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Player-Owned Trade Shops
A Trade Shop is a PC (player character) owned and operated
business. Unlike NPC (non-player character) shops, which carry
a pre-defined inventory, owners of Trade Shops can sell anything
and everything. The SHOP command provides all of the tools
you need to run your shop.
ACQUIRING A TRADE SHOP
The first step in acquiring a Trade Shop is to stop by the
local shop district to visit with the Shop Permit Authority.
It is in this office that you can buy a deed for a shop, as
well as buy permits for additional rooms for your shop if
you are a Premium member. The price for a shop permit as well
as extension permits is as follows:
| One Room |
Two Rooms |
Three Rooms |
One Room Extension |
Two Room Extension |
100,000 silvers |
150,000 silvers |
200,000 silvers |
75,000 silvers |
150,000 silvers |
If you are Premium, it is possible to start out with a one,
two, or three room shop. Or you may purchase a one or two
room shop and then purchase additional room extensions. Each
Trade Shop can be a maximum of three rooms in size. Basic
members are limited to a one-room shop only.
Once you have purchased a shop permit from the Shop Permit
Authority, you must find an appropriate location for your
shop. There are Trade Shop districts in each town where all
shops are located. Holding your permit in your right hand,
use the SHOP CLAIM command to claim a shop in the
area of your choice. There is a 5 shop maximum per room, so
if you use SHOP CLAIM in a room with 5 shops, it
will not succeed. Only the character that purchased the permit
can use it to claim a shop.
SHOP DÉCOR AND SET UP
After claiming your shop, go to the local Trade Shop Furniture
merchant to choose the appropriate furniture and décor,
including a sign, door, roof and interior items. Interior
items consist of display cases, tables, and other furniture
décor for each room of your shop. When purchasing furniture,
you can indicate which room of your shop to put it in. The
Trade Shop Furniture merchant will notify you of what piece
it replaces. While inventory containers, signs, and decorative
items can be purchased anywhere, large building materials
such as facades, roofs, walls, floors, and ceilings can only
be bought locally, due to the difficulty of transport.
The containers that will hold the sale items (tables, for
example) have a limit to the number of items they will hold.
The Trade Shop Furniture merchant will provide information
on the containers. Each Trade Shop room can hold a maximum
of 25 items. Therefore, a three-room Trade Shop can have up
to 75 items for sale at a time. Use the SHOP ARRANGE
command to arrange the furniture in your shop to your liking.
SHOP SIGN lets you write on your sign to describe
your wares. Each room can have one column-formatted sign,
which can be purchased at the Trade Shop Furniture merchant.
Use ]] (two right brackets) to insert a return.
SHOP ROOF toggles the visibility of your shop's
roof (provided you purchased one from the Trade Shop Furniture
merchant)
You can close your Trade Shop to the public by closing the
portal on the outside. You'll be able to let yourself and
group members in, even while it is closed. Closing the shop
will not stop anyone inside from purchasing items, which makes
it possible to hold private sales.
Use the SHOP SELL command to add an item you would
like to sell to your display case or table. Hold the item
in your right hand and use SHOP SELL <price>
to put the item for sale on your display. If you want to remove
it from sale, simply GET the item from the display.
PARTNERSHIPS
SHOP PARTNER allows you to offer partnership to someone. This
person must be in the room and needs to accept the offer.
You can have up to 4 partners for your shop.
Each partner can sell items in the shop and access their
profits. The shop owner does not have any access to the partners’
profits, but the shop owner does have the ability to disband
the partnership at any time. If this happens, the partners’
items will be available in closed boxes at the Shop Permit
Authority for pick-up, including any profits due.
OTHER OPTIONS
SHOP BAN lets you ban up to 15 people from
your shop.
SHOP HAGGLE lets you give your shop a bias towards
particular races or professions. Race always takes precedence
if its value is not 100%.
SHOP TRANSFER allows you to hand shop ownership
over to one of your partners. You will be removed from the
shop entirely, with no further claim to the location or contents.
SHOP DEED turns your shop into a deed which can
be sold back to the Permit Authority or to another player.
The shop must be cleared of inventory before this can be done.
PROFIT, TAX, AND RENT
SHOP WITHDRAW turns your shop's hard-earned money
into a bank note. You must be in your shop to do this.
SHOP DEPOSIT allows the owner to add silvers to
the main shop account, useful as a way of making sure there
is enough present to cover the rent.
As a responsible business owner, it is a requirement to
pay a 3% sales tax, which is automatically deducted from your
sale price, on each purchase. No more than 1,000,000 silvers
in tax will be deducted from any one item. This tax is subject
to change.
Each month your shop will be assessed a rent of 10,000 silvers
per room. The rent will be taken from the owner's shop account,
so it is wise to make sure there is always enough there to
cover costs. A shop that falls behind in rent will be repossessed.
Shops that haven't been visited by the owner in 180 days,
even if the rent is being met, will also be repossessed.
CUSTOMIZATION
GM-run Trade Shop merchants will have the ability to customize
your shop by altering the room name, room description, exterior
facade, and furniture items.
Trade Shop Policy
In order to guarantee proper upkeep of trade shop properties,
the Shop Permit Authority requires the following of shop owners:
1) Rent must be paid promptly each month. Failure to pay
rent for 90 days will result in the loss of your shop.
2) Each shop must be visited regularly by its owner (note:
visitation by partners does not count toward upkeep of the
shop). Failure to visit for 180 days will result in the loss
of your shop. Note: A “visit” requires that the
owner pass through the portal (either alone or as the leader
of a group) into the shop and then use one of the SHOP
verb options to check on its status. The Countdown restarts
when you enter your shop, giving you another 180 days. Please
be aware that this applies to ALL accounts, including those that
are temporarily or permanently closed for any reason. If you are
planning a Gemstone Hiatus, clean out your shop!
3) In the event that your shop is reclaimed by the Shop Permit
Authority, your inventory will be held by the permit clerk
(in a box identified by your name on the floor of the Shop
Permit Authority office in the town your shop was in) for
a maximum of 90 days, after which it will be permanently lost.
Please be aware that this applies to ALL accounts, including those
that are temporarily or permanently closed for any reason.
If you are planning a Gemstone Hiatus, clean out your shop!
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