preset so they don't unknowingly take advantage of anyone.

It would also be a good idea to have a place where traders sign in letting people know they are here to do business.
Image
Viscount of Northwood and Royal Guard
User avatar
balerion
Posts: 6399
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2009 7:02 am

Re: To Be Free Trade Or Not To Be (Poll Question and Discusi

Post by balerion »

Making words bold doesn't negate the concerns of market dumping. Dumping is dumping no matter what the price is. Every town but Cork has official market laws. Even Cork has unoffical ones. The town council has done a good job with this law, and though most people have things they would like to tweak to it it was very well done. You can disagree if you like and perhaps even gain enough support to change it. I for one appreciate having a protected market safe from those who would profit while driving others out of production. Soon I will put my fields to use again. I would never have done so without the passage of this law protecting my economic rights.
Image
Shaker of Castles
Order of the Pillow | Sunspear
User avatar
Texas_Knight
Posts: 1270
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:16 am

Re: To Be Free Trade Or Not To Be (Poll Question and Discusi

Post by Texas_Knight »

Okay, so it's the possibility of dumping you have an issue with then? By the way, if you had originally stated your concern about dumping, then there would have been no need for me to repeat everything and we could have gotten to this point much faster.

Easily solved by limiting the number of good a trader can put on the market. Since you're so well versed in that area, what would you recommend the limits be?

I would recommend no more than 20 of any item simply because a trader would like to make the trip profitable and if he prices 20 goods 1 frenzic above what he bought them for then he can make a meager 20f for that trip. More than likely he's going to have more than one good to put on the market and therefore maximize his time/income ratio. So, if a trader brings 5 different goods to a town and places 20 of each on the market he could make 100f for his trip if all sold as the above scenario is laid out.

And if you are selling your milk on the higher end of the allowable (legal range as set by the town and a trader comes in and undercuts you by selling on the lower end of the allowable range as set by the town, then that's called competition. Get over it, either pull your milk and lower your prices, or drink it yourself.

Does that address your concern dragon?
Image
Viscount of Northwood and Royal Guard
User avatar
balerion
Posts: 6399
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2009 7:02 am

Re: To Be Free Trade Or Not To Be (Poll Question and Discusi

Post by balerion »

Lets pretend it does. I still think the idea of setting a legal range of prices is nonsense, but if you can rally support for the idea by all means do.
Image
Shaker of Castles
Order of the Pillow | Sunspear
User avatar
Texas_Knight
Posts: 1270
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:16 am

Re: To Be Free Trade Or Not To Be (Poll Question and Discusi

Post by Texas_Knight »

Legal price ranges are nonsense in your opinion eh? Well, let's see..

If there was only a couple active bakers in town and they conspired together to price bread at 10f and 10.05f then people would be forced to either buy the overpriced bread, or take a trip and buy cheaper bread.

Or... If there were 2 butchers in town (the kind that make meat into edible meals) and one of them decided to try and run the other out of business by pricing his products at a substantial loss. After so many weeks of not being able to get a return on investment for his meat, the one not pricing at a loss would either have to sell his meat elsewhere or eat it himself.

In either of the above scenarios, legal limits would have prevented the deed. I have seen it happen in my dreams, and it wasn't pretty. Many things happen because of one thing, it's called a domino effect. If meat is too low here, then it gets taken to other towns. If meat is too high here then the citizens get it from another town. It is really simple to understand and it doesn't require a university diploma to understand the need for the legal pricing limits.
Image
Viscount of Northwood and Royal Guard
Silence

Re: To Be Free Trade Or Not To Be (Poll Question and Discusi

Post by Silence »

Umm TK, I think yer missing the point here... Apparently market manipulation isn't making prices higher by eliminating competition, it's making prices any different, meaning that either we have to pay more or that vendors have to charge less and get less profit like.

The problem apparently was that people didn't want to lose money by lowering their prices and that they couldn't sell anything with outside traders coming in and selling things cheaper than they were.

Your price range thing would stop traders from putting things for too much, but not from undercuttin the people here.
Post Reply