[STO] Experiment with Uncommon Unreplicatable Materials

49,000 Dilithium just went out of my hands! I just bought 49 Uncommon Unreplicatable Materials at 1,000 Dilithium each. Pricing for them seems to be 150k each on the low-ball, and 250k being about normal. Well, I, not being normal, didn't price that way.

When I re-evaluated my selling prices for UMs, I decided that 1 Zen to 10k Energy Credits minimum price was agreeable. I would be getting what I felt was a worthwhile price on my time and effort while my buyer was getting a relative deal compared to the rest of the pricing on the market. Even after adding a premium to the price, both of us would be coming out ahead!

So, going off the market at the time (1:160), I priced accordingly: 10,000/160 = 62.5 EC per Dilithium. So, 62,500 was my base price. Looking at the low end of things, I was able to mark up to 100k and feel rather confident about my pricing. By adjusting the pricing, I think its relatively fair… when Dilithium is more expensive, it should command a higher price. When its cheaper, well, that should be reflected as well. Either way, not only was I undercutting the normal pricing, I was also undercutting the low-ball pricing as well!
So, armed with a price, I set up to divide the lots:

• 3 single units for 100k each
• 3 stacks of 7 for 700k each
• 1 stack of 25 for 2.5 million

When I looked through the list of craftable items, I noted that some required only 1 Uncommon, some required 5, and others 7. The 7 is an odd number to be sure, but I went with it. Not only was it the "perfect fit" for some of the recipes, but its still a bulk quantity that some folks might want. Moreover, if they only needed 5, then they'd have extra for later or could flip to recoup their pricing (easy to do with my rates). The 25 lot was there purely to see if people really did buy large lots, or if they were simply there, buried towards the back.

I'm curious to see how this goes. Again, I view this as a win/win, as I'm quite content with the pricing (indeed, if everything sells I still stand to earn 4.9 million, or 1,837,500 more than my base/minimum price), and bargain hunters will likewise be pleased. I don't really worry about this lowering the price of the materials because (in theory) they should be snapped up quickly enough that they won't have time to affect the perceptions about pricing.

Now, this blog on the other hand...?