Jita is soon to burn in the next couple of weeks according to the Goons and with the markets unpredictable and rather turbulent at the moment, Aurel Svenson is attempting to show that a manufacturer and retailer are able to work together as he hopes tbe able to find a state where his ISK making is self-managed.
Aurel’s primary goal is to be able to offload my goods immediately upon making them: “This allows me to quickly reinvest the cash, rather than having it sit in a sell order. It also reduces the aggravation of fighting the market for sales.”
Trust is a valuable commodity within New Eden and Aurel has already had capsuleers let him down, however he remains upbeat despite the set-backs: “The worst that can happen is that someone makes an order and then does not buy the goods in the end. This has happened twice now, but in that case I still have the goods which I can sell by myself on the market, or to another retailer.”
Aurel understands that although a manufacturer and retailer working together can bring some level of success, it isn’t necessarily the best way forward for everyone and is always considering better plans: “It’s hard to hit the right balance, and it’s hard to find a retailer whose goals match yours.
I’m actually pursuing a hybrid model, building and selling myself in my specialties (high volume, low margin markets) while also producing for retailers. Just watching one particular partner of mine, I’m convinced that a good retailer could do wonders for the manufacturer. He knows his markets very well, he extends over several regions, he has enough capital to fully exploit them, and he’s trying to cut me a fair deal so I stay on his side.
I’m not sure yet whether the manufacturer/retailer model is ideal. I’ve only just started and the bulk of my profit is from my own sales I think. I think I have 3 repeat buyers going but I’m not moving a lot of volume through two, one I believe due to capital restrictions on his part, and one due to many T1 mods being cheaper to buy than manufacture.
Another idea which has been put forward to me is the ‘-1er’ consignment model but that requires just as much capital tied up as selling myself, but it does reduce aggravation and allows multiple regions. Once I have more cash I might do this, at the moment I need to sell instead of consign.”
Aurel also understands that some things are just out of a capsuleer’s hands, like “being stood up for a massive order that’s not profitable in local markets”. When that happens he admits that he could be more careful with the retailers he chooses.
As for his future, Aurel told us that once he “hits that break-even point it’s all pretty much self-managed from there” and he needs to find something else to do in New Eden to entertain himself.
