How do you traders make profit?

Fyrd Judge

Fyrd Judge
Tonkonk said:
Made now about 5 trades with my new lakoon type-6 transporter with 100t of cargo hold and I always got 12'000 to 20'000 credits profit... which is not really much. So what's the trick behind this one?
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I have the same layout and i am making 104k selling goods to one system returning back with 40k profit and i keep repeating.

The trick is simple start making a list of the all the stations with commodities you visit either in a data sheet or download slopys tool.
Though i work on the edge of occupied space trading well away from the masses, so i adopt taking images of the commodities pages in about 2 dozens stations i trade in and no more.
I then place those images in one file and view them all using windows photo viewer as i can scroll through the lot of them all at once. They are then viewed on a 2nd computer (or monitor) and then i compare them to the commodities page i view on the main Gaming PC .

Also understand this basic theory:

Minerals (From Extraction stations ) sell to Refineries.

Metals (From Refinery stations) sell to Industrial or High Tech.

Machinery ( From Industrial stations) sell to High Tech or Agriculture.

Non lethal weapons sell to the majority

Find a rare commodity and that will pay out large sums.

Example: Palladium a Mineral (From Extraction station ) sell to Refineries as they will pay out the largest sum. This is where i now make 104k every day on one trip, i have 6 stations ready when this station i use begins to drop its price. So i am always in a flow of earning 100k a trip out of every two i do and my maximun jumps are no more than 2.
 
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Pest

Pest
Tonkonk said:
Made now about 5 trades with my new lakoon type-6 transporter with 100t of cargo hold and I always got 12'000 to 20'000 credits profit... which is not really much. So what's the trick behind this one?
Click to expand...

Same happened to me. I sold the type-6 as it made me dizzy. The shaking and vibrations could lead to epileptic seizures.
So I got a Cobra back.
It disappoints me that the trading system in ED is not working, too. I often bought tons of stuff and checked the trade routes. Flew to the "exported to" system and they did not even had a demand there...
The margins in are mostly the same.
Best revenue is for Coffee, Beryllium, Crop Harvesters and some times Computer Components.
I've been to "Agriculture" systems with HIGH food prices... So, to me it looks like the trading system ins messed up...
 

Wicz

Wicz
Papanowel said:
On my side, 289 000 Cr. per run.

But I sometime have to wait for resupply.

I can jump for about 15ly in my cobra and take me around 15 minutes to go from one station to the other one.
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Yeah I wait once at each pickup.


Just Fyi, my route is 220Ly each way, I know I didn't make that clear :p
 

Zplintz

Zplintz
Pick a group of systems within your current jump range that show trade activity (or at least that commodities are transported around these systems). Check the system trade data to get a rough idea of imports and exports and then take couriers missions (check out pricing while you visit and improve your rep).

Some time the best profits are not from the most expensive commodities.

I have a 5 system route I am travelling atm netting about 150k (64 cargo) + bonuses from missions).

Knowing your home systems (your markets) makes a huge difference.
 
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Tronicus

T
Like others have said, find a cluster of systems with varied economics. I am running between a refinery and a high tech, making right around 150k round trip. I know that if I branch out and look harder I can probably find better, but it is an easy sweet run in two very secure systems ( it is extremely rare I get interdicted). When I started trading, I went around and took note of anything that sells for more than 1500 cr a ton, and was in med or high supply. I made a simple spreadsheet on paper, and once I found a system that demanded the high supply commodities, i would look for the return trip doing the same thing. It takes a little patience.

The DEVs have been very hard at work, balancing and tweaking the trade system. I think we are much closer now than we were last week to having a working system.
 

K Kinnison

K Kinnison
Neepster said:
Use Slopeys BPC too (or similar) to find a good route.... That or randomly travel around until you find one yourself. You may be looking a good long time though. With slopeys you can get a round trip in a 104 ton cargo holding type 6 up between 75k and 120k per ROUND trip.
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Certainly - I'm in a decent spot at the mo, maxed out my type 6 to 112 tons and can get a little over 140,000cr per round trip - it actually is about even, 75k one way, 65k the other.
If you're somewhere that's only giving you 20k, move somewhere else farther away from populated space and use Mr. Slopey's excellent tool (always give it good current data back!)
 

CmdrKull

C
Tonkonk said:
Made now about 5 trades with my new lakoon type-6 transporter with 100t of cargo hold and I always got 12'000 to 20'000 credits profit... which is not really much. So what's the trick behind this one?
Click to expand...

An L6 on a good trade run can definitely make closer to 100,000 profit, so it's time to branch out and find a better trade route. Building a trade route involves a little luck and a lot of legwork (or you can use Slopey's tool, and eliminate the luck and half the legwork, at the expense of most of the fun).

Look for expensive commodities that are sold below galactic average, and make a note of them. What you need to do is find a place that will buy them above galactic average. If you're lucky, THAT place will sell something below average as well, and now you've got a solid foundation for a trade route if you can find a nearby place to sell those, but even if they don't, there's usually something you can take back with you to Station A, something to at least cover your fuel expenses and/or repair costs. A back and forth trade route will slowly roll in the credits, but it will get dull. A 5-6 hop route, or a 10-11 route hop with multiple pickups and sell-offs will be much more entertaining. Eventually it will start to dry up, and you'll be off to find a new trade route.
 

Shypa

S
Maybe we should share our routes ? In matter of fact there is no market simulation at all everybody winns ! :D Ill start

System : LHS 3447
Station : Dalton Gateway - buy Animal Meat for 1055 Cr

TRANSPORT TO

System : LHS 3447
Station : YAPING Enterprise ( 277Ls from Dalton Gateway ^^ ) - sell the meat at 1515 Cr - ( 460 Cr profit per ton )

On the way back to Dalton Gateway you can transport Biowaste. its not that profit as the meat but better than an empty haul. ( about 60-80 Cr profit per ton )

!!!! SAME SYSTEM !!!
 

bamber

B
Just made 320000Cr in a 3 hop run 222k on 1 hop 65k on the 2nds 30k on the 3rd in a 40T cobra

And no I'm not saying where but proof is attached

proof.JPG


Go out and hunt the profit is there (and yes that is 5054Cr per tonne
 

Pest

Pest
I found a good spot here, just 2 Lys apart: Vener and Beatis.
I buy Beryllium or Palladium @ Vener then I fly to Beatis (Neff station) sell it there. Here I buy Crop Harvesters or Marine Eq. and fly it to Reed Ring (same system).
There I buy Coffee and fly it back to Vener system (varying between both stations there).

The Beryllium makes ~1000 CR per ton. The other stuff is just to make the trip back worth flying... ;-)

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bamber said:
Just made 320000Cr in a 3 hop run 222k on 1 hop 65k on the 2nds 30k on the 3rd in a 40T cobra
Click to expand...

Nice... what is the commodity?
 

bamber

B
looks like it was the imperial slaves causing the issues when the prices were going from 10k to 15k, mind you I also have a 1080 CR Gold profit on a nearby run!
 

Khufu

K
I tried trading to build up cash in beta, was making about 100k for a one jump round trip. But it was too repetitive. Now with my fully upgraded viper(A3 for all major modules) with a 15ly jump range and a fuel scoop, I just travel around and interdict only the big bounties when I see them. And take every mission that says '197000cr to kill...' and end up making about 300-500k per hour. but I'm interdicting and dogfighting instead of repetitive docking, jumping, selling...
 

woodhouse

woodhouse
T6, 112ton, 8ly trip from outpost to outpost, 1030/t one way (gold), 550/t the other way (betrandite) = 175k in 10 minutes, 1M per hour.
A little more or less depending on concentration level.
I am not going to say which systems.
 
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