Evolving Markets - Thousands of items trade hands on GalNet daily. Most items are relatively easy to build and are aimed at the average pod pilot. One pilot on GalNet has decided to try something different; create a product that is both time and resource consuming to build, and offer it for auction to the alliance that has the funds and space to deploy it.
An Outpost Platform can cost anywhere from 25 to 30 billion isk to build. Purchasing and transporting the goods, as well as the time involved in mining minerals, can be a daunting and time consuming task. With auctions like Dylon Xavier’s, which include a freighter to move the “egg”, alliances with established sovereignty will be able to deploy outposts within days of the decision to build one.
An alliance outpost builder told us that “It saves a lot of time moving parts and doing an investigation into the exact region to find the parts.” As for the opening bid amount, he says “I would pay up to 4 billion extra myself but I can understand that people who are less rich would find 2 billion over the build cost is more suitable.”
Although this kind of product can be a great timesaver, the anonymous builder tells us that “Building an outpost is still something special…a group effort, a goal, something to be proud of with blood sweat and tears; having it ready-made takes away from that in my opinion.”
The outcome of this auction may lead to a new industry of professional outpost builders catering to a very small niche market.