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Field Researcher
Original Poster
#1 Old 10th Nov 2016 at 2:06 PM
Default OFB grocery store
Is it possible to make this lot into an owned business? After I bought it, no one showed up to run the registers. I couldn't buy anything either, when my sim was at the register.
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 10th Nov 2016 at 2:26 PM
Has the owner visited the lot yet and set everything up?
Did you hang up the OFB sign?
Did you set things for sale?
Are you sure? Setting appliances like the grocery bins can be tricky.

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.)
Field Researcher
#3 Old 10th Nov 2016 at 2:52 PM
Also, when you own a lot, you cannot buy stuff there. The game assumes you are there to run the shop, not buy. You also have to assign a cashier when you visit the lot, otherwise when you visit with other families the store doesn't have anyone working. I've had a few times I assigned a restock person, but forgot to assign a cashier, so all the employees ignored the customers when they visited.
Mad Poster
#4 Old 10th Nov 2016 at 2:56 PM
As Peni said, it's not enough to just buy the lot, you have to do things to make it function as a business.

Visit the lot with the Sim that purchased it. Up in the right hand corner you'll see there's a a thing with buttons and information. One of those buttons lets you set things for sale by clicking on them, which turns them yellow. If you don't set things for sale using that tool, there's nothing to buy when you visit the store.

You need to hire employees. You can do this by using the phone or the computer, or asking Sims directly (requires having some relationship points with the Sim you ask). You then have to direct them to do specific tasks. You'll need someone that works the register, and someone that restocks. You might also want someone to perform sales, or the business won't go too well, but it's not mandatory. The owner can do all the tasks on their own, but that requires micromanaging and you telling them what to do. It doesn't work that well if you're planning to visit the lot with other Sims.

Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
Mad Poster
#5 Old 10th Nov 2016 at 3:08 PM
Actually it usually works fine to visit the lot with other sims, if you have everything set up right and the store is small, so the owner isn't easily distracted from the task you want him to do. The more experience you give a sim when playing his lot, the better he's likely to run the store when you're not in control. I wouldn't care to run a business the size of that one, especially not as an inexperienced player with an inexperienced sim.

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.)
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#6 Old 10th Nov 2016 at 3:16 PM
I forgot to place the OFB sign. I'll remember to place that.
Is setting grocery bins, clothing and magazine racks, and similar items the same as individual items? I thought that, if I set them, they'd buy the entire object.
And is it possible to set family members as employees? I wanted to make my sim's wife and son as employees, but I didn't see the option. I know I could direct them to do it myself, but would they do it, when playing as another family?
Mad Poster
#7 Old 10th Nov 2016 at 3:24 PM
No, with objects like grocery bins and clothing racks the Sims buy objects from the rack, not the rack itself.

It's not possible to hire family members as employees in vanilla coding, but there is a mod that lets you do it. I forget who it's by though, I don't use it myself, but I'm sure someone can point you to it

Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
Lab Assistant
#8 Old 10th Nov 2016 at 3:29 PM
Quote: Originally posted by AsaButler
And is it possible to set family members as employees? I wanted to make my sim's wife and son as employees, but I didn't see the option. I know I could direct them to do it myself, but would they do it, when playing as another family?


In the vanilla game this isn't possible.

But, I think that with this mod you can actually hire family members. But I'm not sure because, even having this mod, I never actually tried it.

You may also want the invisible recolor of the business controller, as that thing isn't beautiful (at least in my opinion) and hardly matches the lots.
Mad Poster
#9 Old 10th Nov 2016 at 3:54 PM
Only hired employees and the owner will show up when visiting from another lot.

I find that, if I have employees (I don't very often, but I also run tiny businesses), what works best for me is to visit the lot from the owner's house with family members and not call in the employees, except once to "train" them - assign jobs and play one business day to get things rolling. The owner and family members can easily run a business with no employees at all, as long as they are the active household.

When other households visit the lots, the employees will be on hand to work. Note that this may not be a good strategy - having an employee often causes an owner to stop working, and it can be a pain waiting for the owner to change work assignments, which they do not always do sensibly. Employee wages are always deducted from the owner's income, but income generated during a visit from another household may not be! So being patronized by other households may result in a net loss. However, anyone working in the store, owner or employee, will build badge skills that are used when being visited.

When playing the household of a playable employee, the employee will go to work as if to a rabbit hole job and will get paid at the hourly wage assigned, as well as receiving any wages earned while other households were being visited. I do not know whether this pay is subtracted from the employer's account or not because I can't be bothered to keep track of how much money anybody has at any given time.

Hiring a teen in an owned business, I find, is a good strategy for Fortune sims. The teen will be on hand and earning badges and wages and aspiration points, meeting people, and improving her relationship with the business owner and customers, any time a household visits the lot, but will only go to the business from his own lot during usual teen job hours. If, like me, you hate teen jobs because they eat up all the good teen socialization time, the pain is a lot less and you get to see your teen more. Also, no stupid chance cards, and in the case of Fortune and Popularity sims, they'll get so many aspiration points when playing other houses that their moods will be much easier to maintain than with a regular teen job. It's still hard to get homework done and date, but everything's easier in a platinum mood.

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
#10 Old 10th Nov 2016 at 6:00 PM
Here's a tip for you: grocery stores, on their own, tend to have low margins in my experience. Moreso if you hire an employee to run the cash. Put up a few deco items or kitchen appliances for sale in a corner and it'll help.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Lab Assistant
#11 Old 10th Nov 2016 at 7:58 PM
Quote: Originally posted by ihatemandatoryregister
Here's a tip for you: grocery stores, on their own, tend to have low margins in my experience. Moreso if you hire an employee to run the cash. Put up a few deco items or kitchen appliances for sale in a corner and it'll help.


In my neighborhood's grocery store, the owner also sells gardening produce (mostly tomatoes) packed with the Produce Packing Station by Simwardrobe and it works fine as well, the Grocery Store is one of the most lucrative business in the neighborhood.
Mad Poster
#12 Old 10th Nov 2016 at 8:03 PM
That too. Buy a bigger lot then you need, fence off an area and put garden plots there. You can also get SimWardrobe's employee gardening controller and hire a few farmhands.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#13 Old 10th Nov 2016 at 9:45 PM
The business sign simply stops or allows sims on the lot, nothing to do with selling.

Ticket machine is best used for fun places like a spa.

Use the for sale tool and make everything you want to sell for sale. New shop is best with most things at cheap and a few set at average.

Items that can be used on a non owned shop you will find under a register icon. Clothes racks, jewelry stand, game stand, magazine stand, food bins and freezers, electronic kiosk for mobile phones etc. These will only sell items not the entire stand. Your sim must restock them.

Other items from the buy/build catalog such as deco, plants, furniture your sim must set each item for sale. These can not be sold at an unowned store.

Bookcases will sell individual books and must be restocked.

The makeover chair can not be set for sale, you just need a sim to be stylist.

If you click on an OFB shelf or deco chiller you can set everything sitting in/on it for sale, you do not have to click each individual item.

There is whole sale mode which allows your shop owner to purchase stock more cheaply. The yellow colour can make it hard to see what is what if you have a million CC items. Some CC items sell for ridiculously cheap, those may need a price adjustment in simpe.

Restaurants need a chief, host and waiter who are hired if you want other sims to visit and have a meal.

You may want some mods such as no complaining or the business runs you sign from MATY. You may want to ban witches.

Do not block the till with items. Do not keep them waiting, make nice to the sim who walks in with a clip board.

Use basic sell a lot, do not keep pushing sales actions on sims that don't like it, pushing will not change their minds. Do not run a store alone unless you know what you are doing.

To sell cars you can use a display or not and you need whole sale mode to purchase them. Unless you want to sell the junker car it has to be bought at home.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Meet Me In My Next Life
#14 Old 10th Nov 2016 at 11:57 PM
Quote: Originally posted by AsaButler
I forgot to place the OFB sign. I'll remember to place that.
Is setting grocery bins, clothing and magazine racks, and similar items the same as individual items? I thought that, if I set them, they'd buy the entire object.
And is it possible to set family members as employees? I wanted to make my sim's wife and son as employees, but I didn't see the option. I know I could direct them to do it myself, but would they do it, when playing as another family?


@ AsaButler Here is a Mod that you can set Family members as employees ( like for example if the Sims have a teenager etc ) I have never use this mod myself.
I would suggest that you read "Everything there carefully" on the post including all comments, because in the comments members have ask questions
Questions that you may have yourself, the creator Squinge answer the questions ask, as well as fixing some problems in the mod. Here the link >http://www.insimenator.org/index.ph...cd&topic=7778.0

"Nothing in life is a Surprise it just happen to come your way at the time".
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