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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 25th Mar 2021 at 11:41 PM Last edited by Bellisa : 13th May 2021 at 1:18 AM. Reason: Update on progress
Default Eliminating Buy Mode
I have decided to stop buying items for my sims in buy mode, and instead selling it through sim owned businesses. I have found that this is somewhat of a challenge though, because im not quite sure how im going to organizemthe different shops. My goal is to eventually sell all the items in game(and some CC that ive downloaded) though different owned businesses.

To get started, I put a huge lot with all the basegame furniture and made Dina Caliente buy it. (After she married Mortimer of course) And then I put a couple of extra essentials in it too. (Celing fans, energy sources, toddler stuff, medical cabinet etc)

My first idea was to divide the shops by expansion/stuff packs, but im starting to rethink this. The lot I have at the moment is huge and so stuffed with items that my game crashes from time to time when i load it. I think having smaller shops might be a better idea? Or lots without so much different things/clutter as this one. The idea thats in the back of my mind is to organize the shops the same way as buy mode in game is organized (Chairs, recliners, beds, tables, counters etc...)

Im making my sims buy lots as I play the game, so now I need to figure out how to do this. After looking though old threads here at MTS and lurking for a couple of months I decided to make an account and start a thread on this myself. I see there are many bright minds here with a lot of ideas, so im hoping someone might have some thoughts on this

So my questions are as following:
-Do you play you game this way? (selling only through sim owned businesses)
-How do you divide the different things in buy mode between your shops or how would you do it?
-Do you/would you sell the cheap items in one shop and expensive in another?
-How big would you make you shopping/business lots?

Cant wait to see what thoughts people have on this :D

EDIT: Thank you so much for great ideas! I have been playing around a bit to see what problems I encounter gameplay wise. This is what made me start this thread in the first place, but I wasnt smart enough to remember to write it I would love to have realistic looking shops divided in a way that things are sold in real life. But as this is mostly for gameplay reasons and I want my sims to buy their own stuff, I want all items to have equal chance of being sold. When I had the last shop with 3 stories, I ended up selling a ton of the stuff that was placed on the first floor and considerably less of the rest. To solve this, the first floor is now a clothing store/restaurant/something I havent thought of yet and on the 5 floors on top of that is the furniture. There is also this thing about having a lot of the big stuff available at once so i dont have to visit 5000 different stores during one rotation. This gives the furniture a more equal chance of being picked. For now I just stuffed everything in there, but I will improve the aestetics later. I incorporate everything in the gameplay, so currently Dina Caliente has a loan of 430000 simoleons :O The way things are currently divided is by 4 shops:

1: Everything from the comfort section except beds
2: Beds and Closets (named this store «B.C.» Ofc)
3: Counters, appliances and plumbing
4: The rest of the surface section

(I named them 01,02,03,04 before their name so that they come up first when my sims are travelling to downtown)
Everything else will be divided into smaller shops e.g. all instruments in one shop, baby&child shop/ lights etc..

Sorry if this is written a little messy, its 2am here and english is not my first language :p
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#2 Old 25th Mar 2021 at 11:47 PM
I thought about playing the game this way, but it's too much work for me to find it enjoyable. Why waste my time making my Sims travel around to buy things when it's so easily accessible? It's just my personal preference.
I use businesses to sell crafted goods since they're more exclusive, as social places (like clubs), and as restaurants.
My businesses don't only sell crafted items, but items from buy mode that fit with the theme to prevent my business owners from running out of crafted goods. I sell the buy mode items at "average" and sell the crafted goods at more expensive prices depending on the business ranking.
I also don't love playing huge lots. My shops are pretty tiny, but spacious enough to make sure employees and customers can move around easily and that cashier lines don't get jammed up.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 26th Mar 2021 at 12:02 AM
To be honest it was kind of tedious at first, but it became pretty fun after a while. I love, love LOVE to see when my sims pick out stuff for themselves. I play on rotation so when I enter a new household its always exciting to see what they bought. I definetly see your point (as I have had the same thought a couple of times), but im committed to this idea now that I HAVE to go see it through xD
What size do you have on average on your shops?
I loved your input, its so fun to see how others play the game.
Mad Poster
#4 Old 26th Mar 2021 at 12:20 AM
I use businesses to sell a lot of stuff, but I tend to use Buy mode if a Sim's just moved into a house and I want the basics quick, or if I'm doing a whole home makeover, or if they want a specific thing *now* and I don't want it to roll away when they get to the store. But I do enjoy sending them out to buy little things at their leisure. One of my favourite stores is a little junk shop in my Bluewater Village Micro Mall. It's filled with deco objects I wouldn't usually think to get, but they're great for adding little personal touches to a home. I also love sending them to the gift shop in my museums after they've had a wander around the art. I have a bunch of mini sculptures and paintings in there, it's great. I do have a mod to stop my unplayable sims buying stuff autonomously though just because I have so many households that take so long to play, they'd all be bankrupt by the time I got back to them!
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retired moderator
#5 Old 26th Mar 2021 at 12:41 AM
What a great idea! I've had furniture shops before and electronics shops, but I never thought to do everything so that sims have to purchase it all themseves. I think that instead of doing everything from one EP at a time I would divide it into categories. So maybe have an art shop selling the decorative stuff, a bed shop, an IKEA shop, a nursery shop, an appliance shop, an electronics shop... that might make more sense. Also you could have your sims stock different items at different times of the year- you know what it's like, you want to do your lounge out in modern style, but this season the shops ony have shaker style stuff in stock as it's all the rage!

I did have fun with my main neighbourhood many years ago when I had a sim who had a charity shop. What I did was instead of having sims delete their old furniture through build/buy, I would put it into their inventories and have them donate it to the charity shop owner (I had a mod that removed the need for good relationship to give a gift). Then the charity shop guy would put the donated items for sale in the shop. With the money he made he could then buy an empty community lot, and build a nice park on it. Then donate that lot back to the community. Through the benevolent gifts of this philanthropist my sims had (and still enjoy) a nice park and several pretty gardens. And sims had a place to buy cheap second hand furniture if they couldn't afford new.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#6 Old 26th Mar 2021 at 1:05 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Bellisa
I have decided to stop buying items for my sims in buy mode, and instead selling it through sim owned businesses. I have found that this is somewhat of a challenge though, because im not quite sure how im going to organizemthe different shops. My goal is to eventually sell all the items in game(and some CC that ive downloaded) though different owned businesses.

To get started, I put a huge lot with all the basegame furniture and made Dina Caliente buy it. (After she married Mortimer of course) And then I put a couple of extra essentials in it too. (Celing fans, energy sources, toddler stuff, medical cabinet etc)

My first idea was to divide the shops by expansion/stuff packs, but im starting to rethink this. The lot I have at the moment is huge and so stuffed with items that my game crashes from time to time when i load it. I think having smaller shops might be a better idea? Or lots without so much different things/clutter as this one. The idea thats in the back of my mind is to organize the shops the same way as buy mode in game is organized (Chairs, recliners, beds, tables, counters etc...)

Im making my sims buy lots as I play the game, so now I need to figure out how to do this. After looking though old threads here at MTS and lurking for a couple of months I decided to make an account and start a thread on this myself. I see there are many bright minds here with a lot of ideas, so im hoping someone might have some thoughts on this

So my questions are as following:
-Do you play you game this way? (selling only through sim owned businesses)
-How do you divide the different things in buy mode between your shops or how would you do it?
-Do you/would you sell the cheap items in one shop and expensive in another?
-How big would you make you shopping/business lots?

Cant wait to see what thoughts people have on this :D


I play an integrated hood, but I don't make every single item buyable.

I have many small shops.
Electronic store
Baby shop
Plumbing supplies
Kitchen shop
Furniture shop
Gift shop
Lighting store
Etc, like real life. Just think of where you would go for items for your own house in rl.

Now I do have a Simkea (ikea) which has a wide range of items but not everything, I am selective.

So let's say your sims need a counter but in game you have 15 counters and about 50 recolours, way too much to sell. So in that case I would probably place down my favourites ranging in price from cheap to expensive. Then if a sim buys a counter while I am not controlling them I would accept that as a 'counter kind' I would then recolour it to whatever I wanted for them and probably buy the rest from the catalogue. Since a kitchen in a house will have a few counters but my shop only has 1. The display model.
Now you could get really strict about it and make them go back for a counter until they have enough but I think you will find that gets old fast. In RL if you are ordering a kitchen, you pick what you want from the display or catalogue and colour chip pallet and it's generally made to order. So my sim purchasing that one counter, that was him placing the order is how I view that. Then grabbing the rest from the catalogue is his order being filled.
I would do the same for any item that requires multiples like curtains, or light fittings etc.

If the sim has bought something completely non suitable while not being controlled I would count that as them buying a gift for someone else.

For single items like a crib I would send them to pick up one that I liked. I would still recolour in with the swatch tool to whatever I wanted.

Most of my shops are small and they are all owned by playable sims. This is what integrated hood play is about. Playable sims run everything or nearly everything.

"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
#7 Old 26th Mar 2021 at 2:50 AM
I remember when I had a pawn shop where pixels would drop off what they didn't want for furniture and buy what they did. The owner would take their item and sell it for a profit. Quite a busy shop, I must admit. Sometimes the customers would end up with a full set of matching furniture, if they were lucky.

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
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Theorist
#8 Old 26th Mar 2021 at 12:02 PM
Oh that would be not be for me. First I don't like running businesses all that much, not even home businesses (which would be impossible to visit anyway). And second I like convenience in my games too much. Going to the store with a Sim every. single. time. they. need. a. piece. of. furniture. seems too much work for me, and not really entertaining (to me) either. I vastly prefer buy mod.

But if I was to create shops like that, I'd probably put electronics into a big electronics store, everything that has to do with plumbing (bath tubs, showers, sinks) into its own store, and with the rest of the furniture I'd probably separate it by price (and ikea would get its own) and I'd put them into mock-room displays, like some furniture stores do. And maybe a specific store for decorations as well.

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Taking an extended break from Sims stuff. Might be around, might not.
Link Ninja
#9 Old 27th Mar 2021 at 1:57 AM
I like the idea but the interior decorator in me would shun their big-item purchases if they didn't fit with how I decorated their spaces. However for other things, I love it - for example I do like running businesses and get excited when sims buy produce and then I can avoid calling for groceries and just rifle through their pockets for crates of tomatoes or something to stock their fridge. Same with Birthday cakes they buy from the bakery, it's easier to pull out and use than get it form buy mode and they already spent the money on it why not?

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

Field Researcher
#10 Old 28th Mar 2021 at 5:50 AM
I love getting a steer on what a sim might be into by seeing what they've bought at playable businesses while uncontrollable. They don't do very well at selecting items that fit in with their house's decor when they go to the furniture shop, but I love it when someone comes home with a dog toy or an easel - they're hinting at wanting a change in their life, and I can have them adopt a dog or take up art. If they buy a chair, I might sell back that chair but take it as a clue that it's time to update their existing chairs with something a little nicer that I select myself.

It might be fun to decree that a particular sim or household has to keep and try to use every item that turns up in inventory! Recolouring allowed but the mismatched styles just have to be made to work. The only problem would be finding space to display all those dozens of Sir Bricks-a-Lots they always buy from my toymaker...
Mad Poster
#11 Old 2nd Apr 2021 at 6:47 AM
I think the only packs I'd make into specific shops would be some stuff packs:

H&M
Ikea
Celebration Stuff
Pets

I think I would make shops for the following:

Furniture (Chairs, tables, sofas, beds, bookshelves)
DIY (Shelves, deco tool clutter, deco garage stuff, solar panels, bathroom fixtures)
Kitchens (Counters, cupboards, big appliances)
Electronics (TVs, computers, small kitchen appliances, lighting, gadgets, deco electronic/gadget clutter)
Children's stuff (All the themed bedroom furniture, toys, kid-related clutter)
Garden centre (Plants, deco gardening stuff, outdoor furniture, outdoor statues, water features)
Small "functional" (Deco stuff mainly - things like towels, candlesticks, vases, mirrors)
Art store (Easels, pottery machine, sewing machine, deco art/textile supply clutter)
Music store (Instruments, speaker systems, deco music-type clutter like music stands)
Sports store (Clothing, deco sports balls, items like baseball hoop/football goal)
Drugstore (Deco bathroom clutter like toiletries)
Clothing/fashion store (Clothing, deco items like handbags, hats, sunglasses)

Etc etc, but you'd have to go through the entire catalogue to work out what should be a specialist item and what can be in general.

For the big categories like furniture, possibly even more than one store with different kind of "aesthetics" - one modern, one home-made looking, one quirky, one cheap? I might even restrict the customers by using the visitor controller, so playable-uncontrollable sims buy something sensible for their personality.

I wouldn't display the entire catalogue at one time - that's much too much. Instead I'd display a small selection, and change the selection from the business owner once per season. This also reflects changing fashions and availability in the Sims' world, and means they are more likely to buy items which actually match each other.

I also thought about having a second hand shop, so instead of deleting items from buy mode, I'd put them in inventory and give them as a gift to the owner of the second hand store. Then when I play that lot they sell everything at ridiculously cheap since they got it for free. Customers might not get a whole matching set of something, but they would get it really cheap! It would allow any sims who are really struggling to afford something "new-to-them".

In reality I think this would all be too much to set up for me. But if I was going to do it, this is how I'd do it.

I use the sims as a psychology simulator...
Mad Poster
#12 Old 2nd Apr 2021 at 4:17 PM
I only have furniture stores as community lot businesses when there's a big enough population to support it and my sims can just buy anything from buy mode on a community lot outing as long as they packed it into their inventory before heading home.I've used buy mode when my sims went out to buy things they couldn't buy at home and packed them away for later before they moved from the boarding house to an apartment.
Scholar
#13 Old 2nd Apr 2021 at 4:22 PM
I've always loved the idea of doing this! I have so much fun building community lots, as well! If only I ever had the actual mind to be able to go through all of this AND then play the neighborhood afterward. lol

♫ Keeping this here until EA gives us a proper playable woodwind/brass instrument ♫
For now, though, my decorative Bassoon conversion for TS4. =)
Alchemist
#14 Old 3rd Apr 2021 at 9:32 AM
I have thought about playing my game this way, and I'm in the middle of setting up my game for it now! I want to do an integrated hood, building things up from scratch. The plan for that hood is to have sims buy raw materials first before they can get an item, and then later transition into buying directly from stores. I'm still deciding how much detail I want in that hood. TadOlson, I like that I idea of buying anything from buy mode on a community lot. One of the ideas I was tossing around for that hood was having a trading post or return point, for lacking of a better term. Sims would travel there to buy all the goods they couldn't make or get back home in the main hood. And by purchasing directly from the catalog on a community lot (using a Buy/Build enabler, in case anyone is confused) means less things for me to set up initially. And that's always the challenge--setting up how I want to play takes so long.

But I'm also planning a megahood, for which I'm building for right now. I'm working on Pleasantview, making little neighborhoods out of the city blocks and setting up some stores along with community lots as I go. As you say, Bellisa, it's a big process. I sort of stopped building to work on cleaning up my Download folder a bit. It did get a bit overwhelming trying to figure out what should sold where and for how much. Because I have a large Downloads folder (about 23 GB now) I really had to stop and clean it out. I didn't want to go through the trouble of setting up my stores with a bunch of cc I didn't really want to use. But on the bright side, organizing my cc has given me a head start in thinking about pricing, and what items I might consider cheaper, average, or expensive.

I can tell you how I'm planning my stores, though. Years ago, on my first attempt at this, I did try those big box stores, with everything I could possibly fit from one category in it, but I didn't really like that. I didn't really care about the outside of the lots at the time, and so they were kind of eyesores, plus I could tell it was just not going to be fun to shop there. Not to mention that if I wanted to display several recolors of an item, it would soon be a nightmare. Even if I didn't display recolors of furniture, there's no way that'd work for art. So when I started planning my megahood this time around, I took some cues from other simmers and real life. There are a few simmers that let sims purchase items and develop sims' personalities and stories/events around that, and that idea is really attractive to me. I also want to get to a slowed down integrated style of play where, yes, my sim goes to the store and goes furniture hunting for that perfect piece to go in the living room. Or while out getting some ice cream, they see a toy store and pick up something for their grandkid. Details like that is kind of my end goal. And while I would love for some playable sims to run stores, I will make some townies that I'll consider npcs so that I don't have to touch the stores again, unless I download new things.

So, yeah, this time around I started with the lots first and worried about lot size and what could fit later. Obviously, for furniture stores and things requiring more space, I'll need bigger lots, but a lot of them are small, 2x1 and 2x2. You can fit a surprising amount of stuff on those lot sizes, and some of the stores will be 2 stories, so there's that. Again, I do plan on having a few "big box stores" in the style of a Walmart or Target or Loews, etc. that will sell those bigger items as well as novelty things or other odds and ends that don't really fit in another store. But otherwise, I'm designing the retail space first and the shops second. I sat down thought about what stores every subhood would need or likely have, and planned a little about the types of things I'd see in which areas. In my mind, Downtown is the central hub with everything available. The type of stores I'd build there have a wider range. In Pleasantview, which is what I'm working on now, things will be a bit more restricted. I guess you could say the historical society is strict about what businesses get a license in Pleasantview. I see it as more family-centric and the stores will reflect that; my Pleasantview will be more about antique shops and malls. I'll save the liquor stores and gambling dens for Downtown.

For furniture I'm going to try to do a bunch of showrooms, with a few select items and recolors on display, so different stores would carry different types and qualities of items. Cheaper vs expensive but also modern vs antique. And this would vary by location within a subhood, too. So for Pleasantview, the expensive antique store will be next to the old victorian-turned tea house and the historical society. The strip mall next to the Caliente and Lothario condos will have a few higher end and modern furniture stores. A lot of Veranka's modern sets like the Into the Future sets and the Duo and Io bathrooms might be sold in those shops. Then in the center of town, where the outlet is, those stores will have the Kitchen Basics and some mid-range items.

For clutter and deco items, I'll weave those in throughout other types of stores, giving me a reason to have multiple stores of a type. At first, I thought, there's no need to have more than one clothing store or even a shoe store. But then I realized, that's exactly how I can sell my clutter in stores. I can have that edgy teen punk clothing store and make it sell clutter like shoes and hats, but also those band poster recolors and other deco I might put in a teen's room. Then in the upscale women's clothing store, I can put out handbags and makeup, etc. And when I build my community lots, I'll think of items that could be sold on the lot, too. Like that historical society will also have an art gallery, and yeah, sims can visit it and treat it like a museum, but they could also buy fine art for their homes. And maybe the coffee shop on main street sells mugs and thermoses. The hardware store sells small appliances and the tinkering tools and clutter. Maybe the library is also a bookstore that sells school supplies. Etc., etc. In this way, I have more stores to put items on display and my sims have a wider variety of stores to choose from, and can shop at places closer matching to their personality or financial situation.

Anyway, I haven't gotten to decorating the stores yet, but I have build some of the shells; I'll attach some pictures. Pleasantview is more of a planned and uniform community so for these lots, they all have the same outside aesthetic. That's nice for me because then I don't have to make myself crazy trying to come up with unique ideas for each lot. And I've really started to like the attached building look. I create a store template based on one or two roof possible roof lines and then shrink it down with the lot adjuster. I can decorate the outside, save the lot, and bam I have a shopping complex by putting down copies of the lot. Before I know it, I'm ready to start decorating shops. Or I can add or remove a few walls here and there for a more unique line of shops--one can be 3 story, one can be 2 story, or maybe all the roofs connect, but one store has an awning and another store's facade recesses in a tile. Etc. Building templates has been a time saver and planning little shopping centers has been a lot of fun for me.

It still takes a while and I flitter from project to project (I'm redoing all the lots in Pleasantview, homes and stores), but that's okay. I realised that part of the planning and building is the fun part for me. So with this hood I'm taking my time to set up things how I like it and I just play other hoods in the meantime.
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Mad Poster
#15 Old 3rd Apr 2021 at 9:54 AM
@Phantomknight -I use a build/b buy enabler Mod to enable buy mode when visiting community lots just so sims renting rooms in boarding houses can still buy things for their homes or for a future home and it can be used to pretend they're picking up mail order furniture.I'm currently setting up my apocalypse challenge town in Riverdale which will start out with only one couple settling there at first in the spring of 1520 as the first MCC colonial settlers to the new world.
Mad Poster
#16 Old 5th May 2021 at 12:10 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Bellisa
-How do you divide the different things in buy mode between your shops or how would you do it?

Although, haven't tried running it, I organized objects into Buy Mode's Collection folder (like the theme the furniture comes from a set) and use that set to build a template room where Sims would have bought the items (like you see in ikea) from when in simulation mode.

Although I would suggest going with the way real life stores ditributed, oppose to game's categorization:
- Electronic store (/lot) should include in addition all kitchen appliances
- Furniture store (/lot), which includes all variety of seats, tables but also wardrobe and patio furniture/outdoors, as well nursery object.
- Plumbing store lot (self explanatory)
“ Lighting store (/lot)
- Decor
- Plants (if you're not combing that lot)
- And a misc store, which would consist of remaining types (parties, recreational objects) that don't find their place anywhere else.

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
Field Researcher
#17 Old 5th May 2021 at 4:42 AM
Love this idea, and the charity shop idea. It's pretty fun to see what sims decide to buy on their own. Some of mine are very good about getting groceries so I don't have to do it for them. Others buy one (1) tomato and a million flowers and think that'll last them through the winter. Or they blow all their money at the bar playing poker and being hustled by the owner at pool.

I definitely price things differently depending on the store owners and the items. Homegrown produce is expensive, while bulk groceries from the bin are cheap. My art gallery owners are snobs, so everything is expensive or very expensive there.

In one of my games, sims cannot buy clothes from the clothing rack. The town's tailor has to make it for them using the sewing machine. The way I do it, I make the clothes on the tailor's rotation. If the sim the clothes are for comes into the shop, I use the "show item to..." sales action. If the sim doesn't come into the shop, I put the clothes on sale at the last minute, then when it's the buyer's turn, they go into the store and buy them.

I've also been thinking about making a "garage" where a mechanic fixes up the junk car and then sells it. Also want to open a gym.

And I've been trying to figure out a way for sims to donate to the church, which serves the very important function of containing all the ghosts, even if no one comes to listen to the sermons.
Mad Poster
#18 Old 5th May 2021 at 11:40 AM
Another idea if you do use themed stores (like the punk clothing one mentioned, or rustic furniture) is to use the visitor controller to restrict what sims will shop there. Midgethetree's version has the most options - personality, career, age, and hobbies are the ones I most often use.

I use the sims as a psychology simulator...
Field Researcher
#19 Old 5th May 2021 at 11:56 AM
I do love the fact that they added the Sims1 buy mode music so you can put it in your stores. I have considered expanding my Pleasantview's Servo shop into an electronics & appliances department store like Sears and Best Buy. TV's and dishwashers, things like that.
Top Secret Researcher
#20 Old 13th May 2021 at 12:57 AM
I don't think I would have the patience to send my Sims out shopping every time they needed/wanted something. I do, however, like simsample's idea of donating unwanted goods to 'charity', which is then sold on and profits returned to the community. I'm eager to do something similar.
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