Hint: Pricing Your Products
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What products should you buy? When you start, it is difficult to tell what products are worth buying. This is because you don't yet know much about the products. Every game is different. Each time you begin a new game the underlying perceived value and quality of each product is randomly generated. Figuring out the true worth of each product is like solving a puzzle.
To start with, the best strategy is to buy a variety of products and sell them at the default price. If a product sells easily, you can raise the price, and if it doesn't sell, you should lower the price.
In the Tutorial, Novice and Beginner levels you can spy on the other players' stores and see their pricing. A good technique is to find out the highest possible price at which the product will sell and make a note of this. This serves as a good reference point. You now know the maximum amount you can charge for the product under ideal conditions.
Once you have a feel for the products, you should begin thinking of the competition. If you are the first one to the Royal Wholesaler, look at the supply/demand chart. If you find a good product, and nobody else has that product in their store already, then it is a good idea to buy up the entire supply. This will give you a virtual monopoly on this product and allow you to charge a good price. How high you price the product depends on how many tons you have and the current demand for the product.
Keep in mind that it's not always a good idea to buy up the entire supply of a product. If the demand for that product is low or if the perceived value of the product is low, you may not be able to sell the product for a good price even if there is no competition. It's only a good idea to buy up the entire supply if you're sure you can sell the units at a good price.
If you aren't the only one with the product, you have to gauge how much your competitors will be charging for the same item. If they undercut your price, you may not sell many units.
As a general rule, it's a good idea to sell 70% or more of the products on your store shelves every turn. The goal of pricing your products is to move merchandise. If a product doesn't sell, then it's simply taking up valuable shelf space without producing any revenue.