Author Topic: Honey Money  (Read 26495 times)

Offline Metropolis Man

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #90 on: October 07, 2019, 12:30:24 PM »
I started with 9 bee hives and became friends with them all on the first day. I collected the honey whenever it was full, which was usually enough to get about 15 honey cakes. Then, I sold the honey cakes on the vendor table on my lot at a 300% markup. It sometimes took 3-4 yard sales to sell them all. By the time the cakes were all made and sold, it was time to collect the honey again. It was really just a cycle of collect, cook, sell.

The only strategy tip I can think to add is that cooked items are something that are 'crafted,' so the marketable trait will up to triple the value of the honey cakes. With this multiplier and the 300% markup, this meant that most of my cakes were selling for more than 2000, with some more than 3000. The only times I sent for swarm gifts was the first day, when I was trying to get aspiration points through the curator branch, and the last day when I didn't have enough time left to cook or sell the honey cakes.

I would appreciate (and I am sure others would too) more information. What about your Sim's traits? Did you choose certain lot traits?

Offline mismck

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #91 on: October 07, 2019, 12:40:47 PM »
Congratulations @thekatie0409  and @Deveroux  — those are amazing scores!

Even though I didn’t end up in first, I thought I’d share my strategy:
Hunny Bunny was given the Master Chef Aspiration (Essence of Flavor bonus trait) in CAS and the traits of Loves the Outdoors, Cheerful, and Good. I chose to play in Summer because that is when the bees are supposed to be most active. She moved onto the Bargain Bend empty lot across the street from the BFF Household in Willow Creek and Lot Traits were set to Private Dwelling, Chef's Kitchen, & Homey. I purchased the London’s Choice Stove, Crisponix Ultragreat w/ Deluxe Crisper, one Cheap (Used) Counter, Come and Get it Street Store Table, and six Bee Boxes. This left me with §9,370. Throughout the two weeks, Simoleons were only spent on purchasing the cheapest pedestal sink, Flavorizing the Stove, Mite Treatments, making Honey Cakes, and one set of bills.

I did not do a practice file, so my plan was to focus on the swarms getting gifts and selling those items at my Yard Sales. With the addition in the rules of being able to sell honey, swarm gifts, and honey cakes with a vendor table, I chose to not have retail space at all and to only hold yard sales with my vendor table. I had no idea how valuable Honey Cakes could be until near the end of the two Sim weeks of play — if I were to do this again, my approach would be to focus more on the Honey Cakes and less on the Swarms.

Game Play:
Changed aspiration to Leader of the Pack and created a club. Club Activities were Work Out, Cook, Eat, Clean, and Friendly Socials. Once I started making Honey Cakes, I swapped out Cook and Eat with Repair and Funny Socials so the Club Members wouldn’t be in my way to make the Honey Cakes and so they wouldn’t eat my Honey Cakes.

Hunny started off by cycling through all six bee boxes with Bond with Bees while the club worked out, cooked, ate, and cleaned. By the evening of the first day, the six swarms were sent once for gifts, but the club did not yet have enough points for Rally the Troops. So they all went over to the BFF house so Hunny could use the restroom and sleep. Because she did not have the Always Welcome trait, Hunny was kicked out of bed, but had a long enough "nap" to power through until Rally the Troops was purchased at 4:42 AM on Day 2. After that, Rally the Troops was used for her Bladder, Hunger, and Sleep needs, while potions were used for Hygiene and Fun. Social never declined much — I only had to initiate a conversation once for the sole purpose of raising her Social Need.

For the first few days, Hunny’s routine was to cycle through all the bee boxes with Bond with Bees, then to Collect All the Swarms, then to Send All the Swarms for gifts, then to Bond again, then to collect Honey (if any was available). She would then make a couple Honey Cakes and then hold a Yard Sale to sell honey, swarm gifts, and honey cakes. Then the cycle would start all over again. After I had a Yard Sale in the middle of the night where NOTHING was sold, I decided to only hold Yard Sales during the day. So she sent the swarms & bonded all night and held back-to-back Yard Sales during the day. Using this cyclical strategy, by the end of Week One, Household Funds were just over §40,000.

Tuesday of Week Two was when I had my first of two "ah-hah" moments with a big lightbulb over my head. I had been tracking how much I earned with each item at each Yard Sale (I’m a spreadsheet junkie) and noticed I was consistently getting §1,160 for each Honey Cake. This was more than I received for ANY gift that the swarms brought. I still sent the swarms out at least once per day, but increased the Honey Cake making exponentially.

Thursday of Week Two was my second "ah-hah" moment with a HUGE lightbulb and a face-palm of "…and how long have we been playing Sims now…?" (For the record, ’01 or ’02 was when I discovered the original Sims for the Mac — been addicted ever since…)

So, there I was, getting a little potion because Hunny was either sad or stinky, and I said to myself, "I wonder if there is a trait or two that I should get." As I’m scrolling through the traits I can purchase, I see both the Marketable and the Stoves & Grills Master. I about fell out of my chair… After purchasing these two reward traits, and adding Flavorize to the stove, Hunny started making some Impeccable Honey Cakes. The most I received for an Impeccable Honey Cake at a Yard Sale was §3,396 — Holy Honey Cakes Batman!!!

Obviously, my focus from that point on was Honey Cakes. At 7:50 AM on Sunday, Week 3, Day 1, I paused and sold all remaining honey and swarm gifts through the inventory.



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Offline Metropolis Man

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #92 on: October 07, 2019, 12:50:09 PM »
Great info, mismck. Thanks for the detail. That's what players want.

…and how long have we been playing Sims now…?" (For the record, ’01 or ’02 was when I discovered the original Sims for the Mac — been addicted ever since…)

Ugh. You're making me feel old. 2001 for me too. ;) And still play on a Mac. I was changing my middle daughter's diapers when Sims first came out and she turned 19 this past summer. Where did the time go? Lol.

Offline mismck

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #93 on: October 07, 2019, 02:31:43 PM »
Time has absolutely flown Metro! Our daughter just turned 24 - I'm feeling really old...
Isn't it nice that we don't have to wait months for an expansion pack for the Mac after they release the PC version?!?!?! Those were the most frustrating times.

Offline thekatie0409

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #94 on: October 07, 2019, 03:40:11 PM »

I would appreciate (and I am sure others would too) more information. What about your Sim's traits? Did you choose certain lot traits?

My sim's traits I don't think impacted much. I chose the collector aspiration trait for the short time that my sim would be selling the bee gifts. Then he was good, cheerful, and loves the outdoors. The beehives were fenced in, so the sim ended up being inside most of the time. I thought about giving him the loner trait, but he interacted with the bees so much that I didn't think it was necessary. At the second week, when he wasn't interacting with the bees much, I think loner would have been good. My sim kept stopping tending the table at the yard sale to chat with customers to help his social need.
For the lot traits, I did private dwelling and chef's kitchen, and homey while cooking was being leveled up. I am not sure if the chef's kitchen impacted the cakes or not, but it did give an inspired moodlet whenever he cooked them.
For needs, I joined the good timers for the rally the troops effect so that he wouldn't need to eat or sleep. Then I ended up getting the never tense reward so that fun wasn't a problem. That meant that the only needs he needed to fill were showering and social, which was somewhat taken care of by the bees. Towards the end, I just bought moodlet potions when I could so that he didn't need to waste any time with needs at all.
I also played only in the summer to try to get the most honey.


Offline coolsim9999999

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #95 on: October 07, 2019, 04:10:25 PM »
Congratulations on winning this challenge thekatie0409 8).

Great strategy and everyone!

Offline Metropolis Man

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #96 on: October 07, 2019, 04:22:50 PM »
Thanks for the additional info, thekatie0409.



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Offline techiechick

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #97 on: October 07, 2019, 04:37:12 PM »
You all are amazing!!

I focused on swarm gifts and collecting honey, because when I tried to hold yard sales or do vendor tables during my practice round, it seemed like it was taking too much time away from caring for the bees. I used the Collector aspiration.

I really need to work on earning rewards and joining clubs. I haven't done either of those much in my normal gameplay, and so haven't tried them in the challenges yet (although this time I managed to get a few potions and keep my Sim awake and working for the last two days of Week 2). It looks like clubs, in particular, can make a big difference.

Offline Deveroux

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #98 on: October 07, 2019, 06:13:58 PM »
Wow, I did not think the retail strategy could get that lucrative, nice job @thekatie0409!

I decided (a little too early, apparently) that collection would be way more lucrative than spending time making cakes, so I completely relied on swarm gifts. Gave myself the nature aspiration trait and Loves the Outdoors, Geek, and Cheerful traits.

I bought 11 bee boxes since that was the number I could go around doing swarm rounds, and I got them all up to the friendship point where I could get swarms. Then they were good for the rest of the challenge and I didn't have to give them mite treatments or bond again. I did a grind for the whole challenge of Send Swarm, Collect Swarm, Send Swarm, Collect Swarm. I did Good Timers and ignored my non-essential needs.

I completed the Curator aspiration pretty naturally with the swarm gifts in a week (save the froggies, which I did have to quickly go collect and breed by myself), and the reward trait lets you sell the rock-type collectables to the museum at a serious markup. I saved all my collectibles until I got the trait, then occasionally did batches of selling. And those up to 1000% markups is where I got all of my money, though postcards were pretty lucrative as well.

One thing I could have done more efficiently is being better about canceling the Stung! interaction, since it will queue up and you can just save time by canceling it.

Offline SoulGal7

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #99 on: October 07, 2019, 06:34:51 PM »
Congrats to everyone for the great strategies! Great work!

Offline Deklitch

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #100 on: October 08, 2019, 12:38:52 AM »
Congrats on the win, Katie and thanks for sharing strategies Katie, Deveroux, Techiechick and Mismick.

So, how do you use the vendor tables and do the yard sales?

I bought something that said it was a vendor table in its description and put it on my lot. I baked/cooked a honey cake and put it on it and didn't know what to do from there.  ::)  :-[  :o I clicked on the table and on the cake, but couldn't see any options to sell things or to set prices or a mark up and I didn't know if I had to leave it or what. I did it all on my home lot, so maybe that's what the issue was.

*Shrugs*

With regards to the bee gifts, there were also some things they brought to me that I had to send to the science council or whatever it was called. Wasn't sure if the fact that the things came back from the science council counted as products of the bees or not so played it safe and didn't sell them. I also received a couple of rewards for completing a couple of the collections and I made sure I didn't sell them either. Things I dug up/found/received through the mail I put on the floor of my house, things the bees brought me or made for me, I kept in my inventory and sold them.

Offline Nikitachi

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #101 on: October 08, 2019, 12:57:32 AM »
I started with 9 bee hives and became friends with them all on the first day. I collected the honey whenever it was full, which was usually enough to get about 15 honey cakes. Then, I sold the honey cakes on the vendor table on my lot at a 300% markup. It sometimes took 3-4 yard sales to sell them all. By the time the cakes were all made and sold, it was time to collect the honey again. It was really just a cycle of collect, cook, sell.

The only strategy tip I can think to add is that cooked items are something that are 'crafted,' so the marketable trait will up to triple the value of the honey cakes. With this multiplier and the 300% markup, this meant that most of my cakes were selling for more than 2000, with some more than 3000. The only times I sent for swarm gifts was the first day, when I was trying to get aspiration points through the curator branch, and the last day when I didn't have enough time left to cook or sell the honey cakes.

Wow, I did exactly the same with the only exception that I didn't use vendor tables... because guess what, I was stupid enough not even to bother checking how much money they bring. For some reason, I just imagined in my head that those are just another way of presenting the goods and don't have any difference. I. Didn't. Even. Check. As a result, my cakes had been selling for 100% markup (which is a maximum in a usual store) and thus, my score is about 1/3 of yours. Speechless.

Offline mismck

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #102 on: October 08, 2019, 06:19:41 AM »
So, how do you use the vendor tables and do the yard sales?

There are two vendor tables: the Come and Get it Street Store Table and the Selvadoradian Craft Sales Table. When you drag something from your inventory to the table, it is put in the table’s inventory - similar mechanics of  the refrigerators. You can click on the table and there is an option to view the inventory - this is how you can move items between the table’s inventory and your inventory.

When there are items in the table’s inventory, click on the table and choose the stock table option. Then click the table and choose the tend table option. Then click the table and choose the start yard sale option. I held all yard sales on my home lot.

Hope that helps :)

I also played it safe with anything that could be sent away - I just didn't send anything away.

Offline Deklitch

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #103 on: October 08, 2019, 08:03:26 AM »
Thanks Mismck, well I know what my issue was then ... I saw 'retail counter' thought 'retail' that means selling things, and bought one of them, after rejecting things called pedestals, so I wasn't even looking in the right place. :)

Yes, that helps a lot.

Offline techiechick

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Re: Honey Money
« Reply #104 on: October 08, 2019, 08:32:09 AM »

I bought 11 bee boxes since that was the number I could go around doing swarm rounds, and I got them all up to the friendship point where I could get swarms. Then they were good for the rest of the challenge and I didn't have to give them mite treatments or bond again. I did a grind for the whole challenge of Send Swarm, Collect Swarm, Send Swarm, Collect Swarm. I did Good Timers and ignored my non-essential needs.

Did you find that the value of the honey was affected at all by mite infestations or by your level of friendship with the bees? Like, once you were friends with them, did the value increase at all by raising your relationship level higher?

I spent a lot of time on Bonding interactions because I was assuming that if the bees were enraged, the value of the honey would go down.