What does it cost to open a shop?

[increddibelly]

one of my players has an alchemist, who has found a suitable site for opening a store. He has most of the lab equipment - but I need some sort of price for renting the store building (store is on a corner of town square, small town +/- 1700 inhabitants).

My gut tells me that it would cost 500 gp a month, paid up front, with 2 months deposit - so 1500 gold for the first month and 500gp every next month (*)

The party has 5k in cash so this is very doable - I just don't want to make it too easy for them, so perhaps I need to double the rate?

(*)spoiler Way of the Wicked:

although in all honesty they won't be staying in Aldencross for all that long - they'll probably steal back every penny before they leave. I just want to put a serious but fair drain their budget, so they can't have a shop AND still afford to create a dozen scrolls.

[increddibelly]

this probably helps: thank you Frank Steven Gimenez

[Pyrrhic Victory]

That is actually probably way too expensive. Check out the prices for common goods in Ultimate Equipment. 1 GP goes a long way! You can rent a large suite in an Inn for like 10 gp a night and that is 300 per month. I store front is probably much smaller and cheaper.

[increddibelly]

thanks, that's one book I didn't check yet. I'll have a look and adjust pricing.

[Riuken]

You can always just have the building owner haggle with them (meaning you haggle with them). Take as much as you can, and if they don't seem willing to pay enough (maybe 250g a month or so), say the building owner raises his nose at them and walks off. He knows they have spare coinage (they are adventurers after all) and understands that they would be willing to pay an outrageous price for something they want badly enough. They intend to make a profit with this shop, don't they?

[increddibelly]

Haggling. I could've, should've, but didn't :)

they intend do

Way of the wicked:

annoy the previous town alchemist by providing free healing pots to women and children - while cooking addictive drugs for the dwarven workers and poison for the local army. Yes, they're like that.
So far, the existing alchemist has come over for a not-so-friendly chat, which gave the rogue plenty of time to go over to his shop and swap his supply of arsenic for sand.