Commodity price fluctuating between trips

Halafay

H
Hi all,

I was noticing what I considered to be some strange behavior with commodity prices.

I understand that prices can/will change based on supply/demand, however I assumed that would take some time.

Over my weekend trade grind I noticed the Beryllium prices from the same station jump up and down in price between trips. On one trip they were 7,665 Cr and 5 mins later(when I got back to buy more) they were 8,150 Cr.
Then they went down for a couple or trips, and up again. And it kept going up/down.

Is this normal?

Thanks
 

Spiridon

Spiridon
Yep. During your trip, someone landed there and unloaded 520 T of Beryllium, and the market is adjusting to the new stock. After a short time, it will go back (or even rise).
 

Shads

Shads
Yeah I noticed this. But its only moving by the same amount then switches back. Gold will get me 1.4k this trip, 1.3k the next then back to 1.4k. Its not like its being exhausted or anything. Just temporarily changes for a trip now and again. The odd thing is I am trading Progenitor cells in the opposite direction and they notch up in price when the gold notches down. Doesnt appear to be any rhyme or reason
 
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Halafay

H
Is 520 T a figure of speech I wonder? cause I've been hauling insane amounts over the entire weekend and for the most part it made no difference.

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Actually I noticed an increase in price for the round-trip commodity too, progenitor cells. Then they would flip back to normal.
 

Roadblock

R
I just noticed this too, and in a very large, wealthy system where the supply of metals was extremely high. I ran a few times last night and when I got back, suddenly the price of gold and palladium had jumped about 350, and 700 credits, respectively. Previously, I'd only noticed very minor, incremental changes in prices which is more what I'd expect when I can only haul a fraction of the supply. I don't see how moving 284 tons of gold a few time (lets say 4-5, so, maybe, 1200 tons or so) when there is well over 100,000 in stock would make that large a change in price. Something going wonky with the economy 'engine'?
 

Vlad Archer

V
It affects more than one commodity. Often I sell 1t of other stuff for price life check(I don't like pen/paper gaming). For example I'm selling a lot of superconductors, but also have 1t of gold and berylium. All prices rise and all fall together.
 

Spiridon

Spiridon
Halafay said:
Is 520 T a figure of speech I wonder?
Click to expand...

Figure of speech, more or less. According to the Devs, market is active and reacts to supply and demand. I don't know what amount will trigger the variation, but if the Lacon Demonstration Fleet lands there and dump the insane amount at once, it has to affect prices for you.
 

Roadblock

R
Spiridon said:
Figure of speech, more or less. According to the Devs, market is active and reacts to supply and demand. I don't know what amount will trigger the variation, but if the Lacon Demonstration Fleet lands there and dump the insane amount at once, it has to affect prices for you.
Click to expand...

This is true, but previously you'd see small, incremental changes in both the price and the supply or demand. In my case, supply was exactly the same, but the price jumped way up.
 

Halafay

H
Yes agreed, that's what I'd expect. But 5 mins later the price couldn't go back up again, right? And 15 mins later go down, then up again in rather large increments.

Seems too wobbly
 

Ttaskmaster

T
Check and see how many ships came through those systems.
If you're onto a lucrative trade route, you can bet your bum that at least one other person already is!!

Don't worry about it - 1.3-1.4mil? That's nothing. Just keep playing and you'll keep making money, eh!
 

Halafay

H
nah its not that. System is empty. Just me, myself and I so far. Something like 11 Sidewinders, 1 Type7, 2 Asp, 3 Cobra....

And a darned NPC Type 9 who can't fly, gets jammed at the door, lazzored to death and everyone having to blast through his debris so station doesn't vaporize us next !!!
 

Spiridon

Spiridon
Ttaskmaster said:
Check and see how many ships came through those systems.
If you're onto a lucrative trade route, you can bet your bum that at least one other person already is!!

Don't worry about it - 1.3-1.4mil? That's nothing. Just keep playing and you'll keep making money, eh!
Click to expand...

This. +1

I will lose more time to find a route more lucrative for 5%, then to stay and truck my old way - already very good. Besides, I know all the joints and waitresses :)

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Halafay said:
nah its not that. System is empty. Just me, myself and I so far. Something like 11 Sidewinders, 1 Type7, 2 Asp, 3 Cobra....

And a darned NPC Type 9 who can't fly, gets jammed at the door, lazzored to death and everyone having to blast through his debris so station doesn't vaporize us next !!!
Click to expand...

Then it's just a built-in fluctuation. No need to worry, nor to analyze further. The route is profitable regardless of the fluctuations.
 

Roadblock

R
Spiridon said:
This. +1

I will lose more time to find a route more lucrative for 5%, then to stay and truck my old way - already very good. Besides, I know all the joints and waitresses :)

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Then it's just a built-in fluctuation. No need to worry, nor to analyze further. The route is profitable regardless of the fluctuations.
Click to expand...

In my case, I've been trading this same route for a couple of weeks now (I can only play an hour or so a day), and only in the last day have I noticed these fluctuations. I would have thought if the route suddenly became widely known and more players showed up that we'd see a gradual erosion of profitability, not these large, sudden jumps.
 

CMDR Byr Goefin

C
I bought coffee, and bought too much by accident. Not enough room in the hold for the other goods I needed to buy before I sold the coffee.

Grumbling, I went to sell a few tonnes hoping the losses were not too bad.

To my surprise, the price had gone up since I bought it, and I made 50c per tonne selling it back!
Fluke, but funny.
 

Yokai

Yokai
Definitely bugged since 1.05.

Since last night I have _definitely_ seen the same screwy behavior. I can be sitting there looking at the commodity screen and a given commodity shows as "High" supply with roughly 256K units. Then on the next update of the commodities, it's suddenly "Medium" supply with roughly 128K units. Then, 20 minutes later, it will update again to High/256K units again. It's a price swing of 300 cr, which is a pretty big swing. Every half hour, every trip back to the station, I never know what the actual price will be.


I never saw such huge and instant swings like this before 1.05.
 

Halafay

H
I also think the 1.05 had something to do with it. I tend to stick to a route for about a week until i upgrade ship and move on to the next.

Never saw this behaviour. I can practically sit at the same station and buy/sell the same commodity and make profit while watching TV :p
 
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