Working community shops without being "owned"

[offlewilde]

Do I understand correctly that you can't have a "working" store/shop unless a sim owns it? I sent a sim to a garden shop and nothing was buyable.

[LadyAngua]

Do I understand correctly that you can't have a "working" store/shop unless a sim owns it? I sent a sim to a garden shop and nothing was buyable.

Yep that's right. The best thing to do is to create a sim to own to shop, set it up the way you want and then your sim can shop there when they want.

[offlewilde]

Thanks so much for the quick answer. UGH I've created so many community lots and just found out they are all useless. This is going to be a job....lol

[Peni Griffin]

Okay, that's not quite true. We've had useable stores since before OFB came out. There's two different zonings for community lots - community, and owned community. I haven't set up an OFB shop, so I don't know if that's the correct zoning name when you choose the lot type, but there should be three distinct zonings when you first create the lot - residential and the two types of community lot. You can have a store selling clothes, jewelry, cologne, magazines, food, games, souvenirs, and small electronics, or a park, or a cemetery, or a nightclub on an ordinary community lot; but if you want a garden shop, somebody will have to own it.

Look in the default Downtown for examples of the original community lot zoning, and compare to the community lots that came with OFB. You may be able to salvage some of your existing lots with a zoning change and a little remodeling.

[arathea]

All community lots, owned or not, start with the same lot zoning. You change it when a sim buys the lot. To make owned shops work for visiting sims, let a sim buy it, go to the lot and let him/her mark the objects you want to be buyable as for sale and perhaps hire some employees. You can even use a dummy sim for that. Give him enough money to buy all shops, let him set the shops up and then never play him again.

[offlewilde]

Okay, I'm starting to get it. What is a dummy sim though? And can any sim visit the community lots without me having to have the owner be there? So sorry to sound stupid. LOL

[arathea]

A dummy sim is a sim you don't intend to play. Just let him buy and set up the shops and send him back home. If you visit a shop with one of your sims the shop owner and his employees, if there are any, will be at the lot and run the shop.

[offlewilde]

Sweet! Thank you all so much! I really appreciate it!

[nikel23]

I never experience this, but I hope I'm not mistaken. Garden Club Members will make a glitch or somehow if an owned community lot deed is sold to them. It causes the lot not sold to the community but instead still owned by the member. There is a fix from MATY or the patch, I guess. So, isn't this "glitch" actually "useful" to make a business lot without owner? Or is it just me who didn't understand the glitch?

[Simsica]

I never experience this, but I hope I'm not mistaken. Garden Club Members will make a glitch or somehow if an owned community lot deed is sold to them. It causes the lot not sold to the community but instead still owned by the member. There is a fix from MATY or the patch, I guess. So, isn't this "glitch" actually "useful" to make a business lot without owner? Or is it just me who didn't understand the glitch?

Obviously it can't be used like that, since you still have to visit the owned lot at least once to "set up shop" so to speak. You have to mark items on the shelves as sellable/priced and assign workers to their jobs.

[nikel23]

Obviously it can't be used like that, since you still have to visit the owned lot at least once to "set up shop" so to speak. You have to mark items on the shelves as sellable/priced and assign workers to their jobs.
Yes, just once. But after that, you no longer have to own or manage the business ever again, because you will be refunded (minus depreciated value, not a big issue if your Sim is rich) when selling the lot. But again, I've never used this method.

[Simsica]

Yes, just once. But after that, you no longer have to own or manage the business ever again, because you will be refunded (minus depreciated value, not a big issue if your Sim is rich) when selling the lot. But again, I've never used this method.

No, that's not true. The com lot functions as an OFB shop only if there's an owner, and if the shop is set up for business. No way around it.
If by some mistake, accident, glitch or bug your shop loses its owner and the items on the shelves are still marked for sale, you'll be able to see their prices (on mose-over) but you won't be able to do anything with them, meaning you won't be able to buy anything that's not clothes, electronics, magazines, etc. - the usual stuff from non-OFB shopping racks, that is.

[nikel23]

No, that's not true. The com lot functions as an OFB shop only if there's an owner, and if the shop is set up for business. No way around it.
If by some mistake, accident, glitch or bug your shop loses its owner and the items on the shelves are still marked for sale, you'll be able to see their prices (on mose-over) but you won't be able to do anything with them, meaning you won't be able to buy anything that's not clothes, electronics, magazines, etc. - the usual stuff from non-OFB shopping racks, that is.
But selling the business to Garden Club Member might have different result, as written here (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,8971.0.html). Although it might end up not being able to be edited, but it might function like how the business was run by the previous owner.