Chapter 28: Isn't This Price a Bit Low?
Solicitor's Office of Edward Tonks
Ronald Bilius Weasley
July 15, 1989, Saturday
For the next half hour, Mr. Tonks and Clerk Foster were left bewildered as Ron introduced and explained the features of four different games.
And Ron had the opportunity to watch from the front row as these games, especially Little Merlin, turned their worldview upside down.
Mr. Tonks certainly hadn't expected anything like this. Yes, he had some expectations about what Ron would offer him. After all, he'd heard that Ron could perform even wandless magic, and that was enough to summarize his talent and potential.
But regardless, Ron was still a nine-year-old boy, and a normal nine-year-old's capabilities shaped Mr. Tonks' expectations.
Mr. Tonks even considered the possibility that the toys Ron referred to as his "products" might be small, whimsical creations, and in that case, he even considered advising him to wait a little longer before doing "business".
He was normally someone who didn't give his clients advice on matters outside his domain. After all, what his clients wanted from him was legal advice.
But despite this, Mr. Tonks was even willing to break his principles to help Ron. He even considered not charging Ron anything in that case.
But what Ron presented to him was completely beyond his expectations. He hadn't expected such comprehensive items from a nine-year-old, or even from someone who had dedicated their years to crafting.
These items couldn't be considered classic games and toys. They were products that would change the way Magical Britain, no, the entire wizarding world, viewed crafting.
And even though this little genius claimed to be making them for underage wizards and witches, Mr. Tonks knew adult wizards would definitely buy them too.
In fact, considering purchasing power, sales to adult wizards would likely far exceed sales to children under 17.
Mr. Tonks was quite certain about this because he himself wanted to collect all these items from the table, take them home, and play with his family. And if he couldn't find anyone to play with, that wasn't a problem at all, because he could play alone against the opponents summoned by Little Merlin.
'I wonder what it would be like to play chess against a mini-goblin?' thought Mr. Tonks, remembering when Ron introduced the games, showing him opponents he could play against alone through Little Merlin.
'All of these products eliminate one of the biggest problems in the games of the wizarding world. People no longer have to find someone to play with. They can play these games against many different magical opponents whenever and wherever they want,' Mr. Tonks thought to himself.
And when he looked at Ron, he knew that Ron was no longer just a little boy with potential, but a talent that could fundamentally change the wizarding world.
More importantly, if what Andromeda told him was true, this talent had only started using magic less than two weeks ago. He couldn't even imagine what it would be able to do months or years from now.
Could the name Ronald Bilius Weasley one day reach the same level as Dumbledore or Nicolas Flamel?
'No. Neither Dumbledore nor Nicolas Flamel, who is only nine years old and hasn't even used a wand yet, could put such things in front of me. Am I... sitting in front of the next Merlin?' he couldn't help but think.
"Mr. Ronald Weasley. What price are you planning to set for these items? And are you planning to sell them now? If my budget allows, I'd like to buy one of each," said Clerk Foster, and his question brought Mr. Tonks out of his thoughts.
"Oh. Mr. Foster. These items will be priced at a level you can afford. The price I'm currently considering is 25 silver sickles per product. That's one galleon and 8 sickles. But I'm sorry to say that I can't sell them right now. It wouldn't be right to sell them before I finish the legal procedures. I hope you understand," Ron said.
When Ron considered the functions and unique aspects of the items he had created, he knew that a price of 25 silver sickles was far too low, at least by the standards of the wizarding world.
But Ron had an advantage no other crafter had: the Mass Crafting Factory.
Thanks to the Mass Crafting Factory, while other crafters had to spend days, weeks, and months crafting a single item on their own, Ron didn't have that problem.
Therefore, unlike other crafters who sold a small number of items at high prices, Ron aimed to sell a large number at low prices. In other words, he would profit from high-volume sales.
Moreover, this 25 silver sickle price was the retail price.
He planned to sell these items even more cheaply to shops that had signed retail contracts with him. And for wholesale purchases, he intended to lower the selling price to 17 silver sickles.
One galleon. This was the lowest price Ron would accept, and, of course, those who bought items from him would sign a contract preventing them from selling them for more than the 25 silver sickles price he set.
Ron wouldn't allow others to profit more from his products than he did. As for matters like shipping costs and customs duties to consider in international sales... such things didn't exist in the wizarding world.
With international travel permission and a designated portkey, all items could be instantly transported from one end of the world to the other using a suitcase expanded with an Undetectable Extension Charm.
As for Ron's profit per item, even in wholesale sales, almost all of the one galleon profit he earned per item went to him.
After all, apart from the craftsmanship Ron used in these products, the only raw materials were wood and glass for the core. And Mass Crafting Factory supplied these materials to Ron at a very low price.
Although Ron's cost varied by product, the cost of these four items was only on par with bronze knuts, and none cost even 1 silver sickle.
Even assuming the cost was 1 silver sickle, Ron made a profit of 16 times his cost when selling his products wholesale. A 1600% profit would be enough to make any Muggle or Wizard merchant drool.
And Ron also knew that with these prices, he had crushed all competition even before the start. As long as the supply of his products met demand, no competitor or imitator could compete with him on price.
And Ron knew that they wouldn't be able to reach his level of quality anytime soon. This meant he could dominate the market for a long time.
Of course, some competitors who couldn't compete with him on price and quality would try to make moves that crossed into gray and black areas. Intimidating contracted sellers, attempting to cut off the raw materials he needed, and most importantly, creating legal obstacles.
That's why Ron was here today.
He could handle many other things, but if the Ministry of Magic or an international organization were to confront him, Ron didn't have the power to stand up to them right now.
Therefore, everything he did had to be done by the book.
"Oh. I apologize, Mr. Ronald Weasley. I lost myself for a moment and forgot that you're here to seek legal advice. Of course, you shouldn't sell them to anyone before completing the necessary procedures," said Clerk Foster.
"It's alright, Mr. Foster. On the contrary, I'm pleased that you like my products," said Ron.
"But 25 silver sickles is still a very low price, isn't it? Such multifunctional, meticulously crafted products wouldn't be easy to make; they would take time. Even if you sell them at that price, I'm afraid those who buy them will resell them at a higher price," said Clerk Foster.
Just as Ron had predicted, Clerk Foster was approaching the situation from a classic perspective. But Ron didn't blame him; after all, that's how the wizarding world had worked until now.
"Oh. You don't need to worry about that, Mr. Foster. These products are manufactured using a special method I've devised. I won't go into detail because it's a production secret, but I can produce a large number of products quickly without compromising quality. A thousand, ten thousand, even a million... If anyone in the wizarding world wants my product, you can be absolutely sure it will be produced," Ron said.
Ron's mention of his production capabilities wasn't just something that slipped out of his mouth or a show-off. Besides having a magic contract to protect his secrets, Ron was quite impressed by Mr. Tonks' performance and knowledge, and he hoped to win him over to his side eventually.
To do this, Ron had to showcase some of his skills and make the other party understand the benefits of being on his side.
"If what you're saying is true, Mr. Ronald Weasley, it means these products in front of me will make you rich. And in a very short time," Mr. Tonks said, opening his mouth after a long silence.
"For a businessman, getting rich is the easy part, Mr. Tonks. The hard part is keeping that wealth. I hope you can help me with that. I don't want to lose everything I've earned because of penalties or laws that will catch me off guard," Ron said.
"Hahahaha..." Mr. Tonks let out a long laugh and then said, "You're absolutely right, Mr. Ronald Weasley. Please don't mind if I use that quote with my future clients."
"You're free to use it as you wish, Mr. Tonks. I don't mind at all." Ron said.
"So, what were your questions regarding these products? I'll try my best to help," Mr. Tonks said.
"First, as you can probably guess, many of these products are inspired by Muggle games. The Hightower game is known as Jenga in the Muggle world, Bazinga is known as Uno, Check & Checkers is a game that exists in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds, and finally, the Landlord game is known as Monopoly in the Muggle world," Ron said.
The Landlord game was the fourth game Ron had produced last week, and it was essentially a magical and enhanced version of Monopoly. He hadn't shown it to Bill because he didn't plan to sell it in the first batch, but Ron had some specific questions about it from Mr. Tonks, so he thought it would be appropriate to show it to him.
"Huh? You got inspiration from Muggle games when making these games, Ron? I didn't know that," said Bill.
"Yes, Bill. Many of the games are advertised in Muggle newspapers," Ron said.
"While you were introducing the games, I already noticed that many of them are inspired by games from the Muggle world. Are you concerned about that?" Mr. Tonks asked.
"Yes. I want to know if this would be considered using magic on Muggle objects," Ron said.
After all, his father, Arthur Weasley, was the head of the Office of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, and his son being accused of such a crime could cause his father serious trouble.
End of Chapter 28.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.29: There Is No Such Patent Here
Ch.30: Novice Crafter License
Ch.31: The Most Profitable Business for Merchants