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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 8:09 PM
Default Can't Buy Goods from Store
Hi,
I made a store "Smitty's General Store" which I want to use rather than just buying stuff from the in game menu. This will not be a sim run store. The idea was to make the store be a bit pricey as part of a theme of a neighborhood and be the only place to buy good from. I wanted to include a lot of stuff from every day items to beds, furniture etc. I went in to buy and it didn't allow me to buy anything. Instead of buying a new fridge I was prompted to make lunch etc. Same for any of the other items. I got rid of all inventory in the build mode then tried again usign commercial goods --- still no luck. The sign for open for business is up. Any help> I was able to buy from a grocery store I DL'd from here so I'm sure it is on MY end. Haven't played in a LONG time.
Thank you

I suppose I could just create a shadow owner to run the store and put him in a corner somewhere and have him
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 8:21 PM
The only way to buy catalog items on a lot is to have an owned business. You will need to designate an owner and take him in to build the store, set items for sale, and possibly hire employees. After that, you can ignore him, if you wish, except when you need to make a change to the store, and just send sims there.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Mad Poster
#3 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 8:23 PM
Is the lot a community lot owned by a sim?
Is the owner a part of the family you're playing when you try to visit?
Have you priced the items while running the store with the owner sim? Unpriced items won't be buyable, as the game registers sthem as regular furniture.

Grocery stores are not the same as furniture stores. The grocery stores are intended to be self-run, if the grocery items that came with the game (or clones of these) were used.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#4 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 8:49 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Peni Griffin
The only way to buy catalog items on a lot is to have an owned business. You will need to designate an owner and take him in to build the store, set items for sale, and possibly hire employees. After that, you can ignore him, if you wish, except when you need to make a change to the store, and just send sims there.


Thank you. I figured that was the case. Since I like the idea of shopping to equip homes and horribly exploiting those avatars who wander into my Dysutopian Neighborhood I'll have to make some evil store owner for now.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#5 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 8:50 PM
Quote: Originally posted by simmer22
Is the lot a community lot owned by a sim?
Is the owner a part of the family you're playing when you try to visit?
Have you priced the items while running the store with the owner sim? Unpriced items won't be buyable, as the game registers sthem as regular furniture.

Grocery stores are not the same as furniture stores. The grocery stores are intended to be self-run, if the grocery items that came with the game (or clones of these) were used.


No. I'll have to make my version of dys-utopian corporate pirate to corner the market and make things which are shoddy and expensive available. Perhaps a government contractor

Thank you!
Link Ninja
#6 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 9:34 PM
Actually I have something similar to topic - I put an espresso bar in my new bakery however no customers are ordering coffee. Is there anything I can do so people will buy coffee too instead of just the food items on display? The only people who buy it are my controllable sim owners.

Uh oh! My social bar is low - that's why I posted today.

Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#7 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 9:53 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Peni Griffin
The only way to buy catalog items on a lot is to have an owned business. You will need to designate an owner and take him in to build the store, set items for sale, and possibly hire employees. After that, you can ignore him, if you wish, except when you need to make a change to the store, and just send sims there.


Hmmm.... I did all that. Set up a shadow company sim to buy the store and set the prices and he hired eight people. Went back with a new family and it didn't work. Will have to try again.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#8 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 9:59 PM
Charmful, the espresso bar is a special case. Maxis kind of broke it. You need to hire someone for it to get people to order and if there are things set for sale on the same lot such as bakery goods in the chiller cases sims will flock to the sellable items and ignore the coffee. I have a thread about that here: https://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=490963

I ended up using the hire family mod and instead of using sellable items I used sim wardrobes pay buffet. This way when sims come onto the lot the coding tells them the buyable item is coffee so they go and get coffee. The buffet has desert and charges if they take a pate. I often use control this sim and tell them to grab a plate as i want sims sitting down and eating.

jjdcoach, are you sure the items like furniture, fridges etc are set for sale? Set for sale is different then set price. They should look yellow when you set them as being for sale.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#9 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 10:04 PM
Yeah, you have to buy them in wholesale mode and then set the price. It took me a few tries to figure it out, too. Don't buy the store fixtures in wholesale mode, unless you want people buying and walking off with them!

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Link Ninja
#10 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 10:11 PM
I did hire an employee (Townie) and assigned them to be a barista - still nothing happened but that is probably because of all the bakery goods.

Can you expand on what you do with the buffet? I looked up the objects and there is 'standard buffet table' and 'Pizza Buffet table' - and how do you use that with the espresso bar? Or do you mean you put the espresso machine onto it and people make their own coffee and pay for it?

Uh oh! My social bar is low - that's why I posted today.

Mad Poster
#11 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 10:22 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Peni Griffin
Yeah, you have to buy them in wholesale mode and then set the price. It took me a few tries to figure it out, too. Don't buy the store fixtures in wholesale mode, unless you want people buying and walking off with them!


No need to buy items in wholesale mode if you already placed them, there is a tool to mark currently existing items for sale as well. That's what I normally use, as I build the business in advance.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#12 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 10:30 PM
Quote: Originally posted by gummilutt
No need to buy items in wholesale mode if you already placed them, there is a tool to mark currently existing items for sale as well. That's what I normally use, as I build the business in advance.


So I still have this problem. I've run businesses before like this and didn't recall not being able to buy stuff from them.

When the "owner" who I don't want to play...is there customers come in and buy stuff but when I am not on that character as active and send someone I like to play to the store the owner is there and the employees but I can't buy anything.

Very frustrating.

Any help welcome. I'm still playing around with this.
Mad Poster
#13 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 10:36 PM
Okay, what, exactly is happening? You walk in, you click on the item you want to add to your shopping bag, and you get nothing? Yet when playing the owner, he makes sales normally?

What about other sims on the lot - are they buying things independently, or are they just milling around?

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#14 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 10:43 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Charmful
I did hire an employee (Townie) and assigned them to be a barista - still nothing happened but that is probably because of all the bakery goods.

Can you expand on what you do with the buffet? I looked up the objects and there is 'standard buffet table' and 'Pizza Buffet table' - and how do you use that with the espresso bar? Or do you mean you put the espresso machine onto it and people make their own coffee and pay for it?


I use the standard buffet and set it to serve desert. I have a couple of those inside my coffee shop next to the chiller cases with some deco cakes which are there for looks not for sale. I currently have a teen of the family that own the business set to sell coffee using the 'hire family' mod. Although he is due to go to uni when I next play, so I will have to figure who else can take his job. I also have a chess table inside and a piano outside in the undercover area, which is also where my coffee bar is. It doesn't make a lot of money but it looks nice.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Link Ninja
#15 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 10:54 PM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
I use the standard buffet and set it to serve desert. I have a couple of those inside my coffee shop next to the chiller cases


So does the buffet trigger people to buy coffee because it somehow lets them know the espresso bar is open and they can buy coffee or was this after you took out all the bakery items? Are you saying that no one will buy coffee if there are actual sell-able goods on the lot?

Uh oh! My social bar is low - that's why I posted today.

Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#16 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 11:06 PM
Quote:
Are you saying that no one will buy coffee if there are actual sell-able goods on the lot?


Pretty much yep. Anything sellable, where a sim goes and gets that dodad above their head, advertises so strongly that the coffee bar will be ignored. The buffet is an automatic payment item. You can also/instead use a payment door from simlogical so that sims pay a fee as they leave.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Link Ninja
#17 Old 26th Nov 2013 at 11:12 PM
Ok thanks for all the advice!

Uh oh! My social bar is low - that's why I posted today.

Mad Poster
#18 Old 27th Nov 2013 at 2:31 PM
I promoted a townie to playable a while ago and had her buy up every store in the Uberhood so things would be buyable and staff would have cool outfits. I think she ended up with about 94 businesses in the end...
Anyway, a few things I'd recommend are the Visitor Controller from simbology and Paladin's customer limit controller. If you start creating lots of new sims to run these businesses, they'll take over community lots when you're playing other households. With the visitor controller, you can ban townies so that playables will show up to interact with. Banning townies does not affect the townie staff. And with the customer limit controller, you can change the maximum number of sims allowed on a lot. A level 0 business will only allow 3 sims by default, so if you want a busy nightclub but don't actually want to sit and play the business for ages to get a better rating, just adjust the upper limit.
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