This is a store.. you are a customer... BUY SOMETHING!

[nectere]

Speaking of Monique, instead of using the faster buy I picked up her no (various) pranks and no autonomous flavor paks. Now I can keep my sims in line without having to chase them around so much or worry about those stupid pranks in my stores. I dont really like playing with freewill off as I do like them to be autnomous, and I dont want the game eaiser persay, just a little less annoying without the stupid behavior. Pranks are fine in grade school and college, but not for grown "adults" especially in a store...

Those that are too poor to purchase are always banned from the lot, period.

[idtaminger]

Happens here all the time.  They call it a "show".  Basically you pay for the privilege of shopping.  They get money from you and they get money from the booths.  The booths are filled with overpriced items that you can cheaper elsewhere that they sell suckers with some slick "dazzle" techniques..   Then you wander the aisles getting offered "free" promotions and "enter here for a chance to win".  The only thing you win are phone calls of the type "Congratulation, you are our grand prize winner, please come and collect your prize....you'll only have to listen to a short "presentation".

Nice racket.

But in real life, you're not paying for the privilege of buying the overpriced items. You're paying for the show, and the overpriced stuff is just side stuff that they hawk to you. If they charged you dough to get into Macy's or something, I'm sure that profit would take a gigantic hit. So yes, in RL it's unrealistic to charge pple to enter a store.

[J. M. Pescado]

Sims have no idea what you're running, though. And no, it's not necessarily unrealistic to charge people to get into a store. Plenty of stores have an "exclusive" clientele that you have to pay some kind of membership fee to be a part of.

Think of it this way: Sims are buying your store's air, without which they would have to hold their breath the entire time.

Besides, so what if it hurts your profits? You're allowed to make decisions that hurt your profits, otherwise it wouldn't be much of a game.

[Ellatrue]

But that's the thing- it DOESN'T hurt the profits, it helps- and it keeps out the sims that are too poor to pay for anything. Plus, any time they buy a ticket, you get a star!

[J. M. Pescado]

But that's the thing- it DOESN'T hurt the profits, it helps- and it keeps out the sims that are too poor to pay for anything. Plus, any time they buy a ticket, you get a star!

Well, there's a reason why some shops institute membership fee policies like that. And it doesn't ALWAYS help your profits, that greatly depends on your situation. And keeping those grubby poor people out always improves your store's atmosphere, after all.

[PlayLives]

Charging at the door hasn't been working to well for me. I have one comm. lot business, arcade/dancehall that I started with charging $70 then went down to $50 but only one or two sims pay to enter. I'm using the Bluewater arcade lot and I remodeled it a little and included a DJ booth. My sims has gained sales badges from trying to interest people, but they won't pay. What's the problem?

I also tried throwing a pay-party. I had my sim throw a house party on the phone and put a ticket machine out front charging $20. The person I invited to the party, even stopped to consider to pay. The music was playing and food was out but again no one entered. 

[J. M. Pescado]

Sounds like it's hurting your profits.

[PlayLives]

Yeah, I thought throwing a pay-party would be a quick way to make a fast buck, but nope. 

[nectere]

If you want to make a fast buck send your playable sim to someone else's community lot that has a ticket machine on it.

[PlayLives]

Wouldn't that subtract from my playable sims funds?

[Ellatrue]

How does that make sense? If a playable sim visits someone elses lot, doesn't that mean that they have to pay?

Anyway, I did it by setting the price to around $20. It is cheap enough that they always pay, unless they have no money. The majority of my profits come from actual sales- this just offsets the cost of paying the employees.

[nectere]

I dont know what the logic is, I just know that when I sent my sim to a community lot owned by someone else that had a ticket booth on it, my sim pocketed the money each time someone paid. And I dont recall my sim going over to the ticket booth and paying for anything. I sent her there to meet some contacts to make friends with for her job promotions since she didnt know anyone.

I sat there in astonishment as her money count kept going up each hour as all the sims on the lot paid their dues. I thought surely she wouldnt keep it when she went home, that it would be reset - but it wasnt. The money earned on that lot with the ticket booth increased my sims funds. I did not see this happen on any other lot without a ticketbooth. I guess it could just be my game, but try it and see if that happens to you.

[Regina]

I dont know what the logic is, I just know that when I sent my sim to a community lot owned by someone else that had a ticket booth on it, my sim pocketed the money each time someone paid. And I dont recall my sim going over to the ticket booth and paying for anything. I sent her there to meet some contacts to make friends with for her job promotions since she didnt know anyone.

I sat there in astonishment as her money count kept going up each hour as all the sims on the lot paid their dues. I thought surely she wouldnt keep it when she went home, that it would be reset - but it wasnt. The money earned on that lot with the ticket booth increased my sims funds. I did not see this happen on any other lot without a ticketbooth. I guess it could just be my game, but try it and see if that happens to you.

Nectere, I doubt it's just your game.  This type of problem's been in the programming since TS1 days.  With Unleashed my sims would go to a community lot and pay for the burgers every time another sim grilled.  I think it was only after the patch that the money would actually be refunded them upon their arrival home.

[Dolphin]

some sims are so poor and they just come to my store to hang out and never buy anything

I'm wondering about townies. Don't most of them only have a few thousand dollars? At some point will they run out of money altogether and stop buying anything?

This has not been my experience.  Since I've used the JM's No Playable Shoppers hack, I haven't once had a sale turned down due to lack of funds.  I think townies must have unlimited funds... I routinely sell them several plasma TVs!

[radiophonic]

This has not been my experience.  Since I've used the JM's No Playable Shoppers hack, I haven't once had a sale turned down due to lack of funds.  I think townies must have unlimited funds... I routinely sell them several plasma TVs!

No. They have bottomless pockets but your playables don't and that's one of the reasons for using that particular hack.

If the sale is turned down, it is likely that they are picky (grouchy sims are typically more "picky" than the other types) or one of the other many variables that modify the sales interactions. Shy sims may also be a problem although you wouldn't expect them to be, instead you'd expect them to cave just to get the salesman out of their personal space.

[Assmitten]

Sims have no idea what you're running, though. And no, it's not necessarily unrealistic to charge people to get into a store. Plenty of stores have an "exclusive" clientele that you have to pay some kind of membership fee to be a part of.

Yes, it can be like one of those "price clubs." You can charge sims to get in and then sell them giant vats of mayo.

I'm so glad to hear about these hacks. Some Sims I automatically 86 now because I know they're going to be assholes.

And about fun objects in a store...I put a stereo in my flower shop and they were dancing to the shopping music from Sims 1. Sims are so smurfy...they'll dance to anything. I had to take it away. SHOP, DAMMIT!

[radiophonic]

And about fun objects in a store...I put a stereo in my flower shop and they were dancing to the shopping music from Sims 1. Sims are so smurfy...they'll dance to anything. I had to take it away. SHOP, DAMMIT!

LMAO! You said "Smurfy" 

[Metalkatt]

the 50% one does seem to be too short a time.  I'm double-checking the 25% one and seeing how that works.  I will report back when I've tested.

[skandelouslala]

This is annoying. There seems to be a weird pattern of the customers I get in my shops. There's always 2-3 people who come there and loiter, never buying anything even when offered to have something shown, and either dance to the stereo or talk/ snog/ beat each other up (and there are a handful of sims in the neighbourhood who have descended into being enemies through no conscious action of my own, and I am sick to death of that 'poke' interaction and the other one where one sim punches another and stars appear around its head). Even when asked to leave, these people keep coming back, and the only way to get rid of them is to ban them. There is one particular sim in my neighbourhood who comes to a shop immediately when it is opened, and spends all the time beating up every other single sim that comes in. I'm sick of everyone being distracted by this sim flying about with someone else inside a cloud with expletives issuing from it. I banned the sim, and all the time the shop is open, this sim appears, enters via the door, approaches the counter, and is teleported away in an endless loop. I mean, it's not even realistic. You don't go into a shop and beat someone up or snog them, however you feel about them. You'd be arrested.

Oh yes, and get TwoJeff's no pranks hack. I hate these interactions, and uninstalled University for a long time because of them.

Heh...I have quit a few enemies running around b/c of this now.
A dream of a hack that somehow checks for poking/slapping/beating actions on business lots and when it is detected the sim who initiated the action immediatly  bursts into flames. 

[lefty]

I banned the sim, and all the time the shop is open, this sim appears, enters via the door, approaches the counter, and is teleported away in an endless loop.

So the sims are supposed to approach the counter? I was getting pretty sick of all the sims entering the store and heading to the counter, getting in the way of customers trying to check out, and often enough two will come in and start interacting in front of the register, making it impossible for anyone to check out until I boot them out of the way.

I turn away for one moment, then look and see my register is surrounded by bags thrown down in disgust and two sims happily playing red hands in front of it 

[radiophonic]

So the sims are supposed to approach the counter? I was getting pretty sick of all the sims entering the store and heading to the counter, getting in the way of customers trying to check out, and often enough two will come in and start interacting in front of the register, making it impossible for anyone to check out until I boot them out of the way.

I turn away for one moment, then look and see my register is surrounded by bags thrown down in disgust and two sims happily playing red hands in front of it 

If they come in and loiter you need to make them shop. Use the "Show Item To..." or "Show Menu To..." commands and make them loiterers useful. After they've made a purchase, kick them out the door. 

Shame they didn't give us security guards or shoplifters.

[anelca]

the 50% one does seem to be too short a time.  I'm double-checking the 25% one and seeing how that works.  I will report back when I've tested.

i'm finding the 25% one is just about right. 

[Metalkatt]

Thanks, Anelca.  Between the asthma and the job, I haven't had time to play in awhile.

[idtaminger]

Sims have no idea what you're running, though. And no, it's not necessarily unrealistic to charge people to get into a store. Plenty of stores have an "exclusive" clientele that you have to pay some kind of membership fee to be a part of.

Which ones? Generally, pple are not paying a membership fee to shop at a store. They're paying for VIP service or uber-luxury or whatnot. Sometimes a store will screen and trim the clients for exclusivity, but even then, they don't charge their clients, they just limit their services to the rich pple.

Price clubs you charge for a membership so you can sell them stuff at cheap cheap prices. But in the sims, I don't think ticket sales could offset the low profits from cheap products, unlike in RL, where companies like Walmart boast some of the biggest profits in the world.

As for the counter-blocking, I've found that if you stick a semi-fun obj in a corner somewhere, it helps to keep the customers away from the counter and shopping. I stuck a cheap TV on my sim's lot, in front of a cheap couch, and the customers will occasionally sit and watch TV and chat, but after a bit they get up and start shopping again. It also helps to put the shopping counters in a long nook somewhere, as sims generally pick wide open spaces to stand in, just like they never excercise unless they've got a boatload of room.

[Jelenedra]

You pay for a membership at Sam's to get the large discounts. Businesses do the "Hey, pay this much for a membership card good for one year and you'll always get discounts when you shop here" so that you WILL SHOP THERE. Why go to Barnes and Noble when you have a membership card for Waldenbooks that gets a discount and you earn points for giftcards? They're trying to enforce customer loyalty. You'll buy more from them if you are paying less than you should. That means you might buy one or two items from them that you might not have done otherwise. It's the same with the buy two get one free gimmicks. You came to the store to buy one, but because of the sale you buy two. So the store got an extra item out of you where they were origionally only going to get one.

Impluse buying. Gotta love it.

I was in retail for too long...