| I found that if I set my prices too high, I exceed the "maximum price allowed" - there will be a warning in RED near the top of the page when the Trade Hall reloads after clicking "set prices". Check to see if you get that warning. I don't know why you can't set prices wherever you like - seems like the market should punish you, not the game - but I know that it happened to me that way. Try setting your prices lower. Of course, if you're setting your price below cost, then you should probably not have bought them yourself! Sell them anyway, because those conditions won't change any time soon, and having at least some revenue until you can get things straightened out will keep you from going bankrupt. One way I use to determine if I will even be able to sell a product at a profit is by comparing the average retail price for the city to the cost to you from the suppliers. When you are in the store - Trade hall, look in the column under "city average Price Per Week"; that will give you a basic starting point on what you can sell a product for (although, it might actually be more or less, depending on the quality and brand modifiers, store popularity, advertising, etc). If you're selecting a new product for your store, that information isn't available in the Trade Hall, but you will still get that info in the Supplier screen. When you are selecting a supplier for a product, the city average information is located in the upper right hand corner of the supplier screen. It's not foolproof, but it is at least a starting point. I generally won't buy a product unless the supplier can provide it for at least 20% below the city average. Once I start seeing some sales, I check the sales graphs (in the Trade Hall, click the icon/number under the "Sales Volume" to see how price and quality are affecting sales volumes, to determine if I should change price or change supply levels. That's an art - you'll have to play with that one to figure out your strategy. I hope this helps... it took me a while to get the hang of it (I'm still trying!), but I finally learned that I can't sell an umbrella for a thousand dollars in Indonesia! |
