- Sat Mar 24, 2012 5:25 am
#85677
I see that lots of MR players have an entrepreneurial spirit. I'm not one of them, but I had an idea of a business and thought I'd throw it out there in case anyone else finds it interesting enough to pursue. I will outline my thoughts on it, obviously if you decide to do it, change the details to your liking.
A MineRealm pawn shop.
With realms this could work 2 ways.
**For new players/players lacking funds to purchase realms they want: They could ask the pawn shop to buy the realm(s) they are interested in from the server. Depending on the number of realms involved, they would work out with the pawn shop how long they had to pay the pawn shop back + lets say 10% + tax on both the original and the payback transactions. (Otherwise the pawn shop would always lose money).
During the agreed upon payback period the pawn shop would give the buyer permissions to the realm and otherwise not touch the realm or any items in it.
At the end of the payback period, if the pawn shop has not been paid back in full, the player will have a predetermined (in the orginal contract) amount of time to retrieve their items and then the pawn shop will remove the buyer as a member of the realm and be able to then do with it and any remaining item what they want.
Alternatively at the pawn shop's discretion or by prior contractual agreement, the pawn shop can give the player longer to pay off their debt, but the payback price would increase, and most likely the player would lost permissions to the realm during the remaining payack period (to avoid the player stripping the realm of all valuables and abandoning it to the pawn shop).
**For realms already purchased by a player who needs fast cash, but doesn't want to lose the realm by selling it back to the server, the payback price woud be similar except during the period where the pawn shop has ownership of the realm, the original owner would have no persmissions to the realm (this could vary depending on how much the pawn shop gives the player, again to avoid the player stripping the realm and abandoning it to the pawn shop and the pawn shop taking a heavy loss).
At the outset the pawn shop would give the player a value agreed upon for the realm and the player would have to payback this value + 10% + the tax from both transactions. In the original contract and depending on how much was given to the player by the pawn shop initially, if the player did not complete the payback agreement (or subsequent agreements at a higher price if the payback period is extended) the pawn shop would either give the player a period of time to retrieve their items before seizing full ownership of the realm, or would immediately have full ownership of the realm and its contents. (This would account for situations where the pawn shop is wiliing to give the player more credits than the usual price for a realm at the outset).
Items:
Could also be pawned at a price of lets say 10% less than current market value and then paid back at +10% + tax for all transactions within a preset period of time, after which the items are forfeit to the pawn shop. Then there could actually be a pawn shop where the owner sells off pawned items that have not been paid off.
Bookkeeping:
If it was me I would have all contracts be part of the pawn shop thread so all players can see the contract and no accusations can be made at a later date. Also I would screenshot and post all in game transactions. I would also keep a google docs spreadsheet with all the transactions, due dates etc with a link to them from the pawn shop thread so that everything is above board and organzied.
I would also have a link to a "tax calculator" and be sure to put all final prices in the contract post and then later mark it as "paid in full", "defaulted" etc.
Additional thoughts: On items, especially high value/rare items. The pawn shop should offer insurance (free or for a small price), so that if the shop loses the items via accidental death, upon payback, the original player receives 2 or 3 times the market value + all taxes for the lost items. But the pawn shop should not abuse this to keep items for themselves. They should take all precautions when moving the player's items. If close enough to spawn the pawn shop could have its own trade room, but otherwise the pawn shop owner should not /trade or /spawn during lightning storms or lag with the players items.
Also, travel reimbursement. If the realm(s) are far from /spawn or the pawn shop owner's home, a travel fee could be added on depending on the distance and/or subway access (This would all be spelled out in the original contract). The pawn shop owner will have to be at the realm if they are granting/removing realm member status and for selling the realm. There could even be an initial one time, assessment fee that is paid to the pawn shop to go out and assess the value of a realm. If the pawn shop and owner come to an agreement, this fee could be taken off the final payback price, but if not then the fee is forfeit to the pawn shop for their time. Would help avoid people asking for large sums of money for realms that really have no more than the usual server sellback price.
So, there are my thoughts. I'm too lazy to do it, but it might be a nice little operation for another player. Good luck and have fun
A MineRealm pawn shop.
With realms this could work 2 ways.
**For new players/players lacking funds to purchase realms they want: They could ask the pawn shop to buy the realm(s) they are interested in from the server. Depending on the number of realms involved, they would work out with the pawn shop how long they had to pay the pawn shop back + lets say 10% + tax on both the original and the payback transactions. (Otherwise the pawn shop would always lose money).
During the agreed upon payback period the pawn shop would give the buyer permissions to the realm and otherwise not touch the realm or any items in it.
At the end of the payback period, if the pawn shop has not been paid back in full, the player will have a predetermined (in the orginal contract) amount of time to retrieve their items and then the pawn shop will remove the buyer as a member of the realm and be able to then do with it and any remaining item what they want.
Alternatively at the pawn shop's discretion or by prior contractual agreement, the pawn shop can give the player longer to pay off their debt, but the payback price would increase, and most likely the player would lost permissions to the realm during the remaining payack period (to avoid the player stripping the realm of all valuables and abandoning it to the pawn shop).
**For realms already purchased by a player who needs fast cash, but doesn't want to lose the realm by selling it back to the server, the payback price woud be similar except during the period where the pawn shop has ownership of the realm, the original owner would have no persmissions to the realm (this could vary depending on how much the pawn shop gives the player, again to avoid the player stripping the realm and abandoning it to the pawn shop and the pawn shop taking a heavy loss).
At the outset the pawn shop would give the player a value agreed upon for the realm and the player would have to payback this value + 10% + the tax from both transactions. In the original contract and depending on how much was given to the player by the pawn shop initially, if the player did not complete the payback agreement (or subsequent agreements at a higher price if the payback period is extended) the pawn shop would either give the player a period of time to retrieve their items before seizing full ownership of the realm, or would immediately have full ownership of the realm and its contents. (This would account for situations where the pawn shop is wiliing to give the player more credits than the usual price for a realm at the outset).
Items:
Could also be pawned at a price of lets say 10% less than current market value and then paid back at +10% + tax for all transactions within a preset period of time, after which the items are forfeit to the pawn shop. Then there could actually be a pawn shop where the owner sells off pawned items that have not been paid off.
Bookkeeping:
If it was me I would have all contracts be part of the pawn shop thread so all players can see the contract and no accusations can be made at a later date. Also I would screenshot and post all in game transactions. I would also keep a google docs spreadsheet with all the transactions, due dates etc with a link to them from the pawn shop thread so that everything is above board and organzied.
I would also have a link to a "tax calculator" and be sure to put all final prices in the contract post and then later mark it as "paid in full", "defaulted" etc.
Additional thoughts: On items, especially high value/rare items. The pawn shop should offer insurance (free or for a small price), so that if the shop loses the items via accidental death, upon payback, the original player receives 2 or 3 times the market value + all taxes for the lost items. But the pawn shop should not abuse this to keep items for themselves. They should take all precautions when moving the player's items. If close enough to spawn the pawn shop could have its own trade room, but otherwise the pawn shop owner should not /trade or /spawn during lightning storms or lag with the players items.
Also, travel reimbursement. If the realm(s) are far from /spawn or the pawn shop owner's home, a travel fee could be added on depending on the distance and/or subway access (This would all be spelled out in the original contract). The pawn shop owner will have to be at the realm if they are granting/removing realm member status and for selling the realm. There could even be an initial one time, assessment fee that is paid to the pawn shop to go out and assess the value of a realm. If the pawn shop and owner come to an agreement, this fee could be taken off the final payback price, but if not then the fee is forfeit to the pawn shop for their time. Would help avoid people asking for large sums of money for realms that really have no more than the usual server sellback price.
So, there are my thoughts. I'm too lazy to do it, but it might be a nice little operation for another player. Good luck and have fun
