Originally by: Ballistic Mystic

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Edited by: Ballistic Mystic on 06/03/2006 18:25:02
I have no doubt that if you could get one now for 330mil you wouldn't be here asking for one.
Now I don't drive a Ferrari because I can't afford one, but I don't criticize the manufacturer for it. If I were to bash them and then insist on paying half of what they're selling for, do you think they would all of the sudden feel some moral obligation to lower the price to accomodate me?

Here is my marketing philosophy and right or wrong if you were in my place I doubt it would be much different.



1) I've sold a few now on escrow for 475mil, they last an average of 18 minutes and end up back on escrow for 550mil 5 mins later. Now as any other Elite ship builder (or anyone who makes their iskies trading) well knows, if I were to sell them for 300mil, all I'm doing is putting 200+mil into the pocket of a reseller who did next to nothing to earn it. Those who really want the ships to mine with still end up paying 500mil or better.

2) I've had offers from many large corps for bulk sales contracts and I've turned them down. They all want either huge discounts or BYOM/BYOC deals for next to nothing profit. Now why should I give huge discounts to those who can most afford to pay? Here's the funniest part... even if I gave them a deal saving them billions, they'd still shoot me on sight in their space for being from a non-aligned 1 man corp. There is no advantage in this except to the large corp which already has enough advantages over small non-aligned corps.

3) I guarantee that any independent builder with a 3 month queue of orders for 300mil is either raising their prices accordingly or kicking themselves in the pants for getting into a situation where they either have to compromise contracts or their own wallet. Advanced material prices are also continually rising as more bpo are seeded and demand goes up. The profit is extremely good yes, but there is still a lot of work and skills that had to be trained to produce them, and it is the market that dictates prices, not the builders. Hate the game, not the player (and while we all hate the game at times, if everything came easy none of us would have hung around as long as we have).

4) These ships aren't called "Elite" for nothing. There is a certain prestige in owning, using, and even just being seen in one by your mates. They are flying symbols of the dedication that has gone into them, all the way from the millions of skill points required to obtain and use the BPO to the uber skills it takes to fly them. It was never intended that they be as easy and available as T1 and if they were, would it give you the same feeling owning and flying them?

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