Servers with the most active economies?

I always buy from SMP1

OFF-TOPIC, sorry: Which server would you guys recommend I expand too with a replica of my store on SMP2?

Smp8 to alexchance

Come to SMP1, that's where I plan on going before we tackle that big joint shop

I dunno if its just me but at shop hasn't been stocked in weeks?

My opinion is that the younger servers will have more demand for raw and basic materials: cobble, wood, sand, sandstone, stone, glass. When I moved in to smp7, it was still relatively new and as I recall we had several thousand residences open. People were making cobble gens, shops were beating themselves up over cobble and sand prices and residents were buying it up.

Now there are 30 open residences and a lot of the players have matured. I now see a lot of people in chat asking for more advanced items like pistons or bookcases. And a lot of the chat is now about more advanced things like grinders, enhanted items, potions, or hidden piston doors.

If I were opening a store on a younger server, I'd pick the one with the fewest existing residences since I'd be an established store as people moved in. I saw a lot of people leave smp7 and go to smp9 when they opened the two new servers. I expect anyone who did this and opened a shop did well. Oddly I've seen a lot of people come back to our server asking for items and materials so I'm not sure what's gone on there.

When I've gone to the older servers I've noticed that often people are begging in chat for basic items like cobble. Most likely these are new residents. There may be big shops there but I don't often see the owners respond in chat to requests for items. They've built up their business then moved on to other projects I assume. It's a bit disappointing too because when a big shop opens, I think it hurts the small shops. The people running small shops then get discouraged and find other things to do. Then when the larger shop owner's focus changes you've got a big hole to fill.

Chat is a big deal to me. If demand drives the economy, chat is the steering wheel. While I'm working to fill my chests I constantly watch chat for anyone asking for items. I see almost a one to one correspondence in my Rupees log too. I do well when I'm in town and not so well when I'm mining. Sure some people remember where they bought stuff, and often other people who are logged in will direct them to a store they like, but for the most part if you are not on the server attending your shop, it's not going to do as well as it could.

I could build the nicest looking store on EMC, stock it fully and set competitive prices on everything in it, but if no one knows it's there, it may as well be an empty plot of grass.

There's a timezone dynamic too. I'm in the US and see a lot of business maybe from 3PM on since kids have gotten out of school. Around dinner time it drops off. When I log in during my lunch breaks, I see a lot of young Europeans playing and I know we have a lot of Australians as well. I haven't really paid much attention, but I'll bet there are peak times each day when I could log into any server and see it booming and others where it would appear dead.

Sorry for all the tl;dr. Bottom line, I'd go for the newest server with the least occupied residences if I were opening another shop. I'd probably want to watch chat for a while during the time I'm usually on to see if anyone's actively running a shop too before I committed. Activity wise the ones moving raw materials, I'd consider "active", but the older ones are more likely to be moving high ticket things like enchanted items.

While I mostly agree with this statement, I don't think it's the big shop owner's intention to hurt the small shops. People move on to other things in Minecraft and that just can't be helped. However, this gives other shops the chance to prosper.

As someone building a large shop as we speak, I don't think the opening of big shops should discourage small ones. In fact, I feel it should encourage them to grow and compete against the prices of big business. I started as a small seller until I saw outrageous prices in these big shops and now I am expanding my own in hopes of lowering these prices for the server. Yes, the perks of big shops is that they have a large variety and therefore attract a lot of customers. However, as a small seller, if you want to specialize in just a few items, then make your prices competitive enough to establish a loyal group of buyers. That being said, no matter how large your inventory is, as long as your prices are competitive and you let people know that, then there's no reason for you to be discouraged.

Btw, this all applies in real life too.

Wheres Utopia but SMP9

I didn't mean that it was their intention, but from personal experience it is rather discouraging to have this happen. What happened in my case was I stuck with it, expanded a bit with some other items and they've since moved on. So I guess what I did was compete as you say above, but a big part of it was just plain persevering.

Def smp2

Based on votes, you should put another on smp2

I second SMP8, we would love to have you there.

Here we go.
Yes, the younger servers have demand for basic blocks and all, but there are still new members joining on the older servers. Just because we've been around for a while doesn't mean that people don't ask for planks less than anywhere else. Sure, there are more residences being built on brand new servers, but there have been a ton of new projects popping up on SMP2 lately, many from newer members.

When people ask where they can buy certain items, I always respond with "3456, 4005, 3553, 3043, 3883..." etc. Granted, I'm not on 24/7, but I do what I can. I also see krysyy and alex making similar responses. My general rule is that if no one responds in chat when they can obviously hear you, then the likelihood is that no one sells it or wants to sell it. Just because we build up a business and finish it doesn't mean we leave it to wither and die. Buy/sell shop chests are put in place so that the shop can (for the most part) sustain itself when we are not on. Sure, other building projects may take some focus away from doing major work on the place, but if I'm working on a new project and someone asks for wool, I respond with all the residences selling wool in consistent stock. And your point that big shops discourage small shops is invalid. If anything, it ENCOURAGES small shops to grow bigger. When I first joined, my shop was an underground hallway with some cobble, sand, and a few wood logs. I started selling glass, netherbrick, etc. One day, while exploring town, I ran into Leo's original shop at 3664. It was really the first big place I had seen, and I was stunned. I noticed all the people running through the shop, buying, selling, the whole deal. I felt somewhat ashamed of my underground hallway, so I moved aboveground, built like crazy for a few days, and here I am. I also made most of the rupees used to build my shop by selling to guys like Leo or Alex. In conclusion, the big shops can often help and improve the small ones.

Well said, sir.

ok, changed my post. congrats on gold, btw.

I banned whoever took advantage of any sign flaws, rather than notifying me. Like when I accidentally bought wolf eggs for 185r apiece...

It's "not cool" that you intentionally posted off-topic just to call me out. There is such a thing as starting a private conversation and I have been waiting since yesterday for you to log on so that I could speak to you about it. I had no way of knowing that you weren't just some rich guy needing a bunch of eggs considering the fact that 1. you were offline and 2. you did not make just one shop that bought the eggs for that price, but three.

How true...

Congrats on gold. I hope you two can work this out.

Smp8 then I guess