Global Economics and Trade Help Desk and Q&A

[ViZion]

Once you get that all figured out, create a thread stating what it available, in the subject make sure to put "All Tech". And on each technology (along with information and minimum bid) make sure to note which tech level that is being sold to.

Thanks!

No problem

[United Eastedge]

Is there a global currency?

[Dragomere]

Is there a global currency?

The NS Dollar (essentially equal to the US Dollar)

[United Eastedge]

Is there a global currency?

The NS Dollar (essentially equal to the US Dollar)

Thanks.

[Dragomere]

The NS Dollar (essentially equal to the US Dollar)

Thanks.

Your Welcome.

[Maltropia]

You will also see it referred to as USD (Universal Standard Dollar), NS$ or one of several combinations, but I think NSD is replacing USD as the most popular at this point. It's all the same anyway.

[Londsdale]

I seem to encounter a problem in this post. I've seen it happen before on other storefronts. Is there a way to fix this? So far, I've checked all the codes and everything looks fine in the preview, but when I submitted it, it just went poof.

[ViZion]

I seem to encounter a problem in this post. I've seen it happen before on other storefronts. Is there a way to fix this? So far, I've checked all the codes and everything looks fine in the preview, but when I submitted it, it just went poof.

I've seen that before. Check the previous post for a possibly unclosed code.

[ViZion]

Reference

J&J INC.

We are interested in buying your company. If you don't want to sell it fully we would love to buy parts of it to.
J&J INC. home forum= http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=294444
J&J INC. Store front=http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=294443
a little about us we buy and sell companies.

OOC: United, first, knowing Vizion, you're barking up the wrong tree. Second, you have very little info on your company that buys and sells other companies. Having fun pictures is nice, but there's not a lot of motivation and infrastructure there to show how they have the capital to grab other companies. I think it needs quite a bit more work.

You're starting to get the coding down, which is very good. Engollon is correct, though, in that you do need to put more information. 1-2 sentences in a whole section will not sell your company it potential sellers and customers. Give a couple paragraphs about the company history. A couple more paragraphs about your company. Be more descriptive. Doing so will help your company out a lot.

Your history says, "We are a new Company Founded by UNITED WE STAND123. J&J INC. was founded on May,1,2014"

I would suggest coming up with a history further back than that. A company founded 1 day ago wouldn't have the capital to buy out a bunch of companies and invest in them. You could say something along the lines of "We launched into the international market on May 1st, 2014." but you'll want to have history further back domestically.

[Londsdale]

Is this the most terribly word-heavy application form on the GE&T right now? Haha. Thoughts?

PS. Vandeviere is a luxury chain of hotels, thus the strange application forms requesting so many things.

[United Eastedge]

Hey, mates. Just two questions more. How much NSD do I have? Do I need to earn them?

[Lamoni]

Hey, mates. Just two questions more. How much NSD do I have? Do I need to earn them?

While it isn't mandatory, a good way to determine a realistic budget for yourself is the use of budget calculators.

http://www.nstracker.net/?nation=Lamoni

There is a link to one of them, and you can enter your nation name there.

The other way, is to RP your budget, but it should be realistic. One of the more economically inclined mentors can probably help you with that.

[Morthyria]

How do you do the actual selling of products because I'm new and confused

[Lubyak]

How do you do the actual selling of products because I'm new and confused

Normally, you would simply post up a store front offering up a product for sale. If people are interested, they will likely start placing orders for your stuff and what not. From there, all you'll need to do is accept it and they can RP as having purchased whatever it is you're selling. Remember that since NS is free form, there's not going to be a button you click to sell things or a ticker that counts up. It's all just RP'd out.

[Maltropia]

Hey, mates. Just two questions more. How much NSD do I have? Do I need to earn them?

While it isn't mandatory, a good way to determine a realistic budget for yourself is the use of budget calculators.

http://www.nstracker.net/?nation=Lamoni

There is a link to one of them, and you can enter your nation name there.

The other way, is to RP your budget, but it should be realistic. One of the more economically inclined mentors can probably help you with that.

To add to what Lamoni said, 'tracker' sites for NS economies aren't always accepted by many RPers who'd prefer that it all be roleplayed. Trackers can give you a good idea of where you might stand, but it's probably better to just find a real-world country that's similar to your own and base your economic ratings off that.

The thing about budgets is that they don't tell you how much money you can spend on something. A lot of that funding is usually already devoted - to wages, maintenance, equipment replacement and upgrades - and not available for completely new purchases. Just because a country has a budget of 40 billion NSD doesn't mean it's able to buy ten of Lyran Arms' Battleaxe cruiser. There'd be no money left to crew the thing, or even train people to crew it, run it, repair it and generally keep it afloat.

Another thing that's nice to remember when you're RPing about your NSD is that you don't just have to RP your country. You can represent individual firms in your nation, some of whom might even make more than your government is capable of budgeting. You're not going to find a tracker for your firms, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Similarly, it doesn't mean they shouldn't be grounded in realism, but just because your government has hit its spending limit doesn't mean your big supermarket chain has yet.

[Insui]

I need an idea for a new storefront but not an airport because that will take a while and I plan on doing that during my summer break. Anyone?

[Super-Llamaland]

Would anybody be interested in a pharma business? I know the last post in one of these was about two months ago.

[Insui]

And also a new logo for : www.etc.com/ns

[Separate Texas]

How do I increase my sales?

[Maltropia]

How do I increase my sales?

For more sales, you need more customers, and for more customers you need to advertise. I always go back to these two posts (a guy was asking about marketing his tea firm) for ways to advertise:

A few ways to do it...

• Signature (obviously)
• Actual advertisement threads (viewtopic.php?f=6&t=66657 < fun fact.. myself and several other nations back then had an advertising war between our airlines)
• Promote it in your RP's - for yours, maybe you're RPing in a character RP, you could have your character drinking tea from your company, linking back to your storefront.

Those are 3 very good, and surprisingly uncommon ways to promote your storefront. I'm amazed how few people do any of those 3.

I'd also recommend that you actively seek out the kinds of storefronts that would be most interested in your products - restaurants, hotels, maybe the classier airlines - and post a marketing letter. Some industries, especially food/drink-providers and pubs/restaurants, or airports and airlines, have a lot of interdependence in providing business for each other, and you can't just sit and wait for customers to come to you.

Once you have customers, you will need to keep their attention. If you have several competitors in your industry, and some of them are very well established, you need to have either a flashy/professional storefront or some awesome products; having both will also work. Never be afraid to look at your competitors and see what they're doing and how can you outdo it, or look at RL companies and their products for an idea of what you're doing.

[United Eastedge]

Is there a way to negotiate with a major realism? Example:
Nation A has a budget of $200,000,000 NSD and they buy something with a value of $100,000,000 NSD. Nation's A budget will never change to $100,000,000 NSD. It will stay the same. I am referring to expenses. A nation's economy is not affected by the expenses they do. Or it does? Hope you understand me.

[Cerma]

Salutations,

I am relatively new to the global trading forum, I would like know the steps to essentially 'purchase' something from a storefront. Say I request a product(quantity, etc.), what would I telegram them?

[Crookfur]

Generally you just put a post on the storefront thread saying I would like to buy x amount of Y.

Now the precise detials of how you would phrase and format the above will differe from storefront to store front, some will want you to use a set "form" whislt others might require you post something that more closely resembles a formal email/letter and some will simply be fine with a one line "I want to by X of Y". Generally you can tell from the thread in question how the owner likes thier requests.

As to using TGs its a bit more complciated. personally i consider anything done by TG to be more or less Out Of Character (OOC) i.e. its you saying directly to me "hey dude i love your stuff can i have whatever." Others might like TGs purchases to be In Character (i.e. its your nation or a representitive of your nation talking). Likely the best bet is to simply send an OOC message saying your are interested and asking the storeowner how they would like to proceed.

[Cerma]

I see, thanks for your help.

[Lamoni]

Personally, i've always thought that the letter/e-mail format always looked better for ordering stuff on GE&T, since it looks like something that a nation/organization would actually do, anyway. It looks professional, and it is a sign that the player actually cares about their nation, and RPing.