Newcomer / Intro New Traders!

Hi! A friend of mine and I were both interested in trading, but I don't currently have the game however, so I was watching him play it over Steam and we couldn't figure out how to actually sell any items he had picked up. Is this because the station he visited didn't want what he was selling? Or is there a certain path you have to take inside the station menu? He went to the Commodities tab and it would only allow him to buy things. Thanks in advance!
 
Some goods are illegal in some systems. Those will not show in the main commodities screen, and you'll have to go to the black market to sell them (in the contacts menu if there is one in the station.)

Other than that, I can think of no reason why the commodities in the hold won't show.
 
If you "picked up" items that were floating in space, that was illegal salvage and you'll need to find a station with a black market to fence the goods as monkey mentioned. Don't let the authorities scan you if that is that case!
 
When you pick up items found in space, they are usually marked as "stolen" (look at right panel, cargo). As stated above, stolen cargo can be sold only at black market Some small outposts have it (and no authorities flying around). Scanned with authorities means fines and not paying fines means just another problems.
My advice for beginners is: do not pick found goods, it is not worth a trouble.
 
If you "picked up" items that were floating in space, that was illegal salvage and you'll need to find a station with a black market to fence the goods as monkey mentioned. Don't let the authorities scan you if that is that case!
D'oh! I missed the "picked up" part - I had understood it to mean "bought," rather than "scooped."

Of course, if you scoop cargo - or anything - it will almost certainly be marked as illegal and can only be sold on the black market, or turned in to complete a mission.

stolen cargo can be sold only at black market Some small outposts have it (and no authorities flying around).
Actually you can sell stolen and illegal goods at the big starports, provided they have a black market; you just have to learn to perform "hot" landings or, alternatively, "cold" landings.

Hot landings involve going in to the station full throttle so the sysauth vessels don't have time to complete the scan. Cold landings involve going in to silent running and sneaking past the police vessels. Both have their risks.
 
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Thanks for the tips, guys! I messed up in my original post and I should have mentioned that he told me he bought a bunch of 'Hydrogen Fuel' at one station because it was dirt cheap. Now, I suppose if he bought it from the black market, it would be considered 'Illegal' or 'Stolen goods', meaning he can only sell it to another stations black market?
 
Well, if it's hydrogen fuel bought legitimately, he should be able to sell it legitimately. At the moment, you can only sell to the black market, not buy from it.

It's very odd that he can't sell it. If you can post a screenshot, we might be able to help further.

And a tip for your friend - the margins on hydrogen fuel are tiny. Only NPCs trade it!
 
Thanks for the tips, guys! I messed up in my original post and I should have mentioned that he told me he bought a bunch of 'Hydrogen Fuel' at one station because it was dirt cheap. Now, I suppose if he bought it from the black market, it would be considered 'Illegal' or 'Stolen goods', meaning he can only sell it to another stations black market?

You can only sell to Black Markets, there isn't currently anything to purchase.
When viewing the commodities market at any given station there are two main columns to refer to and they are Supply and Demand.
Not all markets demand all goods so you can only sell goods you bought from elsewhere (legally) if the demand is present. If there is a demand you can sell with basically the same keystrokes that you buy with.
The markets will supply the commodoties that they produce, i.e. Leather/Coffee @ Agricultural, Minerals @ Extraction, Metals @ Refinery, Computer Components @ High Tec, etc...

The general rule is buy at high supply markets and sell at high demand markets! ;D
Good luck.
 
Thanks for the tips, guys! I messed up in my original post and I should have mentioned that he told me he bought a bunch of 'Hydrogen Fuel' at one station because it was dirt cheap. Now, I suppose if he bought it from the black market, it would be considered 'Illegal' or 'Stolen goods', meaning he can only sell it to another stations black market?

That seems odd, you can sell any commodity even if you take a loss. When your friend is in the commodities screen and clicks on Hydrogen Fuel, look to the right. He should see an orange box allowing him to sell. If not post a pic of it.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, I'll ask him to give me a screenshot when he gets a chance to, if he hasn't already fixed the issue.
 
When you pick up items found in space, they are usually marked as "stolen" (look at right panel, cargo). As stated above, stolen cargo can be sold only at black market Some small outposts have it (and no authorities flying around). Scanned with authorities means fines and not paying fines means just another problems.
My advice for beginners is: do not pick found goods, it is not worth a trouble.

Except Painite. I found a few canisters of painite floating about once. At 35k per, they were well worth the trouble.
 
Nice!
Saw it on a commodities market for the first time the other night, made me wonder if was to be found when mining in a nearby system?

Can't say. I've never seen it for sale anywhere thats for sure. Just checked the Wiki, no info on where to locate it there either, so I posted how I found it. Perhaps I'm the one dumb luck Commander who found some?
 
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Can't say. I've never seen it for sale anywhere thats for sure. Just checked the Wiki, no info on where to locate it there either, so I posted how I found it. Perhaps I'm the one dumb luck Commander who found some?

I remember another commander posting a screenshot of their sale transaction screen however I don't think they posted how they got the Painite in the first place?
 
Hey guys! Just an update, I talked to my friend and he told me that he ended up dumping the hydrogen that he couldn't sell, and it seems that his issue is fixed seeing as he is now happily making cash across the galaxy. I wasn't able to get a screen shot of his issue, however, but what I can tell you is that where it was supposed to say 'sell' it instead wanted him to buy that object from the station. So, as I said, he ended up jumping the load of cargo that he couldn't sell and everything seems to be working fine now. Thanks for the support!
 
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