Newcomer / Intro Trading confusion... in-game supply/demand information inaccurate?

[mossfoot]

I travel to a station in planet X, note that they have product Y in high supply (and thus selling for low price). I check the info as to where they export said product to, planet Z. I go to planet Z, and check both the only station with a commodity's market there, only to find that product Y is being bought for even less than planet X who produces it (in short, a net loss!)

The hell am I doing wrong?

I'm an old hand at Elite's various versions (and more recently excellent the open source Oolite, which had some mods attempting a more complex economy), but am I finding getting a handle on Elite Dangerous' trading system a bit difficult.

 

[Werppa]

Yeah the ingame import/export system isn't accurate. You have to go to system view and check there which kind of stations there are and make your decisions based on that.

 

[Ko Shiji]

Other players affect the price too. The market is global, even in Solo mode. So, in station X you can see that you could possibly sell your stuff at station Y, but by the time you get to Y others have saturated the market there. Get out of the busy starter systems if you want the market to be a bit more static for you.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Oh hell yeah, don't pay any attention to the trade info at the moment, its complete rubbish. Best technique is go check prices yourself. But basic rules can help. Extraction gets minerals which go to refineries, which produce metals which go to industrial worlds. Agriculture worlds feed production worlds, etc.

There is logic there.

Here's hoping FD fix this soon.

 

[Werppa]

Oh hell yeah, don't pay any attention to the trade info at the moment, its complete rubbish. Best technique is go check prices yourself. But basic rules can help. Extraction gets minerals which go to refineries, which produce metals which go to industrial worlds. Agriculture worlds feed production worlds, etc.

There is logic there.

Here's hoping FD fix this soon.

And most important (imo), high tech produces stuff that extraction wants and wise versa . That's not universal either though

 

[drfoop]

As people have already mentioned, the "exports to" and "imported from" information is often misleading.

In general, supply and demand follows the rules listed in this summary of trade goods but I often find that there are exceptions to the rule for each individual station. For example, the high tech station I'm currently based follows the rules by demanding most metals but weirdly has a high supply of titanium.

In the end, the only way to guarantee a profit is to scope out the route before-hand. This makes being a wandering trader a little difficult.

 

[skydivertricky]

The population of the port will also have an effect. (the pop size in the description - huge, large, (none), small, tiny).
A tiny pop may have a high demand, but this will mean their demand is met in just a few trips, and the price will drop.

 

[Haileene]

What I figured out too, is that when you have that direct info (which is "exported to" or "imported from") it means they are already exporting it to... then you have a high supply going into a low demand as it is already furbished by AI traders...

what you must find yourself is a 2 or 3 jumps system that has a high demand for that product as AI does not go that far exporting... and improving your FSD you might find that for you it will end up beeing only a 1 jump in and out

That's how I managed to get my more profitable hauls... with nearing a 850cr profit per ton, exporting tobacco to an idustrial system and exporting marine equipement to the original planet for a 970cr

Hope it helps

 

[Hilight]

You might want to try out one of the trading tools. They have databases made by the users that tell about routes within a given LY distance that you specify. Personally, I use Slopey's. Here is a link---check it out: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=76081&highlight=SLOPEY'S

 

[Riedquat]

I travel to a station in planet X, note that they have product Y in high supply (and thus selling for low price). I check the info as to where they export said product to, planet Z. I go to planet Z, and check both the only station with a commodity's market there, only to find that product Y is being bought for even less than planet X who produces it (in short, a net loss!)

The hell am I doing wrong?

I'm an old hand at Elite's various versions (and more recently excellent the open source Oolite, which had some mods attempting a more complex economy), but am I finding getting a handle on Elite Dangerous' trading system a bit difficult.

This has been the case for a while now and it seems it is still an issue.

The system map 'imports/exports' would usually be the first place I would look to see what places are trading, but it seems like it doesnt actually mean anything.

I was very dissapointed when I found this out.

hopefully trading will be fixed but we have been waiting a while now..

 

[Haileene]

hopefully trading will be fixed but we have been waiting a while now..

Actually beeing fairly new to game (nearely 2 weeks in), I find trading working fine
I personally take some time to find a spot, doing some information data collecting at different stations using that wonderful tool https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=74171
(as I don't like the usual easy way of players implemented datas), and I work out routes for myself, that leading to the fact that I can basically set myself up in any part of the populated galaxy, and work a way out.

It takes a bit of time and dedication, but then it helps you understand why and where something is exported to and imported from... as minerals from extraction system go into refineries system, from which metals go int industrial systems, then from there some machinery goes back into extractions systems... for instance

Have fun figuring it out, many different routes and options are out there for anyone who wants to grab them

Fly safe

EDIT : Damn I go to get the new version of Cmdr's log... completely missed that... thanks for head up MaccGyver

 

[MaccGyver]

What I figured out too, is that when you have that direct info (which is "exported to" or "imported from") it means they are already exporting it to... then you have a high supply going into a low demand as it is already furbished by AI traders...

I haven't done a ton of testing with this, but in my experience this is correct. If you're looking for a place to take a particular good, avoid the systems it's listed as exported to - almost every time I've followed that, the demand for that good in that system is medium or low, which as Haileene points out makes sense.

I think instead of reading the "imported from" and "exported to" as directions for the players, we need to treat it as information to use when figuring out our own routes. I think as traders we should be using the "exported to" to look for systems of the same economy type which are not listed as importing our chosen good, not just trucking stuff to wherever it's already being exported to.

Of course, I could be completely bonkers, too

edit: also totally loving Cmdr's Log, been using it for a week or two - new version out! https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=96350

 

[thorn-]

I travel to a station in planet X, note that they have product Y in high supply (and thus selling for low price). I check the info as to where they export said product to, planet Z. I go to planet Z, and check both the only station with a commodity's market there, only to find that product Y is being bought for even less than planet X who produces it (in short, a net loss!)

Canada produces Liquor, and exports it to America. That doesn't mean that liquor in general is always more expensive in America. Maybe it's a town in America that sells Canadian liquor, but there's little demand for it. I'm stretching a metaphor, but you see my point.

The fact that a particular station imports a good from somewhere, does NOT mean that's the best place to sell it. In fact, it usually just means that this is the closest station that WILL buy it.

I find the trading routes/maps to be more beneficial in the opposite direction - telling me where i can GET something, to bring to a station that I'm familiar with to sell for max profit.

The easiest way to maximize route profit is to visit several stations, and WRITE DOWN THE PRICES. Or use some tool on your PC, like Cmdr's Log or a Spreadsheet. Trust me, being able to see all the numbers in front of you - the best goods/routes will pop out like magic. It's pretty cool when suddenly you see something on the sheet, and realize you can double your profits by making one small change to what you buy and where you're selling it, without travelling any further than you are now. It's a game within the game.

 

[mossfoot]

I find the trading routes/maps to be more beneficial in the opposite direction - telling me where i can GET something, to bring to a station that I'm familiar with to sell for max profit.

Now that sounds like a good bit of advice - go to places and looking for what they want in high demand, and using their info to determine where to get it from...

 

[Hilight]

in the opposite direction[/I] - telling me where i can GET something, to bring to a station that I'm familiar with to sell for max profit.

That is also a pretty fair strategy to use with the trading tools as well as the don't always show the best route but often give a fair indication of what commodities are available in a system

 

[Riedquat]

Actually beeing fairly new to game (nearely 2 weeks in), I find trading working fine
I personally take some time to find a spot, doing some information data collecting at different stations using that wonderful tool https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=74171
(as I don't like the usual easy way of players implemented datas), and I work out routes for myself, that leading to the fact that I can basically set myself up in any part of the populated galaxy, and work a way out.

It takes a bit of time and dedication, but then it helps you understand why and where something is exported to and imported from... as minerals from extraction system go into refineries system, from which metals go int industrial systems, then from there some machinery goes back into extractions systems... for instance

Have fun figuring it out, many different routes and options are out there for anyone who wants to grab them

Fly safe

EDIT : Damn I go to get the new version of Cmdr's log... completely missed that... thanks for head up MaccGyver

granted I havent been in the loop for the last few weeks, so it might have been fixed, but around xmas time it was definitely not working correctly, everything was backwards..