Money to be Made in Trading ?

[o'moylan]

I'm kind of bored and wanted a change from pew pew. I remember when I used to trade in a Cutter way back when. That's how I made money. 2 mill at a pop over and over till I had enough to do what ever I want. I bought a cutter (again for literally the 15th time) and pimped it out as a trader/all around ship. 79mill rebuy would have been the price if I died. And I thought my Corvette was expensive. But then as It goes for me it's all about the jump range. So I think I'm going to make a shield less, cold running, scan avoiding trader. There are some neat trading add-ons and info I could assimilate. So I think I'll try it.

If.

Is there money in it? More then the standard 1 trip 3 mill ?

Any info would be great! Thanks and fly dangerous cmdr's

 

[Achibot]

In somewhere like Skogulumari (I hope I spelled that right) you can earn >4,000Cr per tonne trading Imperial Slaves, with a decent return route netting you an additional ~500Cr per tonne. So ~4,500Cr per tonne for A -> B -> A. A shieldless Cutter would carry 768(?) tonnes of cargo.

768 * ~4,500Cr = ~3.5MCr per round trip.

I'm not aware of any way to trade that's more profitable than that. Anything else (ie missions etc) would suffer so much from the time needed to find them that there is almost no chance it would pay off for a ship that big. They just don't scale enough.

 

[Ben Sevil]

Currently, the best profits to be made (as per eddb) are to be found in a loop from LFT 37 to Mundjiga and back; approximately 5,700cr/tonne for the whole trip. 720*5,700=4.1m.

However, the best way of making money as a trader has been (for quite some time apparently <gnashes teeth>) to get rid of the cargo bays, install economy passenger cabins and start doing short distance transportation. This also impacts your trade rank. Rhea is the one that is known. Profits start at about 8m an hour and can - eventually, as you ally with the factions - rise to about 35 (if you're lucky).

 

[Anthemeia]

Bulk trading is garbage right now. I started playing ED to be a space trader, and with the advent of cargo then pax missions, I can't see a reason to go back to bulk trading. It's not safer, it's not easier, and it pays out at a fraction of bulk trading. At least mining and exploration work. Traders are going to go the way of pirates, I suspect.

 

[Achibot]

Currently, the best profits to be made (as per eddb) are to be found in a loop from LFT 37 to Mundjiga and back; approximately 5,700cr/tonne for the whole trip. 720*5,700=4.1m.

However, the best way of making money as a trader has been (for quite some time apparently <gnashes teeth>) to get rid of the cargo bays, install economy passenger cabins and start doing short distance transportation. This also impacts your trade rank. Rhea is the one that is known. Profits start at about 8m an hour and can - eventually, as you ally with the factions - rise to about 35 (if you're lucky).

That seemed high to me until I realised you were allowing for more than 1 jump each way. Might be worthwhile in a Cutter though, can jump quickly and carry a lot....

Bulk trading is garbage right now. I started playing ED to be a space trader, and with the advent of cargo then pax missions, I can't see a reason to go back to bulk trading. It's not safer, it's not easier, and it pays out at a fraction of bulk trading. At least mining and exploration work. Traders are going to go the way of pirates, I suspect.

You're contradicting yourself there. Not quite sure what you are trying to say...

 

[Anthemeia]

You're contradicting yourself there. Not quite sure what you are trying to say...

Sorry - bulk trading pays out at a fraction of *missions*.

 

[Achibot]

Sorry - bulk trading pays out at a fraction of *missions*.

Gotcha. That's true for smaller ships, but as the missions don't scale it doesn't work for something the size of a Cutter. Take Ben Sevil's example which we know was accurate just a few hours ago. 4.1MCr for 4 jumps, 2 Dockings & <1,000ls in supercruise. Let's say 10mins per trip, that's 24.6MCr per hour.

For medium ships I think mission play is probably still the way to go but it stops being so with even a Type 9 to haul with and that's a crap hauler imo. It would be a 3 jump hop here, instead of 2, for example.

 

[Kevin Kyle]

If you want to trade and actually make some credits. Find a system you like, I use Sol. Every faction is fed so they all benefit in that way. I went else where for Imperial. All I do is boom time deliveries. I mostly fly a Cutter but occasionally I lose control, get the Python and head to Hutton. I get some good ones to there too but that trip out there is long. Has to be a really high paying mission to tempt me. You will get some good pay once you get allied and your trade rank increases. Im sure there are more profitable places than Sol but I am doing well there these days. Im Elite in trading and all allied so that makes a big difference. Lately I have been taking missions to Wolf 424. If I pick through the missions and take the best paying ones (requires spending time in station to get the best) I can get 20+ million a trip. If I just take what is available at the time, I make maybe half of that but I dont waste time sitting in the station. Hope that gives you an idea. I havent just straight traded in a long time. except for CG's

 

[Anthemeia]

Gotcha. That's true for smaller ships, but as the missions don't scale it doesn't work for something the size of a Cutter. Take Ben Sevil's example which we know was accurate just a few hours ago. 4.1MCr for 4 jumps, 2 Dockings & <1,000ls in supercruise. Let's say 10mins per trip, that's 24.6MCr per hour.

For medium ships I think mission play is probably still the way to go but it stops being so with even a Type 9 to haul with and that's a crap hauler imo. It would be a 3 jump hop here, instead of 2, for example.

10 minutes per roundtrip is optimal play, in my experience, and not sustainable. In my Cutter, I can still pull a reliable 30-40 million per hour, including flight times to/from and board flipping. I've done a lot of intense ABA trading. It just doesn't match up to passenger mission profits.

 

[Achibot]

If you want to trade and actually make some credits. Find a system you like, I use Sol. Every faction is fed so they all benefit in that way. I went else where for Imperial. All I do is boom time deliveries. I mostly fly a Cutter but occasionally I lose control, get the Python and head to Hutton. I get some good ones to there too but that trip out there is long. Has to be a really high paying mission to tempt me. You will get some good pay once you get allied and your trade rank increases. Im sure there are more profitable places than Sol but I am doing well there these days. Im Elite in trading and all allied so that makes a big difference. Lately I have been taking missions to Wolf 424. If I pick through the missions and take the best paying ones (requires spending time in station to get the best) I can get 20+ million a trip. If I just take what is available at the time, I make maybe half of that but I dont waste time sitting in the station. Hope that gives you an idea. I havent just straight traded in a long time. except for CG's

10 minutes per roundtrip is optimal play, in my experience, and not sustainable. In my Cutter, I can still pull a reliable 30-40 million per hour, including flight times to/from and board flipping. I've done a lot of intense ABA trading. It just doesn't match up to passenger mission profits.

Hmmm, I didn't think it would be that high to be honest. Still, it's a good day when you learn something new, I'll have to check that out.

 

[Anthemeia]

Hmmm, I didn't think it would be that high to be honest. Still, it's a good day when you learn something new, I'll have to check that out.

The problem with Rhea and pax missions in general is that everyone is talking about the nerf. So everyone is talking like pax missions are terrible now. They're not at all. They're great money. They're just not a quarter billion an hour.

 

[her3sy]

cr per ton needs a buff

 

[Kevin Kyle]

I get similar results from doing passenger transport missions to a different system. The system name escapes me at the moment. I believe that transport missions also count towards your trade rank. I flip back and forth when I get bored. Beware transporting rich and corporate people. They count too but you can pick up an illegal passenger if your not careful then the trip can be a bit more exciting. lol

 

[deuzerre]

I have my own single jump route with my Type 9, making 1.8m in one way, then bringing back only small specific stuff for missions on the way back. I generally make over 15M per full hour because the system flights are short.

Basically, I spawn, check if there are any missions that ask for stuff that I know is being produced in my destination, accept them and otherwise buy imperial slaves. Jump, get interdicted one or two times, check if there are any missions that requested slaves, sell the slaves, buy the stuff that was requested in the other station, jump back with just what I need, repeat whole process.

Using EDDB.IO, check in your favourite sector if you can spot any high cost ressource (generally imperial slaves are the best) that are requested around.
Usually, requires a lot of prospecting to find a proper trade route [You can check any commodity and see if there's anywhere that has it requested for stupidly high prices] and settle over there for a while. If you like to occasionally fight, keep shields and guns. If you just want the money, shieldless hauling ships are great.

Don't forget to improve your thrusters to be able to get in and out of stations just that little bit faster and more smoothely.

 

[Ben Sevil]

Gotcha. That's true for smaller ships, but as the missions don't scale it doesn't work for something the size of a Cutter. Take Ben Sevil's example which we know was accurate just a few hours ago. 4.1MCr for 4 jumps, 2 Dockings & <1,000ls in supercruise. Let's say 10mins per trip, that's 24.6MCr per hour.

10 minutes per roundtrip is optimal play, in my experience, and not sustainable. In my Cutter, I can still pull a reliable 30-40 million per hour, including flight times to/from and board flipping. I've done a lot of intense ABA trading. It just doesn't match up to passenger mission profits.

I have to agree with Cmdr Anthemeia here. My experience with passenger transportation, for example, is that I can't earn less than 20m in an hour (eventually, once allied with most factions), however awkwardly the stations are positioned, and however many times I'm interdicted. And in my experience, I've been unable to earn more than 20m doing trading runs like the one I mentioned (12 minutes per return trip, rather than 10).

Though one will occasionally find return cargo trips at about 6,700cr per tonne, or about 24m an hour, those are fleeting opportunities (everyone jumps at them and they're gone in a day).

The second thing is that I personally find the buy cargo, jump, jump, sell cargo, buy cargo, jump, jump (and maybe jump again), sell cargo, repeat, repeat routine more tiresome and tiring than board flipping for a system one hop away.

And finally, passenger runs are with a class 8 shield & 160 economy seats installed. I feel safer than in the class 6 shield & 720T cargo configuration in which I'd do trading runs.


Edit: One proviso. I get the feeling from my reading of various posts on this forum that passenger mission payouts are somewhat linked to trade rank. If so, then someone just starting out as penniless might be making less than the numbers I quoted for passenger runs. But also note that those were from when I was a mere tycoon. <cough>

 

[DukeIronHand]

Thought Passengers missions were linked to Exploration rank?
In any case I'll be the odd one and say I like to trade just to trade in my T9 or TradaConda depending on my mood.

One thing not mentioned (though not as profitable as being a slaver) is Basic Meds to Outbreak systems.
I also make a killing with Medical Diagnostic Equipment with the right route. They tend to come and go though.

 

[Nalessa]

Currently, the best profits to be made (as per eddb) are to be found in a loop from LFT 37 to Mundjiga and back; approximately 5,700cr/tonne for the whole trip. 720*5,700=4.1m.

However, the best way of making money as a trader has been (for quite some time apparently <gnashes teeth>) to get rid of the cargo bays, install economy passenger cabins and start doing short distance transportation. This also impacts your trade rank. Rhea is the one that is known. Profits start at about 8m an hour and can - eventually, as you ally with the factions - rise to about 35 (if you're lucky).

Trade rank?

When I did passenger missions about half a year ago I got explorer rank all the time, did they change it?

 

[o'moylan]

Do any of you have an opinion on the Trade Computer Extension ?

 

[Qohen Leth]

Trade rank?

When I did passenger missions about half a year ago I got explorer rank all the time, did they change it?

Apparently so. Got me Elite Trader in no time.

 

[Mrat13]

I just want to point out, passenger missions are not reliable. Sometimes good missions just don't spawn, and areas that have good constant spawns, like Rhea, won't always be that way.

You want the max credits, just look for the credit lemming train, and they'll tell you what to do, but that train moves, so be ready to do the same. If your willing to take slightly less, but have a consistent reliable income, use a type 9, anaconda, or cutter, whatever your budget or preference (and rank permitting on the cutter), and bulk trade.

Sure, you can make more from other things, but that thing will change, eventually. If you decide "hey, I wanna make credits", your latest money grind trend may of disappeared, but bulk trading, that will always be around.

Oh, and just a quick shout out to the type 9. I get it, it's slow and lumbering and not to everyone's taste, but at half the anaconda's price, a quarter of the cutter's price, and no rank grind, it's the best bang for your buck you'll find. A cheap price is a value all of it's own.

That is all.