Newb Questions: Internal Sale and High Stock Prices

General discussions about the release versions of Capitalism Lab
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Chads
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Newb Questions: Internal Sale and High Stock Prices

Post by Chads »

Hello,

I had a couple of questions about Internal Sale. I'm not exactly seeing the response from this I expected. My understanding is, when the button is disabled (grayed out), it allows competitors to purchase your product.

Would this include semi-products? In other words, will competitors potentially see that my "Glass" is much higher quality, and better priced, and start buying it?

If so, am I notified when a competitor uses me as a supplier?

Would it be possible to play that game strictly as a manufacturer, and never venture into Retail?


Also, I happened to purchase some stock of a competitor, and their stock took off. It went from $20 to about $500 in a few months. I'm not well-educated in the stock market, so I'm wondering what factors might affect something like this? The only real noticeable change in the company was an increase from 2 to 13 retail locations. I assume that drives better revenue, and presumably better profit. But, 25x return on investment seemed a little high.


One other question--how do subsidiaries get formed? I am the main stock holder in another firm (45%, with no one else above 10%). Is there a way to influence their business? Note, this is my stock, not my company's stock.

Thank you!
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David
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Re: Newb Questions: Internal Sale and High Stock Prices

Post by David »

I had a couple of questions about Internal Sale. I'm not exactly seeing the response from this I expected. My understanding is, when the button is disabled (grayed out), it allows competitors to purchase your product.
Would this include semi-products? In other words, will competitors potentially see that my "Glass" is much higher quality, and better priced, and start buying it?
Yes, they will.
If so, am I notified when a competitor uses me as a supplier?
This is not part of the notification system in the game.
Would it be possible to play that game strictly as a manufacturer, and never venture into Retail?
This is dependent on your goal. If your goal is simply to have your company break even and stay afloat, then this may be possible.
Also, I happened to purchase some stock of a competitor, and their stock took off. It went from $20 to about $500 in a few months. I'm not well-educated in the stock market, so I'm wondering what factors might affect something like this? The only real noticeable change in the company was an increase from 2 to 13 retail locations. I assume that drives better revenue, and presumably better profit. But, 25x return on investment seemed a little high.
It is a reflection of the company's rapid growth, which is a good thing.
One other question--how do subsidiaries get formed? I am the main stock holder in another firm (45%, with no one else above 10%). Is there a way to influence their business? Note, this is my stock, not my company's stock.
Please see: http://www.capitalismlab.com/subsidiary ... y-company/
Chads
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Re: Newb Questions: Internal Sale and High Stock Prices

Post by Chads »

Thank you. I think this is my next purchase! Maybe this weekend. :)

Thanks for developing a solid game that makes you have to think, and doesn't require killing stuff. There aren't too many of those out there these days!!!

Best!
saffgee
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Re: Newb Questions: Internal Sale and High Stock Prices

Post by saffgee »

Chads wrote:Would it be possible to play that game strictly as a manufacturer, and never venture into Retail?
Very much so - its usually a lot of fun doing that ! I often set myself a rule of "no retail" or "no production" for games and its always a blast. To be fair, no retail tends to be far more fun than no production though...
Chads
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Re: Newb Questions: Internal Sale and High Stock Prices

Post by Chads »

saffgee wrote:
Chads wrote:Would it be possible to play that game strictly as a manufacturer, and never venture into Retail?
Very much so - its usually a lot of fun doing that ! I often set myself a rule of "no retail" or "no production" for games and its always a blast. To be fair, no retail tends to be far more fun than no production though...
How long until other companies start to pick up your brand? I'm not seeing that happen at all. (Posting a question on Business Relationships later today...)

Thanks!
saffgee
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Re: Newb Questions: Internal Sale and High Stock Prices

Post by saffgee »

If by pick up you just mean "buy": The AI certainly does look at brand, but its a ranking system really I suppose; where can it make the most money with which product and is there room to add another in existing stores. The AI sees things very analytically, so if you want better pickup of your branded products, then simply lower your price and the AI will see them as attractive. Trust me, price is the least of the AI's concerns once it's making money - its pain threshold for price rises after a supply deal is in place is fairly high tbh. I've tried many times to shake out pesky AI buyers from buying up all my products (when I forget to set "internal sale") and they are quite tenacious..

If by pick up you mean "improve your brand": This is trickier. The AI wants to make money and invariably it will make a decision as to whether it needs to improve brand or not - in many cases that decision is simply that it doesn't need to. A human player plays like a human, so we can rationalise that a stronger brand will help sales overall and especially down the line or on products we may want to launch in the future. If brand is sufficient in a particular area to make money and compete, then I suspect the AI will see very little need to spend money on advertising. If I remember rightly, in most of my games I built a strong range or corporate brand and then fed off that for years. AI certainly lapped up any new products I launched, that's for sure.
Chads
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Re: Newb Questions: Internal Sale and High Stock Prices

Post by Chads »

Hi there!

I did indeed mean "buy" when I said pick up. Also, I used the word brand, but really I meant products. I am starting to understand the idea behind "brand" and what that means, but I was really just wanting to know if they'll start buying my products.

I was going to ask about the Trade Market and Business Relations in another thread, but perhaps this is a good place for that. There was mention in the manual about the Trade Market. That's just referring to inter-corporation sales, correct? If not, then what is it?

Is there a way to see who's buying how much of your stuff?

Thanks again!
saffgee
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Re: Newb Questions: Internal Sale and High Stock Prices

Post by saffgee »

Chads wrote:I did indeed mean "buy" when I said pick up. Also, I used the word brand, but really I meant products. I am starting to understand the idea behind "brand" and what that means, but I was really just wanting to know if they'll start buying my products.
Yes they will, but like I said, you can help them to realise how great your products are by lowering your price if they are really slow to shift. Brand does play into the appeal of your product and that's basically the challenge of the "no retail" game really - you have to rely mostly on third party advertising to build your brand.

There is a way to see who is buying what via the product page - I forget the exact place it is, but just go through the various reports and you should find it. I can't help with the manual, I've never read it. Those concepts sound somewhat generic though, ie they are not specifically game mechanic concepts.
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