Home Business - Customers wont buy anything

[Millikat]

I have just opened a home business (florist) but the customers wont actually buy anything.
They walk in, start to browse, get the buy bar above their heads briefly (lasts a second or two), and then either leave or just stand around.

Before anyone asks, yes the business is open and the items are marked for sale (at the default average price). I have run many businesses before (although most of them were community lot based businesses), but none since seasons.

The hacks I have are too numerous to list but they consist of JM's, Dizzy, Twojeffs, Inge and a handfull of miscellaneous hacks. I removed the miscellaneous hacks as my first test, however the problem remained. Also, I am not getting all of the normal options on JM's BRY controller (the hammer and sickle).

I have tried forcing errors using JM's lot debugger  in and off world and nothing came up, I have closed down the business and reopened, exited without saving and tried again but nothing seems to be working.

I have also tried searching for the problem here, at the MTS2 help section and even at TSR (I was getting seriously desperate there for a moment ).

I'm sure that the answer is probably extremely obvious and staring me in the face, so please feel free to poke with sticks (just if you could help me out first  ).

[phyllis_p]

Since you've run businesses before, I'm guessing that you have a cash register.  You're not running a ticket-taker, right? That often fulfills the Sims' want to buy stuff, so they just hang around. And you don't have any green-spewing snap dragons, do you? (Probably not -- the effects are usually more radical than standing around and not buying stuff, but if the room is large, who knows ...)

I'm sorry to just state the obvious here.  They were just the only ideas that presented. I thought it worth a shot, since you seemed receptive to such.

[Millikat]

I do indeed have a cash register, no ticket taker.

This is a straight up retail florist (no green spewing snapdragons either, in fact I didnt even know they existed, I've only ever seen the pink ones)

[phyllis_p]

Beware of the green ones.  They lead to rapidly falling needs, incontinence, and possibly death.

Sorry I couldn't help with your problem.

[ZiggyDoodle]

Have you tried directing your Sim to show an item to a customer?  Or reducing your prices to cheap? 

My new businesses always use reduced pricing on opening day to build business perks and customer loyalty.

[J. M. Pescado]

I have just opened a home business (florist) but the customers wont actually buy anything.
They walk in, start to browse, get the buy bar above their heads briefly (lasts a second or two), and then either leave or just stand around.

Maxis's business spawner tends not to bother fixing the motives of sims, so they tend to show up and immediately leave again. Try using the complete business set for making businesses that function and attract relevant customers: Get Business Runs You, the Customer Selector, and all the macro tools.

Have you tried directing your Sim to show an item to a customer?  Or reducing your prices to cheap? 

My new businesses always use reduced pricing on opening day to build business perks and customer loyalty.

This is a lousy idea, really. You don't make enough money to even make it worth your time, and if customers just grab your stuff, they won't gain much loyalty since you can't sales them properly. You should instead crank prices way up so that customers will be pinned and can be salesed.

[TaWanda]

I make sure there is always food and entertainment available at my home businesses, so that the customers don't wander off because of hunger or boredom. If I don't already have a decent relationship score I also do some chatting or joking before I go for the sell, it sems to work for me. 

[angelyne]

If the customers wander off because of an unfilled need they will have a bubble over their head indicating their displeasure.

Seems to me that your problem screams of hack conflict.  Have you tried removing all your hacks to see if the problem still occurs??

[Millikat]

Thanks for your replies everyone.

Ziggy Doodle - I have tried the sales interation, which works fine, they then just either leave or stand around. Sometimes they do start browsing again, but the buy bar only lasts a second or two and they still dont buy anything.

JM - I have your directors cut, so I do have all of the suggested hacks (I wouldn't run a business any other way). I don't use the customer selector though. I might give that a try

angelyne - The customers never have thought bubbles indicating low needs. I will try taking out each of my hack folders one by one now to see if their is a conflict. As mentioned before, I had already done this with my "miscellaneous" hacks which I presumed would be the source of the problem, but it wasn't.

UPDATE
Well, I have just removed my entire downloads folder and I still have the same problem. Could it be that something esle on the lot is advertising so strongly that it drops the browse action from the cue? I'm off to try removing things to see if this is it. The entire lot is locked off aside from the actual shop and I do have a pool and spa on the lot also.

[Millikat]

OK, new post as the last one would have been way too long.

I just removed the pool and spa, didn't change anything.
I also went and opened a community lot business, which worked fine with no problems.
I then went and opened a business on another home lot (different sim) which also worked fine.

So it seems to be this lot specifically. This is incredibly annoying as it is my first legacy lot.

I think I have exhausted all options. Does anyone else have any ideas?

[J. M. Pescado]

Customer Selector, to indicate what the business is, so that your customers will actually understand the business, instead of doing stupid shit like showing up at a restaurant not at all hungry, or showing up at an electronics store and then bitching at you for not having food there.

[Hook]

Once upon a time, juggling would delete random items from the lot.  This included invisible items like the carpool portals.  I'm wondering if there's a buybar controller that got deleted somewhere, so that while it will spawn, it cannot update and goes away.

Someone more awesome than me will have to check that out.

If you haven't already, shut down the home business and start another home business on the same lot.  With any luck it might correct some problem we can't see.

Hook

[Millikat]

JM - I tried the customer selector and set it to a retail business, but it still didn't work.

Hook - I have tried shutting the business down and restarting a couple of times now to no avail

Well, I have tried everything I can think of and everything you guys have suggested and nothing has worked. I guess I'll just have to accept that it seems to be a borked lot

Thanks to everyone, anyway

[J. M. Pescado]

JM - I tried the customer selector and set it to a retail business, but it still didn't work.

Hire some sales staff with gold badges and let BRY take its course. They'll buy stuff. Oh, yes.