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Ask Riki - Tonberry's Lantern - 12-30-2013
Read the full article on the blog.
Good day, gentle reader. Welcome to another edition of Ask Riki, in which I, your delightful devotee of lore great and small, bring the light of truth into the shadows that blind you.
I welcome and answer questions of all kinds, from the mundane to the arcane. Should you find yourself curious about something, in need of an answer to your latest conundrum, or just need to win a bet with your friends, feel free to contact me by moogle-post.** I look forward to being of service.
Today I shall answer but one question. It is a question I get very, very often -- especially since the Syndicate released the prices they're charging for land near Ul'dah.How do I make gil?
-- Everyone
Such a simple question, isn't it? And yet if it had a simple answer, everyone would be rich. There are no shortage of ways to make gil, and that is the problem. One has no idea what to focus on.
There are people who specialize in the production of a certain commodity. For a time, this serves them well. But if the supply of that quantity should change suddenly, for any reason, their livelihood is now in danger. If it becomes more scarce, they have nothing to sell. If it becomes commonplace, the price drops dramatically, forcing them to do much more work to acquire the same amount of gil.
A case in point would be the recent influx of fleece shipments from Coerthas. Wool is very much in demand, as it is an integral part of the clothes most adventurers wear. One month ago, enough fleece to make a spool of woolen yarn might cost you a thousand gil. The price drove more people to shave more sheep. Today? That same fleece sells for seven hundred. Thirty percent of gross revenue -gone-, just like that.
There are also highly-skilled craftsfolk, whose wares are always in demand. While they may seem to have it easier than most, they have their own issues. For instance, the more gil a skilled crafter makes, the more people take it upon themselves to become skilled crafters, thus increasing the supply of wares and creating downward pressure on the market prices of the items they make.
The market is extremely swift and notoriously fickle. What sold today at a high price might go unsold at half that price tomorrow. If you want to maintain a steady flow of gil no matter what the market does, there is only one answer: you must broaden your skills, and you must be prepared to change what you are producing at a moment's notice.
The key is to watch the market. Look for things that sell quickly and are in short supply, and make them -- not a lot of them, perhaps one or two. Listing five of something on the market is a giant flag for other producers that says "HEY! UNDERCUT MY PRICES!"
Wait for those few items to sell, marking them down after a few bells if you need to, then replace them once they've sold. Sell what you can while the price is acceptable, and when other people catch on and the supply begins to rise again, move on to a different target. The person who is first to respond to what the market wants is the one who makes the most gil.
Since the window of opportunity has largely passed, I'll reveal one of my personal gil-making secrets. Within the last few suns there has been considerable demand for training gear to be used in the Wolves' Den. The real profit was made shortly after the Den opened, when demand was high and supply was almost non-existent. Now that the secret is out, and more craftsfolk are producing training gear, the prices have normalized. There's still some gil to be made there, but it will be slow and steady, not the get-rich-quick that most people are looking for.
Another useful tip is to become your own supply chain. If the price of diremite webs is cutting into your profits, go cull some diremites and gather it yourself. Twelve know the world could do with less of them. The same applies to your darksteel, your cobalt, your pineapples, what-have-you. However, if you find yourself in a situation where your wares are flying off the shelf as fast as you can make them, you may make more gil staying where you are and buying your raw materials.
What you produce for sale from day to day is ultimately a judgment call on your part. Of course, good judgment comes from bad experience, and bad experience comes from poor judgment. You will not always succeed. Watch what others are selling, look for opportunities, and capitalize on them, and the gil will flow your way.
And that is enough wisdom to ponder for one day. Pray do continue to send me your questions, and I shall do my best to answer. And above all, Happy Starlight.
Rikitiki Tavatiki is a master craftsman, reference librarian, and leader of the Adventure League of Eorzea.
(** OOC: "Ask Riki" is an in-character syndicated advice column. Riki accepts and answers in-character questions sent to him via the following means:
- the in-game moogle-post on the FFXIV Balmung server
- tweets sent to @AskRiki
- emails sent to [email protected]
Send him your questions, and see them answered in the next installment!)