Buying MC Business Stock vs Stealing

[GemeenAapje]

Hi guys

First post here. Only been playing GTA for a week and loving it, except for all the loading screens of course.

 

My question is about the MC business. I've built up a coke business with the upgrades. Normally I run the missions to steal supplies, but getting kind of bored with it. Others don't want to help because they wont get paid for it of course and it's exhausting solo. Have to do 5 stealing missions just to get the supplies for 1 bar of stock ($84k so very bad return for time invested).

 

So this time I thought.... well if I can sell for 420k and buy supplies for 75k, it's a good profit and I can move on to other activities.

 

But, my problem is that buying 75k of stock only gives enough supplies for 1 bar of stock. That is $84k,

 

So what's the point? It makes no sense to buy stock at all. I thought/hoped that 75k of supplies would be enough to fill up the whole stock

 

Or am I completely missing the point?

 

Advice welcome please folks

 

Thanks

Matt

[Spadge]

They did lower the amount you get with buying, I recommend stealing them for better profit.

[Sanches]

They did lower the amount you get with buying

LOL!

[JustCallMeNiko]

It is worth it to buy supplies, just be sure to sell to the far destination to get the 50% bonus. This applies to coke and meth but less so for the other 3 businesses since they pay much less.

 

When selling with less bars of stock you will have a single vehicle to deliver so it is easier if you are solo.

[GTASA-Pilot]

Full supplies capacity of 5 bars in coke business should produce 112k worth of product and not 84k. If it only yields 84k then something is not right. 5 bars of supplies lasts for exactly 2 hours and it takes 2 hours to produce 2 bars of product (112k local/168 far sale) so you should end up with 112k when you go from full supplies to empty, no matter if the supplies were bought or stolen. Strange, I've read here that this happens to some players but for me, it always gives 112k. By the way, 1 bar of stock equals 56k, not 84k.

 

When you have full supplies and start from zero product, wait 2 hours before resupplying again. Don't go back like 5-10 minutes before the supplies run out just because the indicator is red and almost empy, otherwise it will only show 84k of value because you simply haven't waited the 2 hours required to produce the two bars of product (112k). Did you let the supplies run out completely before resupplying or did you resupply like a bit before it ran out? If so, then that is the reason it only gives you 84k per full supply capacity.

 

The amount of purchased supplies given has not been lowered because I've been buying supplies a lot during these days and everything works fine, nothing has changed for me. I don't understand why they would lower the amount for purchased supplies and not for the stolen too.

Edited January 10, 2018 by GTASA-Pilot

[Jimbatron]

A full supply bar of Coke when the factory is fully upgraded should gross you 168k when sold far, or net you 93k if you bought the supplies.

 

The Coke is produced is discreet increments every 24 minutes. I have a suspicion if you disconnect before the next block is fully produced you may lose progress - so that may be why you're not getting as much.

 

But assuming you achieve that value, back to the question, should you buy supplies? Consider the time it would take to source a full supply bar, and whatever other activity you could do with that time. My benchmark is I expect to earn 75k every 20 minutes from a high end I/E car sale to a specialist dealer. That happens to be the cost of the supplies. So if you can source a full supply bar in under 20 minutes, then steal them. Otherwise you're better off selling an I/E car and using the proceeds to buy supplies. Assuming the sell mission can be done in 20 minutes you're netting 93k which also beats I/E payouts. You can also do more I/E car sales whilst the Coke produces.

 

The payout for other biker businesses is far less lucrative. Gunrunning is better.

 

Regardless of the economics I pretty much shut down my Coke production - I can't stand those $*@king Post Op vans.

[Tonguegirl]

ignore this post

 

Advice above

Edited January 10, 2018 by Tonguegirl

[GemeenAapje]

thanks, great feedback.

 

I indeed supply before the bars are empty.

 

This time I've let it run completely out. It said the factory was suspended. I then purchased for 75k.

 

I'm now waiting patiently to see what it gets me. So far half of the supplies are gone and it's at half a bar of stock (28k). So not looking promising.

 

Thanks

Matt

[GTASA-Pilot]

A full supply bar of Coke when the factory is fully upgraded should gross you 168k when sold far, or net you 93k if you bought the supplies.

 

The Coke is produced is discreet increments every 24 minutes. I have a suspicion if you disconnect before the next block is fully produced you may lose progress - so that may be why you're not getting as much.

 

But assuming you achieve that value, back to the question, should you buy supplies? Consider the time it would take to source a full supply bar, and whatever other activity you could do with that time. My benchmark is I expect to earn 75k every 20 minutes from a high end I/E car sale to a specialist dealer. That happens to be the cost of the supplies. So if you can source a full supply bar in under 20 minutes, then steal them. Otherwise you're better off selling an I/E car and using the proceeds to buy supplies. Assuming the sell mission can be done in 20 minutes you're netting 93k which also beats I/E payouts. You can also do more I/E car sales whilst the Coke produces.

 

The payout for other biker businesses is far less lucrative. Gunrunning is better.

 

Regardless of the economics I pretty much shut down my Coke production - I can't stand those $*@king Post Op vans.

Yes, it should gross 168k but where did you get that 93k from? Supplies that were bought should not be any different from stolen ones, supplies are supplies.

 

In a fully upgraded business, every stack of cocaine takes 30 minutes to produce. To produce 10 stacks to reach full capacity takes 5 hours. Each bar of supplies lasts for 24 minutes, so 5 bars lasts 2 hours (24 x 5 = 120 minutes).

 

For OP, I recommend you to buy supplies for now and sell a top range car to compensate for the 75k cost of resupplying fully because when you steal supplies, production of stock is paused during supply missions. So, if it takes you 20 minutes to steal 5 bars of supplies, you lose 20 minutes of production time everytime it's time to resupply the business. That's almost like losing one stack of cocaine each time, so imagine if you do this several times a day, you would have lost more than 1 hour per day of production time... possibly even 2 hours or more. As you can see, stealing supplies is not a good idea unless Rockstar fix the issue which causes the production of stock to pause during supply runs and sale deliveries. I have contacted R* support about that 2 times recently and they replied to me that they are "definitely going to look into the issue", which I do not expect them to patch to be honest. But who knows, maybe this issue gets fixed in the next update and if that happens then stealing supplies will become a good option again. Buy supplies for now and if you're going to do that, remember that when you click the buy supplies button in the business laptop, it takes 10 minutes for the shipment of supplies to arrive so make sure that you buy supplies exactly 10 minutes before the supplies runs out. You got to watch the clock and time it if you want to time it as good as possible.

[Jimbatron]

@above

 

168 - 75 = 93

 

The net in thousands your bank balance will be up by if you buy the supplies. Stealing you net the full 168k but there's an opportunity cost - what you could have earned doing something else in the time it took you to steal them.

[GemeenAapje]

Currently at 84k and a tiny bit of supplies left. Curious how this will turn out :-D

Edited January 10, 2018 by GemeenAapje

[GemeenAapje]

Ok I was wrong. It did indeed make 2 bars at 168k - nice and easy for a solo delivery.

 

Thanks for the advice and sorry for the confusion

[GTASA-Pilot]

Ok I was wrong. It did indeed make 2 bars at 168k - nice and easy for a solo delivery.

 

Thanks for the advice and sorry for the confusion

Very nice! Now you know how to take full advantage of the supplies

[Geisterfaust]

Valid points were stated in last 2 posts, OP. Buy supplies and make money back with a tool of your choice, don't waste the production time. Unless you're doing it for fun.

[Rafae]

If I steal supplies I always sell after the first bar is completely used up. If I'm buying I wait until it's fully maxed out. But yeah, f*ck MC Businesses in general now. Bunker sales and I/E is where it's at.

[GemeenAapje]

Silly question, but I'd rather ask than find out the hard way.... If I do a "Sell" mission with the MC coke business and I don't like the mission offered (like the van run which is painfully slow and almost impossible solo through the mountains), can I join a new session and find my stock back in my business or will I have lost everything?
Suppose the same question goes for if the timer is running out and I think I wont make it... can I just find new session and get another chance before the timer runs out?

[Hellbendzor]

After currently 103ish million earned through Coke, I recommend buying supplies. With two resupplies, the facility is almost full. The 150K costs I fund through sourcing and selling highend cars at my vehicule warehouse. Just make sure you have 10 lowrange and 10 midrange cars at it. After that the only cars you get to steal and sell are high end, thus around 80k profit a car, damage excluded...

 

Like some already said, Bunker is nice too. I BUY my supplies again, but only two. That leads to 280k of product and a very big chance I can sell my stuff through only two delivery vehicules, thus solo manageable.. Selling long distance = 420k in the bag... Again funding resups through I/E car sourcing...

 

I wouldn't go overboard with too many facilities, as it gets harder to keep everything monitored, when you have more than three (passive income) facilities active...

 

I currently have Coke, meth and bunker active as my passive income (making cash while playing/doing other stuff), but I'm thinking to close down my meth again and keep it at only Coke and bunker running... Less hassle and a very nice financial output.

 

The only reason why I would recommend stealing supplies, is just to enjoy the missions for a few times... It's something new and you have to try it out, but after awhile it gets stale and dull. At that particular time, I would highly recommend switching to purchasing supplies...

 

And like some said the only sell-mission that's impossible solo at the coke facility, are the postal vans sale (tried again yesterday after awhile and I only managed two out of three postal vans). But if you don' tlike the selling method.. Pull the internet plug, reconnect after you get kicked to single player and retry. Most of the time you get something else. No need to discard coke due to the Postal vans delivery... You'll miss out on a great earning method...

 

But, that's just my opinion... The others are just as valid (and valuable)...

Edited January 10, 2018 by Hellbendzor

[FrozenDanCicle]

Steal till you can afford a cheap bunker.

 

With all upgrades I more than double my money once I sell. I buy supplies, then harass lobby till says delivered, then go do missions or lts. This way, no more fetching, and I make back the money by doing stuff I enjoy.

 

Once you get the bunker maxxed upgrades, just focus on having fun and inbetween when you land in a lobby, rebuy supplies and go back to more fun.

 

If u want to close your coke biz, max the supplies then shutdown. If it doesnt have supplies before shutdown, LJT still calls.

 

I havent touched a biker biz in maybe a year.

 

Edit: having multiple passive businesses means multiple sales. Screw that. One sale, nice and quick, upgraded long distance sale is over a million. Bonuses for people in the lobby. The worst bunker sale is light years better than a post op van. You get armed insurgents, or regular insurgents, the semi with a plow on it, and the worst two? Monster trucks or the armed buggies. Not so bad.

 

Cannot stress enough that bunker is the way to go to avoid fetch quests.

 

I play to have fun, good money coming in is the byproduct. And having fun means that you wont be counting every dollar you make. I shudder when I think of the days when I calculated my income in how many fetch quests I had to do.

Edited January 10, 2018 by FrozenDanCicle

[IamCourtney]

I have a bunker, coke and meth but I recently shut meth down now that all my bunker research is done and it's in full money mode. Three passive businesses is just too much babysitting but enh, next time there's a payout bonuses for biker biz I can just fire meth back up.

 

I enjoy most of the steal missions so I usually do one and then buy the remainder when I get back. If the mission it gives me ends up being particularly close and quick I might do a second. Each one is worth at least $15k or $30k; not a terrible payout for the time most take me.

[Bobfakkel]

The point is how long are you doing those supply missions on average to get the same result as buying it for 75k.

 

For me I can source and sell a car every 20mins for 80k profit (and prolly do vip work also but ill leave that out of it), so If those missions for me took more then 20mins it makes no sense to do them moneywise.

 

So ask yourself that and you have an answer, can you finish each mission in 4mins or less? (5 missions you say)

 

Yes > Don't buy supplies

No > Buy supplies

Edited January 11, 2018 by Bobfakkel

[LL Cool L]

I have not even made any money from my Bunker yet.....

 

25+ items researched and still aint got the explosive rounds......why the f*ck are paint jobs and liveries part of research smh

[Jimbatron]

Silly question, but I'd rather ask than find out the hard way.... If I do a "Sell" mission with the MC coke business and I don't like the mission offered (like the van run which is painfully slow and almost impossible solo through the mountains), can I join a new session and find my stock back in my business or will I have lost everything?

Suppose the same question goes for if the timer is running out and I think I wont make it... can I just find new session and get another chance before the timer runs out?

If memory serves you will lose one production increment - half a bar worth 28k near / 42k far - if you quit the session before completing the delivery mission. At least that used to be the case at the start - I tested it - not sure what happens if some of the product has been delivered or destroyed.

 

For gunrunning the increments are smaller and produced more regularly, you only lose 7.5k near / 10.5k far if you quit the session. So if you're in a Marshall monstor truck on your own and about to be bombed by someone in a jet there's a very cost effective solution to save most of your product. 75k of supplies grosses 210k far, always one vehicle. Buy a bunker as soon as you can. It's a better payout than Coke with better delivery vehicles. Not to say you can't keep Coke running at the same time if you want to.

Edited January 11, 2018 by Jimbatron

[Lonely-Martin]

A full supply bar of Coke when the factory is fully upgraded should gross you 168k when sold far, or net you 93k if you bought the supplies.

 

The Coke is produced is discreet increments every 24 minutes. I have a suspicion if you disconnect before the next block is fully produced you may lose progress - so that may be why you're not getting as much.

 

But assuming you achieve that value, back to the question, should you buy supplies? Consider the time it would take to source a full supply bar, and whatever other activity you could do with that time. My benchmark is I expect to earn 75k every 20 minutes from a high end I/E car sale to a specialist dealer. That happens to be the cost of the supplies. So if you can source a full supply bar in under 20 minutes, then steal them. Otherwise you're better off selling an I/E car and using the proceeds to buy supplies. Assuming the sell mission can be done in 20 minutes you're netting 93k which also beats I/E payouts. You can also do more I/E car sales whilst the Coke produces.

 

The payout for other biker businesses is far less lucrative. Gunrunning is better.

 

Regardless of the economics I pretty much shut down my Coke production - I can't stand those $*@king Post Op vans.

 

Your guide was fantastic dude. Genuinely helped me and I'm quite experienced, lord knows how many have saved time/money or learned just even a little about these businesses combined like that, can't imagine how many. Guests too.

 

Rightful winner.

 

I love CaliMatWagon's threads very much too (of course, and those that contribute there too), and equally, they are gold to the right visitor here. But yours is great for after we've visited Cali's, you know?. His help us learn each business, as to enjoy the new content first of all, like first time runs and doing it all at least once is key for many, even if just to see it. But after that, to then find your guide that incorporates the better bits of each and combine them. Just magic.

 

The part about the 'if you can in 20 minutes' too, great to see that advice dude. As I feel, even solo with all these toys, we can fill these up that quick. Aside maybe the less central locations, that after newer player following your guide get more comfortable out there, 20-25 minutes is a fair trade off to run the jobs, not pay, you know?. I was fortunate to not need the money as heists and other PvE saw me good prior to freemode businesses, so had the luxury of buying this stuff but not be pressed to see it return cash quick like others, and certainly newer people out there. So I fully enjoy just stealing everything as best as (Or pay as little as possible - Solo crates at 2k a pop - Though with I/E I pay the $20k). Solo, it's 4 jobs maximum really. Though it tends to go van/package/van/package (or vice versa), often just 3 jobs for me alone. Being rather central around the Alamo Sea I feel helps. Half way north, half way south. And knowing the map helps with vast shortcuts too. Can't buy that though, lol.

 

For me, the MC DLC added some of the better freemode jobs over that period of businesses (pre doomsday). The MC contracts included. Going into buildings like cop stations, the Lost's clubhouses. doing hack to crack safes, to go into Tequi-la-la and such. For fetch quests, much better. Weapon of Choice, Guns for Hire. Just great lil' jobs that get better with more people, IMHO.

 

But yeah, I like to steal my stuff. So it's nice to see some, especially one that put much effort into the thought here, saying stealing can be Ok. I mean, with a team. One job can do it in 5-10 minutes even, lol. Underappreciated by some as I see people say 'i won't help steal, only sell'... I get their point, and of course stealing don't pay them like selling. But if you get a group and spin the circle, too bloody easy to not have to ever pay.

 

In regards to the post op vans. I have found that by selling after 11am in game, they don't pop up. Is this just me?. Seems consistent. Heli's, Planes, Bikes, Vans (Burrito/3.5 ton trucks - I think, lol), and not 100% but even trash trucks possibly, but no post op vans for ages now.

 

The bit about the increments being disrupted. I do believe so with MC. I've had varied results with what a full bar can give. from $126k or $128k-$168k for a far sale. Lone wolf sales that is.

 

I know the bunker does get interrupted, as this forced me away in the end, and when I returned I ended up going AFK/idle on the last 3 or 4. It's every 7/14 minutes, depending on upgrades and where your staff are.

 

I had playlists of missions I enjoy all the time, many single contact missions so i can replay them But when doing many of these, the one's that took less than 7 minutes for example, my progress in the bunker would stall and just take for ever. I figure early on that 3 hours online, didn't mean when we're between jobs in playlists or switching sessions by going on call (races and heists also often less than 7 minutes too) so I'd fill the bar, and think 'right, job time...' go on call, or run PL's and come back in a couple of hours, only to see it's moved hardly at all.

 

The Meth is the worst for this I feel. Always seems to never move when I'm on call or on playlists/heists. So I don't just think. I genuinely feel you need to be in freemode to get these to remain consistent. Again, I was lucky my PvE cash (still am with the current 2x) made the businesses less important to me, so I just plodded and it's all just free money for playing, you know?. But this'd piss me off early on if i was new to the game looking to complete heists, Lamar missions, Special Vehicle Missions, MOC missions, and Doomsday. As it just stalls it so much.

 

Research being the killer. That was the hardest to manage. Far less optional to do as the MC stuff just gave money, lol. I can get it elsewhere if that stalls. But research completely compromised my natural game. Had to walk, and scream out against it in hope to never see that return. So glad it didn't return. Better, a new bloody heist and PvE. Still amazed there's awards/bonuses/trophies, lol.

 

* For those still getting LJT call when a business is shut. Re-open it, steal/buy supplies, THEN close it AFTER bought supplies arrive. Be at peace, lol. (Just in case newer readers see this).

 

Much better...

 

Hope I made sense, lol. Thanks man, great guide.

Edited January 11, 2018 by KWF1981

[GemeenAapje]

Super replies everyone, thanks again so much.

 

I'm still a newbie and my only business so far is the coke one. I now need to decide what to go with next...

 

Bunker: 2.5m.

Car Import/Export: CEO office 2.5m + car warehouse 1.5m or so?

 

Which should I save up for?

[AgentPlum]

Always buy supplies, you can sell a couple of high end cars and make themoney back easily - saves time and effort especially if a lone wolf. Only time I have stolen supplies is if you have say 3 others helping and get practically a full stock in one run/

 

As for what to buy next, def IE garage, you can make money back quickly with little risk as you do not lay out money to steal cars so if blown up by griefers you just start again - annoying but not end of the world

[IamCourtney]

Super replies everyone, thanks again so much.

 

I'm still a newbie and my only business so far is the coke one. I now need to decide what to go with next...

 

Bunker: 2.5m.

Car Import/Export: CEO office 2.5m + car warehouse 1.5m or so?

 

Which should I save up for?

They're both good options but I would say go for CEO +I/E garage next. If you go with the cheapest option for each you can get set up for about $2.5mil total. Permanent access to the CEO's suite of options and abilities (VIP work, ghost org, instant Buzzard etc.) is a big quality of life boost and Import Export garage is probably the best mix of time/money/effort out of all the businesses with the 10-10-12 system.

 

Bunker is great as well but its a huge investment to get the most out of it. The bunker itself + multiple upgrades + MOC and its upgrades, not to mention the time and/or money of research projects... $5-6mil

 

So yeah, between CEO, IE and biker business you have a solid base to start saving for bunker. Hopefully there will be some discounts to help you out in the next few weeks.

 

Also consider adding a Buzzard to your shopping list if you don't have one yet.

Edited January 11, 2018 by IamCourtney

[AWACS-SkyEye]

Super replies everyone, thanks again so much.

 

I'm still a newbie and my only business so far is the coke one. I now need to decide what to go with next...

 

Bunker: 2.5m.

Car Import/Export: CEO office 2.5m + car warehouse 1.5m or so?

 

Which should I save up for?

Definitely I/E- the best money in the game in terms of time investment, plus one of the more fun sets of missions.

 

Bunker requires all the upgrades to be profitable and thus is a much bigger investment.

 

When doing I/E, only sell the top level cars to maximize your profits- if you collect (but dont sell) the lower level cars you'll eventually only start finding the top rated cars (theres more on this elsewhere in this forum, just look up i/e).

 

Finally, the best purchase you'll ever make after you become a CEO (and absolutely the first big purchase you should make) is the buzzard. Incredible heli, with the unique perk that as a CEO you can spawn it next to you instantly. Having a buzzard speeds up everything 10 fold.

[Jimbatron]

Super replies everyone, thanks again so much.

 

I'm still a newbie and my only business so far is the coke one. I now need to decide what to go with next...

 

Bunker: 2.5m.

Car Import/Export: CEO office 2.5m + car warehouse 1.5m or so?

 

Which should I save up for?

Do you also own a cargobob? That's important for IE as you can ferry the cars back and forth quicker with less risk of damage. I'd factor that into the costs of setting up IE, but the cheapest warehouse in La Mesa is perfectly fine.

 

I'd probably go for gunrunning first though so you can make a start on research ASAP. Some of the unlocks are really useful even though the liveries are a pile of steaming crap. Don't get the bunker in Paleto though, it's way too far out.

[FrozenDanCicle]

Super replies everyone, thanks again so much.

 

I'm still a newbie and my only business so far is the coke one. I now need to decide what to go with next...

 

Bunker: 2.5m.

Car Import/Export: CEO office 2.5m + car warehouse 1.5m or so?

 

Which should I save up for?

I/e is hands on. They are fetch quests, but at least they are usually decently fast vehicles.

 

It really comes down to fetch quests and freeroam. If you are trying to avoid fetching then go bunker. If you want to stay in freeroam and are fine fetching, then I/e.

 

Fyi, if you go with I/e, you can make it so you only source high end cars that give 80k profit on the sale. Basically you store and do not sell every mid and standard rangr car while selling the high end. The game wont give you a car to source that you already have. Im sure someone here can give you exact numbers, or check the I/e knowledge base.

 

Also, 9 out of 10 people bought the cheapest I/e warehouse, myself included. Which means, and I have done this multiple times, if I see a red car I can assume its going to my warehouse. I activate ceo, go off radar when you are 10 blocks out, then crouch in the driveway. I shoot em in the face as they turn in, steal the car and drive ten feet to store it in my own garage.

 

Ive stopped doing it as ive got a bit of money and I feel bad, but you might want to splash out for a vehicle warehouse that is not the cheapest one.

 

Last edit: again, if you go I/e, know that going off radar in the car is useless, we still see you. You either need to use ghost which digs into profits, or just cross your fingers.

 

Also, when you steal a car there are 4 waves of enemies, killing them before heading back will save you money as they are sniper ninjas who will spray the car from blocks awat.

Edited January 11, 2018 by FrozenDanCicle

[GemeenAapje]

Awesome replies again. Thanks everyone so much. Learned a lot!

 

Gonna get CEO office next. I've got 1m saved now.

Edited January 12, 2018 by GemeenAapje