Putting a price on Tech II invention

7th July 2009 – 5.44 pm

I have a couple of Tech II BPCs! I had better make modules out of them, so that I can begin to reap the profits of my medium-term industrial venture. Checking the manufacturing tab of the BPC I get a list of the parts required to produce the drones and modules, which have a few more components than only the simple minerals that Tech I modules require. I understand that although some items are bought from NPCs there are components that can be manufactured. However, I am far too eager in my renewed pursuit of Tech II production to want to waste time now buying new BPOs, putting them in for ME research and manufacturing them, so I'll just hit the market and buy what I need.

The prices for the Tech II manufacturing components are all relatively cheap too. At least, compared to the market price of Tech II items the actual manufacturing costs are but a small percentage. Of course, the real cost is in the invention. Even ignoring that an expensive data interface needs to be used, the datacores are consumed and the random nature of invention means there is no guarantee of a useful Tech II BPC at the end of the process. The datacores, wasted or otherwise, cannot be considered as 'free', because although they only cost time to accumulate—and passive time at that, like skill training—they can be traded on the market. If it is possible to sell the datacores for more profit than manufacturing Tech II items then it would be of more benefit to sell them for others to use. So even with the cheap component cost of Tech II manufacture I am left with the complication of calculating the market price of my manufactured modules.

Working out the market price for Tech I items is mostly straightforwards. I take the cost of the minerals used in manufacture, add the production cost of the installation, and include a margin both to include a worthwhile profit as well as to cover the costs associated with buying and researching the BPO, with the latter cost being a minor complication. Even ignoring that the R. A. M. component is only partially used in manufacture, having to account for the random nature of invention and the arbitrary cost of the datacores makes setting a market price for Tech II items somewhat more complex. Well, except that it doesn't, not really.

One benefit about being a latecomer to Tech II production is that the market prices have already been set. The datacores are traded on the market for fairly standard prices, giving me a good indication of the involved invention costs, and even if the datacores weren't traded the Tech II items themselves are freely available everywhere. It is almost immaterial what costs I think I am absorbing because if I try to sell my products at a price far above the market price I won't make any ISK, and I would be a fool to sell far below the market price, even if I were able to delude myself in to believing my costs were that low. I don't actually need to work out the market price of the Tech II items in any detail, I only need to determine whether the current market price is reasonable for me to sustain production.

It could be argued that working out my costs and deciding the market price is sustainable are the same calculation, which I suppose they are, but at least the current market price gives me an extra datum point. Or, at the very least, I can throw the items on the market at a nominal, competitive cost and leave the calculations until later, perhaps when I have more invention jobs complete to determine the success probability with more accuracy. Some rough figures indicate that if my modules sell I should make enough ISK to cover my initial costs as well as the rather nebulous cost of the datacores, given a slightly better rate of invention success on subsequent jobs.

Content with the outlook I install my two manufacturing runs and scan the market for the systems offering most potential profit, happy to continue my efforts towards industry and Tech II invention. I am even already thinking of expanding, as I once again browse the market for BPOs. Maybe I can manufacture a Tech II spaceship or two.

  1. One Response to “Putting a price on Tech II invention”

  2. Well done... youre right in what you're saying with the datacores being the most expensive item in the whole process... I sometimes shudder at the thought of what the old tech 2 BPO holders could make back when T2 items cost 3-10 times more than what they do now, when they dont have the invention costs associated with their production, but still, I guess the 'good old days' are gone now, and invention is a much fairer solution, as everyones got a decent chance at making a fair bit of ask... as long as the market doesnt get too crowded.

    By Karox Lominax on Jul 7, 2009

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