MERCHANT
SUMMARY
Merchant is an extremely useful profession which compliments other crafting professions. There are a number of skills that become available only to Merchants such as vendor vocalization, tailored uniforms for vendors, placing shop signs, and several others.
Requirements & Grinding
Business IV from the Artisan skill tree is required for Novice Merchant.
- The grind for Merchant is infamously slow.
- To grind Master Merchant: focus on the xxx4 chain to place as many vendors as possible (9 at xxx4, 10 at x4x4)
- Merchant XP is received for every vendor active with maintenance and an item listed.
- Passive XP is generated hourly.
- Additional bonus XP is received for player interactions with your vendors in buildings with or without an active entrance fee
Skill Tree
Advertising
- Unlocks ability to advertise on the planetary map
- Have the vendor vocalize with generic or custom text
- Utilize Merchant Barker Droids to say custom text strings
- Generally reduces costs of fees (maintenance, vendor, advertising, bazaar)
- Unlocks ability to place a merchant tent (crafted by Architects)
ABOUT VENDORS
How to Place a Vendor
1. Create Vendor
- Open a Structure Management Terminal on a building you have admin rights to & select Create Vendor
- Structure must be set as Public on the terminal
2. Select Vendor Type
- Select the type of Vendor you would like (note: humanoid vendors become available in Merchant Hiring I: Selective Hiring
- More selection options regarding your vendor as you skill up such as more species options, gender, etc.
3. Name your Vendor
4. Drop & Adjust your Vendor
- Radial on the vendor in your inventory to drop where you like
- Before initializing, rotate & move the vendor
5. Initialize your Vendor
- Radial to initialize or double click
6. Maintain your Vendor
- Vendor rates start at around 15 credits per hour (~11k per month) and reduce with the Efficiency skill line
- A vendor that runs out of maintenance will no longer be searchable
- NOTE: If you re-fill the maintenance after your vendor is damaged it will take several hours to start working again
7. Enable Vendor Search
- For listings on the Bazaar galaxy search, remember to Enable Vendor Search on the radial menu!
Vendor Rules
- Items For Sale are good for 30 days
- Items in stockroom are destroyed in 54 days
- Un-accessed vendors are destroyed in 60 days
- Empty vendors are destroyed in 90 days
Full rules can be found here:
Vendor Policy
HOW MERCHANT WORKS
Building up the Merchant skill tree unlocks an assortment of unique skills, greatly reduces maintenance, and substantially increases the amount of vendors and item listings you may have.
Merchant Skills
Vendor Vocalization
- Have your vendor say either canned or custom text when a player enters the vicinity
- Generic categories of vocalization are granted at Advertising I: Vocalization Training
- Custom vocalization is granted at Advertising III (this is a bug as of August 2022 and should be Advertising II: Advanced Vocalization)
Vendor Clothing
- At skill level Hiring IV: Uniforms you may dress your vendor
- Drag and drop various Tailored clothing on to your vendor to dress them in whatever you like!
Merchant Tents
- Place a small merchant tent that uses 1 lot as a vendor outpost
- Ability to place the tent at Efficiency IV: Structures
Shop Signs
- Place a sign outside a building you own which is highly visible to those passing by
Planetary Advertising
- Add your vendor to the planetary map under various categories such as Vendor -> Weapons
- Advertising III: Planetary Ad Campaign grants this ability
Barker Droids
- At Advertising IV you may utilize a Merchant Barker Droid made by a Droid Engineer that will say custom text strings periodically in town while you are online
ADVANCED TECHNIQUES
Storage / Component Vendors
- Widely acknowledged as the most efficient way to store items since houses have limited space. The search feature is extremely useful for finding specific sub-components when crafting. Just make sure your items don't disappear according to the vendor rules!
Shift-Click
- Handy tip - you can shift+click to highlight as many items on your screen to re-list or retrieve items. Saves a significant amount of time doing one-at-a-time.
Pack a Vendor
Vendors may be packed in your datapad, which is extremely handy for loading up and then moving to where it needs to go.
Ever need to move into a different houses? Throw everything on a vendor, pack the vendor, then unpack the vendor in your new house. Voila! Moving company.
Building Name Colors
SPECIAL ITEMS
-SoloWest, June 2022