Trading: Am I doing it wrong?

So, Saturday was a big day for me. I made my first cool million. Wooo!
I know there are plenty of people who are multi millionaires but this was a big thing for me as I had been splunking all my cash into upgrading my fighter ships previously.

I wanted to try some trading, so got myself a Type 6 with a bit of extra kit to upgrade it.

However, I'm finding that with a full load of crago, buying and selling only "High" goods to and from stations, I am struggling to top 30k or so per trip. Where are these big scores of 1-3 million I keep reading about?
Obviously I am doing something wrong, but I'm not sure what exactly.

Can anyone give me some pointers / advice?
Maybe I'm not cut out to be a trader! Heh! (I was making approx. 300-400k per hour as a BH.)

All helpful advice is appreciated and received gratefully.

Note: I am trading in Solo mode purely because I am too much of a coward (and too poor) to risk getting my ship griefzored! Ahem!
 
What is you cargo capacity? should be 100T in which case you shoule be able to make 1,000 Cr per ton, making 100K per run, and I can make about 1 million per hour. This is done by finding a two way trade route between systems, usually about 40 Ly or 4 hops apart. My advice is to use Thrudds or Slopeys trade tools to give you the info you need.
 
Not sure why your profit is so low in a type 6, for me I make about 150k profit each way with a 4 jump distance each way.
I trade from a high tech station resonator separators (can't remember the exact name) to the extraction/ refinery sector then gold on the return.
My type 6 has 104 ton's capacity without a fuel scoop which I only fit when I need to refuel every 5 round trips then it drops to 100 tons.
To get the most profitable run you need to make a list of what the sectors/stations are buying and selling anything over 1000 profit is a good starting point, unfortunately there is no short cut ( unless you use one of the online tools which for me defeats the immersion). But once you have your route it's easy to keep a steady flow of credits coming in and doing other things when it gets boring.
Hope this helps.

Edit this may help https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpGmSB1WXvk
 
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No, you are doing it the right way. You just could be a little bit better at it. ;) Most of the uber-elite-roxorz traders either trade in 'rares' exclusively (specific commodities special systems sell, and which are worth more the further you travel), luxury trade with close-orbiting T9s or use trading tools. Basically they are just apps or websites that tell you what to buy/sell and where. In a sense these remove all requirement to think. You get way more profits but I am pretty sure that prolonged exposure to this type of gaming leads to irreversible brain damage.

Tips: make some notes/screenshots of prices. 'High' supply does not mean much if you are a region were the potential buyers all offer way under the galactic average. Check a station and look for high/medium supply. Write down the prices. Fly to where you expect to earn a profit (and check stations on the way!) and check the prices again. Write down the difference/ton. Also: time is money. If a station offers better prices than another but is further from the main star your profit/hour can be much lower. Finally: real cowards maximize profit by removing weapons for increased jump range and shields for increased cargo, and disconnect when they run into trouble. You'll earn more that way. You'll also be pathetic. ;)
 
You should easily be able to make over 1000cr profit on some of the regular goods - It's just a matter of finding them.

One of my favs is to find a high tech system and then find an agricultural system nearby. There are a few goods such as Land Enrichment systems that will make over 1k (and don't cost as much as palladium which is a big outlay if you loose your cargo to pirates). I can ship 40t in my cobra and Tea on the way back and make 60k profit in 10 minutes.

S.
 

tim74uk

Banned
So, Saturday was a big day for me. I made my first cool million. Wooo!
I know there are plenty of people who are multi millionaires but this was a big thing for me as I had been splunking all my cash into upgrading my fighter ships previously.

I wanted to try some trading, so got myself a Type 6 with a bit of extra kit to upgrade it.

I'm confused here, how could you say you have made your first cool million then say you have been spending on upgrades and then bought a type 6.... All of which would cost more than 1 million....

CMDR NeoN HaZe
 
I am trading in an Asp with 88T of cargo space. I have also found a good pair of trading points that are in a 1 hop range, and I average 100Kcr profit each way.
 
No, you are doing it the right way. You just could be a little bit better at it. ;) Most of the uber-elite-roxorz traders either trade in 'rares' exclusively (specific commodities special systems sell, and which are worth more the further you travel),

That's right. For couple of days I've traded rare commodities exclusively. Even though I fly a Python with 192 t cargoholds, I usually manage to get some 50 tonn rare commodities aboard before I set sails to sell them. The Python is only for security, as there are lot of interdictions happening in the area where I get the rare goods, which is at Orrere-Uszaa-Lave-Zaonce-Leesti sector. Then I just hop some 100-200 LY aways to sell them which nets some 1,2 million cr per trip.

The OP could do the same in a shielded T6, expect you would face a slightly elevated risk of being robbed or destroyed (or both) by the CMDR pirates lurking there.

-v

PS. In case someone considers trading rare goods, a decent size & class fuel scoop would be a mighty useful investement.
 
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You get way more profits but I am pretty sure that prolonged exposure to this type of gaming leads to irreversible brain damage.

Pff. Show us your research!

On a T6, rares trading is still reasonably profitable. Once you get to the T7, the credits/hour doesn't work as well as local runs. I would also time any good runs you find, as credits/ton/hour is more important and just credits/ton. 8-9K cr/t/hr is about average. 12-13k cr/t/hr is extremely good (and will probably dry up quickly)

If, like me, you don't really want to use crowd sourced data because reasons, may I suggest ArchV1's CMNDR'S Log, which uses your own data and only your own data. you can use it to keep track or supply and demand or you can go granular and keep track of prices and supplies.

And always, always make sure you have enough insurance to cover dying. Always.
 
When I got my first Type-6 I took it out and did the "Travelling salesman route" of rare trades - using this tool http://eliteraretrader.co.uk/ - I also bought an Advanced Discover Scanner after I'd created enough money - I got a bit bored though and cut off about 20 stops from the list but still came back with about 6m Cr in my pocket and a load of stellar cartography to sell to my favourite local faction (boosts your rep with them).

Boost your cargo capacity in the first instance get some 32t units in the class 5 slots for starters !

I've also been having some good help from Thrudds http://elitetradingtool.co.uk/ I've not gone as far as using EliteOCR but I do manually check/update prices when I visit.
 
I am in an asp now. Since im using shields it can hold 120T of cargo (128t without). I replaced the discovery scanner for an extra cargo hold.
In a round trip (station A --> Station B --> Station A) I make 400k - aprox 3300 cr /t. That can net me easily 4 million / h.
.
In order to find these trade runs I use 3rd party programs. It is normal, at least for me, to spend 2, 3 even 4 hours researching the trade tools in order to find the optimal trade run- when it is time to move on to a different system.
The better reach your FSD have, the more systems the 3rd party programs can use in order to calculate your best run. I have A rated FSD installed (cost 5 or 6 millions) and they can do 25ly fully loaded with cargo and fuel.
.
Some don't like using 3rd party programs. They want to roam around in the universe and discover the best trade runs them self. We all play differently. Your mileage may vary.
Some 3rd party sites:
http://eddb.io/
http://elitetradingtool.co.uk/
.
Great site for planning your ship layout:
http://www.edshipyard.com/
.
3rd party tools:

Slopey's BPC Market Tool! - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=76081
Quazil's Astro Analytics - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=89963&highlight=astro
 
I'm confused here, how could you say you have made your first cool million then say you have been spending on upgrades and then bought a type 6.... All of which would cost more than 1 million....

CMDR NeoN HaZe

Sorry, to explain a bit better - I hit the 1 million mark on Saturday morning. Then I spent a couple hours getting a bit more cash in my BH Viper to buy and upgrade the T6 along with some extra cash to buy some cargo for my first attempt at Le Tradezzz.

But the highlight was seeing that first 7-digit number hit my bank account. :D

Hope that clears up the confusion.
 
Another quick question.

How do I know if a commodity to buy in the CM is a "rare" item and how do I know where to find them? (Outside of "Googling dat s**t :D )
I've looked at some of the rare routes / commodities that people have posted on the forums here and I haven't seen any of those items in any of the markets I've been to thus far...
 
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