I'm curious, what do you guys tend to set the price to? I have barely used it, so I have no references on what a reasonable price is. I know reasonable is kind of a subjective concept, as it depends on what kind of money your Sims have. I'm speaking more in a game mechanics kind of way. What kind of price would Sims start to consider pricey and slow to buy?

Also, is it normal that these businesses spawn far less customers than your typical sell item business? My shops are usually crowded, but the bandatron business barely has any people.

I set any business to cheap when I first open in before it has gained rank, sims are more inclined to buy that way and not get angry. I do think a ticket business is slower to get off the ground so I often start off by selling stuff until it is up to about a level 2.

I keep prices set on average from start. Bandatron business let my sims socialize more – just quick interactions with unknown customers (apartment life greetings are very useful), more deep talk with known once. Sim with a relatively good Dancing skill has access to the social "Entertain. . . Bust a Move", which is available to use on Sims at a relatively low Lifetime Relationship. It gives funny and quick relationship boost.

More socializing brings more customers loyalty stars also.

Generally for shops, I leave it as average because I know sims will buy but they don't make so many sales they're rolling in it or the business develops too fast. I like the sense that the business is developing all the time. This is because of the way I want things to go. If I was playing to develop a business as quickly as possible or to maximise profits, I guess I would do it differently. But I don't, I play stories so my sims that have shops only go during the day, open from 9am-5pm (or whatever is suitable) and gradually develop new stock or new sections of their lots. I don't need to see it all done quickly or have a complete finished shop to start with.

Other lots I do different things. My vicar, Leonard Church, has a bandatron on the church lot. It's set to the lowest possible level and that works well for him. He gets a steady flow of traffic and a small but steady trickle of cash. It's at the sort of level I'd expect him to get if I paid him a stipend. Enough money to manage, not too much but occasionally enough to buy a new piece of furniture for his vicarage or new clothes. Vicars should not be wealthy. He has a church hall and other sims seem to enjoy playing the piano or using the dartboard. Either that or they go and listen to him giving a sermon in the main church when the time comes. He charges extra for weddings and funerals.

I'm confused. Based on your replies it sounds as if you have the option to set cheap/average/ and so on on bandatrons. I do not. I can only set a number, the window that comes up looks like the one when you set a custom price on an object. Does your game really have the option to set a price group? Would someone please show me a screenshot?

Sounds like you have it on manual prices, I think click the down or up arrow.

Gummilut, I also found that with my shops and bandatron businesses. What I now do is to use the intProp maxNumOfVisitingSims cheat before I go to a bandatron business, and set the number to however many guests I want in the place. Within about 15 minutes of Malcolm opening his Tiki bar, that number have turned up. Moreover, when one guest finally decides to call it a night, another Sim immediately walks up to the door to take her place, so that max number is always sustained.

Thanks jo. It seems it defaulted to custom price, but it is indeed possible to set it the "normal" way too. Apparently I set it way too cheap.

Was I right about the arrow? I've seen the window open either way and know I've changed it to the regular a number of times, but I'm not sure if that's what I do or not...

It's not actually an arrow but a label with a * sign on it.

I took screenshots but it seems that in the meantime the issue got solved ^^;
Oh, well, attaching them anyway just to show the label thing.



In my game only entertainment business use the bandatron, as they are the ones which would charge per ticket or per session.
I usually set them to the lowest when they are getting started then raise it a bit at a time as they become more popular.

I did the same with my brothel. I put a bandatron on (cheapest level) to get customers at first. Later, after the business was doing better, I raised the price. Once the ladies had enough customers for just the brothel part, I got rid of the bandatron thinking that maybe it was cheaty. I've been thinking about bringing it back, though. In movies, brothels are shown as having bars and card games, so I guess it's not really cheating to have one.

Yes that's it, thanks Amura. It's one of those things I do, but I don't pay attention to, but when I am asked I have to stop and think.

I've tried setting prices to "above average" and it doesn't seem to keep away customers. I also set wages to "overpaid."

I don't believe price keeps Sims away, it just makes it take much longer to sell. I've always had it on medium, and thought I'd try cheap instead and my Sims ended up making much more money because Sims would buy things on their own without needing a sale interaction, and quite quickly too.

IME it's best to set wages to overpaid, because it gives you leeway - when they increase skills, they expect a pay increase and if they drop to underpaid, they might get mad and refuse to come in. Whereas if they drop to fairly paid, they are still happy.

I use a mod to stop them quitting. I'll pay you peanuts and you'll accept it.

Edit: Might help if I read what spell check was doing before clicking post.

I use Pescados mod where only relevant skills count towards wages, since I find it absurd that knowing how to make great flower arrangements would get you better pay as a cashier in an electronics shop. I also use fairly paid regulator by... Mog or Paladin, don't remember, which keeps their wages on a fair level and adjusts if they increase their skills. Some may find it cheaty, but I explain it by pretending the employees request raised salary when required, and gets it since they deserve it. I just take out the middle part where I have to care.

Well, this is one of those things...you know how sometimes we can't help acting like some part of the sims is in the real world? I can't stand the thought of cheating my workers, even if they are only pixels. I realize this is silly.