So what's the hidden secret to trading?

Butter of Sorrow

B
I've read a couple of threads around here where people express how they can make +300k within 10 minutes through trading, but no matter how I look at it it seems practically impossible. The maximum amount of profit I could make is about 130k and that's from 104 tons of gold which cost a little over a million on purchase. Knowing that death results in loss of all cargo this means that by trading I'm taking a vastly larger risk than what I would by simply doing smuggling missions or bounty hunting and something seems really wrong about that.

Oh, and just to be clear; this isn't a complaint about how trading sucks. I'm just asking how the bloody hell does it even work. And yes, I tried using http://www.elitetradingtool.co.uk/
 
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insanephoton

insanephoton
First thing is that a lot of people talking about trade will give you a round trip profit rather than a one way figure. So many of those 3k per ton profit figures are closer to 1.5k per ton. You're making 1250 profit with gold which isn't too bad but you can get better profits. The classic good trade route is Palladium ~ Progenitor Cells, but apparently slaves or imperial slaves are the most profitable commodity. I can't give you any details as I'm not much of a trader and don't usually trade slaves.

By the way what are you flying? I'm guessing either a T6 or an Asp Explorer. If that's the case and you don't mind long journeys, you might want to look at rare commodities trading which is more profitable for your cargo capacity. There are several good guides on the forum but the bottom line is that selling rare goods around 150 ly from where you bought them nets profits in the region of 15k per ton
 

GJ51

GJ51
Butter of Sorrow said:
I've read a couple of threads around here where people express how they can make +300k within 10 minutes through trading, but no matter how I look at it it seems practically impossible. The maximum amount of profit I could make is about 130k and that's from 104 tons of gold which cost a little over a million on purchase. Knowing that death results in loss of all cargo this means that by trading I'm taking a vastly larger risk than what I would by simply doing smuggling missions or bounty hunting and something seems really wrong about that.

Oh, and just to be clear; this isn't a complaint about how trading sucks. I'm just asking how the bloody hell does it even work. And yes, I tried using http://www.elitetradingtool.co.uk/
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104T cargo capacity tends to make me guess (because you don't actually give any more of a clue...) that your either in a T-6 or an Asp, which means you can land at outposts, so that's not an issue.

Therefore, with 104T capacity, you only need to find a loop route that you can make in one hop that yields 3k per ton round trip in order to make 312,000cr per round trip. 4 round trips per hour is very easy, therefore yielding 1,248,000 cr/hr


Trading Imperial Slaves is the most commonly traded commodity on these routes. the higher you make on the Slaves, generally the lower you get on the return trip, but finding 3k per trip routes isn't that hard. the more jump range your ship has, the more routes you can find to meet this goal.

If you really get struck. send me a PM with your jump range and i'll find something for you.
 

Darian

D
Trading is always riskier n terms of potential lost cargo as higher your gain is, gold is not the most expensive item you can trade with.
An anaconda trader nets a million in 15 minutes if done right and carriers over 7mill worth of cargo.
 

DaveB

DaveB
There is no "secret" to trading. You find commodities at one station that are selling for below the galactic average and haul them to another station where they are buying above it. When you find one that is WAY below and there's a station nearby that is buying for WAY above, you've hit the jackpot. How you find those jackpots is up to you. You might look at the stations economy types, you might look at the trade maps in-world or you might use one of the many third party tools. But trading is all about finding it and running it. Do that and you'll succeed. Don't and you won't.
 

Zelos1983

Z
Personally, I found the T6 where trading gets most grindy. After that, it goes a lot smoother once you're in a Clipper or T7 upwards. The upside is, that you can land on outposts.

Imperial Slaves are currently the most lucrative commodity. Look in Zemina Torval's terriroty where they are available discounted. Ensure that on the destination station, slaves are not illegal. You should easily be able to make upwards of 2000 Cr per ton. As for the return trip, metals (Gold, Silver, Platinum), Medicines (Progenitor Cells, Performance Enhancers), Superconductors and some machinery are good candidates.

In addition to Thrudd's tool, you can use Slopey's Best Profit calculator.
 

John Shepard

J
Ozram said:
OP, try this:
http://etn.io/#
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Holy crap...how the heck did you do that.Thank you!...I may actually do a bit of trading. HOpefully I can avoid future occult rituals to FD

Also the yellow lines, could I do those without horizons? I made the stupid mistake of buying ED, thinking horizons was an expansion like so many others. DIdn't know it was a "GOTY" edition type with the base game included.

I got a viper MkIV stowed away that can haul 40 tons...or I'll buy the t6 if needed. Was saving for the dbx.
 
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Ozram

Ozram
John Shepard said:
Holy crap...how the heck did you do that. Any chance I could make a sacrifice of some kind to get something similar in (empress/princess) imperial space?

Also the yellow lines, could I do those without horizons? I made the stupid mistake of buying ED, thinking horizons was an expansion like so many others. DIdn't know it was a "GOTY" edition type with the base game included.

I got a viper MkIV stowed away that can haul 40 tons...or I'll buy the t6 if needed. Was saving for the dbx.
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No need for horizons. Use coriolis to input the details of the ship you want to use and place you "starting location". The app does the rest ;)
 

John Shepard

J
Ozram said:
No need for horizons. Use coriolis to input the details of the ship you want to use and place you "starting location". The app does the rest ;)
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Sweet god, I searched for days and the tools online sometimes aren't very accurate. I downlaoded a little app to update whenever I am in a station in the hopes it helps someone with trading...obviously that person would be me. But this is great. Thank you!
 

Ozram

Ozram
John Shepard said:
Sweet god, I searched for days and the tools online sometimes aren't very accurate. I downlaoded a little app to update whenever I am in a station in the hopes it helps someone with trading...obviously that person would be me. But this is great. Thank you!
Click to expand...

Pleasure. Tell us how you go once you've used it... Maybe thank the app makers. Like you, I'm only someone benefiting from the tools made and maintained by others. Good luck and good profits :)
 

bamber

B
The answer is a trading tool really - most people find a good route because the trading tool tells them about it
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The best trading tool is the one you build yourself if I am honest so it does what you want.
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My "play" is to move around and explore a bit within the bubble but also I am a fairly big scavenger. This means I am often going to a known type system with an unknown market - so I have set up a page that takes information about the stations I have visited and predicts what will sell at my new target station so I usually make a profit when going somewhere new.
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Because I scavenge a lot I have another page for commodities that's tells me where to look for a commodity or where to sell it - how rare it is (for instance I am looking at battle weapons and iI can but and sell at 11% of my known stations - consumer tech I can sell just about anywhere but can buy at 27% - handy for those "go find missions"
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Ive just set a new page for rares and I am going to graph distance vs profit - see if there is a "tipping point" for profit
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Basically Trade tools is the way to go but try and design your own it can be worthwhile to play the game your way
 
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