Chương 301: 297. Wondrous Products

Firstly, pricing it too low simply wouldn't give them enough profit to make it worthwhile, and it would also raise more than a few eyebrows if a much better medicine had suddenly flooded the market while being priced at just one-seventieth of the earlier option of using losuvil paste. That would create even more scrutiny over what was already a revolutionary medicine, so they simply couldn't risk it at the moment.

Secondly, for Tiranat to make any profit at all, they needed a way to scale up the production by many orders of magnitude, but they simply weren't in a position to do that yet. Currently, Syrene had to do everything by hand without any kind of mechanical aid at all, and she simply couldn't produce more than a certain amount of this medicine. At present, they didn't even have enough available labourers for her to teach them to repeat the same processes to increase production.

Even if they could somehow allot enough workers for that, they would also have to pay their wages, which would further increase the cost of production of the Acelos medicine. That meant, to be able to sell it to other towns and cities, they needed a way to mechanize the production - or at least the simpler steps for now - while also being able to afford to allot enough workers to do it at a scale big enough to keep their prices low.

While they would still need to pay a few workers to operate those machines - as well as having to pay the cost of making those machines to the craftsmen who would make it - it would still be much lower than doing every single thing manually. That way, they should be able to keep the prices low enough to make it affordable to everyone. However, doing all that would take quite some time, so they simply couldn't afford to sell the medicine that cheaply until then.

Thirdly, until they could produce the medicine in a large enough quantity, the small amounts of it which they could sell right now would simply be gobbled up by any nobles who heard of it, no matter what the prices they had to pay for it. That meant the common person simply wouldn't see this medicine until the market was basically flooded by it, which would take a long time.

That's why if he kept the prices low right now, at something like one silver per tablet or even lower, the merchant making the final sale to the nobles would simply price it as high as he could, like 10 or 20 silver, or maybe much higher, and the nobles would still be willing to pay it once they realized the benefits of it.

In that case, only Tiranat would be the loser in the whole scheme, while the merchants would be reaping huge profits and the nobles would begin hoarding this medicine for future use, since it would easily last a long time, while the common person would never even see the medicine anyway.

That's why until they could scale up the production of acelos, and by a lot, it would be better to keep the major share of that profit to themselves, which would earn them the gold they needed to invest for producing this medicine cheaply in the future, instead of the merchants getting richer and richer. He looked at Pydaso.

"If the losuvil paste sells for 7 silver coins per use, then I want to keep our prices at least somewhat comparable to that, so anyone who wants to buy a healing medicine would prefer our acelos tablets over the losuvil paste because of its much more potent benefits and its ability to last for a long time. But that's for the future, when we can increase the production even more and lower our costs."

Trying to hide the fact that for now they had access to the raw material for basically free in the eastern hills, he continued, "After taking into account the current costs of the raw materials and the labourers' wages required in the production, I think we can sell it to you for... 20 silver coins per tablet.

Your profits, as well as those of that Ulrigan trader could add up maybe another few silvers to the price, which would still keep the final sale price more or less comparable to the losuvil paste, but with its ability to be stored for very long, everyone who can afford it would prefer our medicine. That's why you have to make sure to explain clearly to the buyers that Acelos will be useful even after 4 to 6 months. Once we have better data...

uh, numbers, of how long this medicine will last, you can promote its even higher shelf life which would make this medicine seem even more attractive."

"Uh... shelf life?" The merchant asked with confusion.

"It means how long something perishable can be safely kept on... a shelf. Basically, it means how long something is safe for use."

"Oh," Pydaso nodded.

"Well, I think this is a reasonable price for now. If it was even higher, like 30 or 40 silver coins, only the rich nobles would be able to afford it, but this way even a commoner would prefer it over the losuvil paste in case he has some savings to buy it. Well, that's after the market gets enough of this medicine, anyway. In the beginning it is most likely going to be stocked up by the nobles as well as the rich merchants and landowners anyway, no matter what we try."

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"I realize that," Kivamus said.

"We simply can't make enough of it right now to provide to the general public anyway, but hopefully in the future we will be able to make it in bulk, and we can also change the price accordingly at that time."

"Well, that's a decision for later then..." Pydaso added with a smirk, "So is that all you have to sell this time, or have you made some other revolutionary products?" Kivamus laughed, remembering the crossbows and the seed drills, as well as the scorpion he planned to build in the future - not that he wanted to sell it to anyone else.

"No comments on that." Pydaso looked stunned.

"I was just joking... Have you really made other things like this?"

"Perhaps..." Kivamus chuckled.

"but that's a conversation for the future." The portly merchant shook his head in wonder.

"I can't even describe how glad I am that I met you, milord. If things keep going like this... I might just have to become a merchant who only travels to Tiranat to buy its wondrous products before selling it to other towns." Kivamus laughed, hoping that day would come sooner. Pydaso seemed lost in thought for a moment, before he continued, "Well, for today, I'll gladly buy all the paper you have with you this time.

However, since you said that making more of that acelos medicine would take time, I would like to put an advance order for a hundred tablets of it." Duvas looked excited after hearing that, but the merchant interrupted, "Actually, make it 200 tablets. I simply can't say how big a market would be for this medicine at triple the prices of losuvil paste, but I think I should still be able to sell this much when including both Cinran and Ulriga as the markets. After that, we'll have to see how it goes."

"Of course," Kivamus nodded with a grin.

"I think we should be able to produce that much medicine to sell to you in around a month. However, I have a favour to ask of you."

"What is it, milord?" Pydaso asked curiously.

"Trading with you is always good business for me, and I would like to maintain this mutually beneficial relationship between us. Just tell me what you want. If it is in my power, I'll make sure to fulfil it." Kivamus continued, "As I mentioned earlier, we have to pay the taxes to the Count right now, so I would like the payment for the medicine and the paper in advance, if it is at all possible." Pydaso stroked his beard for a moment.

"Usually it wouldn't have been possible, but you seem to be in luck." He shrugged.

"The price of that medicine will run in hundreds of gold, and I rarely carry that much gold with me on the road. Too much risk of being looted, you know? However this time I was planning to buy cheap iron ingots from Ulriga in bulk on my second trip, before taking it to sell to Cinran and some other places. That's why I'd brought more gold than usual from my home this time, so I think paying in advance should be fine. It's the least I can do for you."

"That's wonderful," Kivamus smiled.

"Now Duvas will finalize the prices of everything we have sold and bought." The majordomo began scribbling on the back side of a used parchment, "We have 17 furs of good quality, and 41 of average quality with us. We also have just above 100 sheets of paper to sell, while we have to account for the prices of the adzee pelt and the acelos medicine you ordered in advance. On the other hand, we are buying two full wagonloads of iron ingots from you."

Kivamus tuned out their conversation while the merchant began listing out the prices he was willing to pay for everything. After a while, Duvas put down his quill, making Kivamus look at him in curiosity.

"That is acceptable with me," the majordomo announced to the merchant before looking at Kivamus.

"We will be getting 82 gold for the adzee pelt, while all the other furs will give us a total of 96 gold. Individual sheets of paper aren't that costly, and we don't have a big stock of it, so Pydaso has agreed to buy all of what we have for 21 gold, while buying all the iron ingots will cost us 67 gold. That turns out to be a net total of 132 gold and a few silver coins that we will gain.

Finally, the advance order for 200 tablets of the acelos medicine at a rate of 20 silver coins per tablet comes out to a total of 400 gold." Pydaso nodded.

"So that's a total of 532 gold that I have to pay. You want all of it in advance?"

"If you can manage it," Kivamus asked.

"It will leave me short on coins to buy the iron ingots I wanted," the merchant mused, "but I can sell these in Ulriga first, and that's where I have to buy the ingots anyway, so I guess it will work out in the end." He smiled.

"Although it's always a risk for a traveling merchant to sell things on credit, by now I know that you will stay true to your words and that I never need to doubt your honesty, so I'll give you the full amount by evening."

"That's wonderful," Kivamus nodded gratefully, knowing how much they needed that cash right now. Pydaso added, "By the way, I know that you said that you don't have much stock of the medicine left, but can I still get a few small samples of it to take back with me? Even though I believe in your claims, I will still have to show some of it to the trader in Ulriga for him to accept that acelos really works."