Guide / Tutorial Yokai's guide to recognizing (and finding) a great trade route

Quantis Trap

Quantis Trap
Rule 4: As the "cr/ton/hour" metric in the above three rules implies, you CANNOT evaluate any two trade routes or decide "is this a good route?" without factoring in the TIME element. A route that gives you 1700 unit profit in one direction and 1100 in the other direction might actually be FAR less profit per hour than a route that gives you 1300 unit profit in one direction and 1200 in the other direction. In fact, nearly all of the best routes available (in the 14,000 to 16,000 cr/ton/hour range) feature commodities that trade in the 1200-1400 unit profit range. Station to station flying time is often far more important than actual unit profit.
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I'd give a left virtual orb to find a trade route on the low end of that rule! Has trading profit been reduced to where this is no longer valid or have I just never found the right route in thousands of light years? The few times I've seen ~ 1600 in one direction, it's only been ~ 400 the other direction. If anyone knows a ~ 1300 in one direction and ~ 1200 in the other (or better) which still exists send me a PM so I can go see it, because I don't believe it! Hopefully, it doesn't involve trading slaves because I won't do that.

Distance said:
I have a tip that makes using the galaxy map faster than scrolling in the nav panel to find the next station on your trade route. At each station on your route just buy a sidewinder. Now when you go to the galaxy map that system will always be displayed and clickable regardless of the zoom level.
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That's pure genius and makes me ROFL! It really tickles me imagining billions of pristine, never flown, sidewinders parked in stations all over the galaxy! ;)
 
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Titler

Titler
After finally getting a Python and finding this thread whilst searching for how to trade in it, I followed the filtering advice and found my own first route after about an hour; a there and back again route with a 1100 profit on Imperial Slaves one way, and 991 with Beryllium the other, although unfortunately one jump is on the secondary star alas. I'm not convinced yet even with 282 cargo it's worth more than fighting a good Anaconda spawn in an RES, but those require a bit more set up now, at least until this route collapses or I go looking for a better trading route... but at least thanks to this thread I know the basics of what to look for!
 

Ryder35

R
A bit of advice please! I have been trying my hand at trading over the last few nights using this guide without much success. Going by the whole >50k stock thing I am finding a number of issues, mainly that I will be able to stock up on goods that meet the criteria but nowhere seems to want to buy them off me for anywhere near 1kcr/tonne profit. Most industrial economies seem to have nothing but agricultural machinery at that stock and above 5k cr. Am I missing something?
 

hutch45069

hutch45069
Thank you so much for this guide. I love this game, I am just horrible at a few things, combat, piloting and trading, and have been doing the Founder's World Gold route for weeks in a Python with 260 cargo slots. Every time I search for another route without the help of Sloopies or elite trading I fail miserably. This will help me a lot. After dissecting the Gold route mentioned above I figured out a lot of what to look for but never had much luck.
Oh yes, I have a Docking computer as well, but I usually hit the mail slot at over 100 then stop so the computer takes over, I think its a little quicker.
 
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wolverine2710

Tutorial & Guide Writer
wolverine2710
In the past your excellent tool, thread has been added to EDCodex. Before EDCodex was released on the 17th of August you have received in the period 5th - 10th of August a PM with an invitation and a special link. After registering and logging in you would automatically become owner of your entry. According to the admin tool(s) you haven't used the special link (yet). Perhaps you have missed the PM or have been (temporarily) away from ED. Its also possible you choose not to claim your entry. Note: Its also possible to assign another commander editing rights for your entry. In either case please send us a PM. You can find your EDCodex entries here and here.

Alternative way to get ownership
The special link will cease to function in the (near) future, for security reasons. Should you after that point want to become owner of your entry you can use the "Claim ownership" button. In that case please send biobob or myself a PM with the email addressed you used for registration - for verification. You can also use this procedure if you no longer have the PM.

What is EDCodex:
Its a website with a database of currently approx 215+ tools,threads,websites,videos for ED. Any one can and is encouraged to add entries there. EDCodex is and should be community-driven. EDCodex companion thread. Its equally suited for PC's, tablets and smartphones and has RSS feeds.

With kind regards,
Biobob
Wolverine2710
 

Smugallo

Smugallo
Thanks for this! This guide has really helped me. Managed to find a Palladum / Slaves route 1800 cr pft there and 1100 profit on the way back. Really pleased now, though I think I need to get a type 7 now!
 

Unfit

Unfit
Thank you so much for this OP. I returned to Elite Dangerous only a few days ago, after I put the game away a few mnths after launch. So I needed to refresh my intel, and your post put me on the right track. Traded in my Cobra and got myself a Type 6, currently fitted with 100 cargo slots. After 6-7 systems, I found myself a Unicorn last night using your tips. Palladium with 2430 (!!) cr/ton profit one way and Resonating Seperators the other way with 1230 cr/ton profit. I've not timed it excactly, but it dishes out around 18-19000/ton/hr, and I am super happy :)

Problem is that one is an outpost, so I can't land a large ship there. Should I get a large ship and find another route, or milk this baby while I still can? Any input?

EDIT: Numbers changed after patch 1.4.01. Now they are 2731 / 864. Still sweet.
 
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TickTockRob

T
Hello there,

Thank you very much for this! I'm a newbie, and am trying to get into finding my own trade route. I know there are many online, but I wanted to get to know how it all works and how to make my own trade route, and reap the benefits, and take it from there (as it most likely won't be perfect).

The issue I'm having is that, while I did find a great trade route between two systems, it kind of ended there. The system that paid off 1000k+ per tonne didn't have anything good to pass elsewhere. I tried to make the most of it, and trade something that met the requirements, and I bought a lot of it. Then I took it to a system that imported it, but I made a loss! I'm not really sure why, as it seemed to tick all the boxes. And there just wasn't alternatives to go for....

So I'm just asking if I did something wrong (as what you posted should always work), or if sometimes there are just times when things may not work out, because I missed something obvious that isn't in the guide, or just that's how it can be sometimes.

Also, in your guide (rule 11), you mention the supply needing to be greater than 70k, but in step 4, you mention 50k...should they both be 70k?

And finally (so far! haha), I'm thinking what I'm missing is how to recognise when a system is a good one to sell to based on just the commodities screen...surely you can tell this, so I can go to a system and a station or what not, and before I sell, there's something that tells me that this is a site that's good to sell too? I realise the buy price is there, but I was wondering if there's any other way for you to know that, in the future, this will be a good place to sell too?

Thank you in advance for your help!
 

TickTockRob

T
Just to provide an update.

What I've started doing is basically filtering my galactic map to only show those with a population of min 70% to max 100%, and filtering on High Tech, Industrial and Refinery systems.

I basically then travel to these places, and make a note of the commodities that have a supply of >50-70k and a sell price of >5k, and those that have a demand of >50-70k, and a buy price of >5k

I then travel to neighbouring systems and do the same, making a note of what they have to offer and what they want.

And that's basically it. Does that sound a good way to do it?

I did try showing trade routes on the galactic map, but I found it a waste of time. I had one system that apparently was exporting an item to 5 neighbouring systems, which were in high demand there, only to find that it didn't have any of it for sale...!!! There was only one station place to dock at as well.

So I'm basically travelling about, finding which places have the criteria I'm after, and then will formulate a trade route with what I find, and then hopefully add to it.

What do you all think?
 

Herne

Herne
I've been away from ED for far to long, and am struggling to get back into it.

I came across the excellent guide in the OP, and spent maybe a couple of hours giving this a go. I had some frustrating experiences where some items that had over 100k supply were available to buy and > the galactic average. This makes no sense to me, if there is such a large supply why hasn't the price crashed ?

I was occasionally able to make just over 1k /ton in one direction, but haven't found a suitable trade route so far that makes as much on the return trip. I want to find reasons to love ED again, but so far all I feel is frustration. I'm not looking for third party tools for trading, just the basic knowledge to help me find my own. I wonder what it is that I'm doing wrong
 

Syrion1984

S
Very detailed and helpful guide here, CMDR! +1 rep for all the efforts you've put into it.
You even learned a near-Tycoon ranked Commander a few new tricks :)
Keep up the good work!
 

reg

R
Excellent stuff OP. Just about to move up from rares to bulk trading - going to skip using a third party tool now and use this guide as a basis as it will be more fun!
 

Unfit

Unfit
Jackpot. A few days ago I found the sweetest route I've found for myself. Imperial Slaves with 4636 profit pr ton one way and Slaves with 654 profit pr ton on the return. The best part is that both stations is less than 400ls away from entry point, and the two system only 15LY's apart. Chewing out around 40.000 cr/ton/hr if I don't get interdicted.
 

Diamond llama

Diamond llama
I have to ask, is this guide still relevant? I'm sitting in an industrial port at the moment and nothing here is selling for more than 5 000 per tonne. Do industrial goods get up to that price?
Also, I'm prodding the Galaxy Map and checking stations but nothing indicates whether they are wealthy or large populations so far as I can tell.

Please educate the llama?
 

Gavin Burke

G
VRMan said:
This ought to be in the "manual". Wish I had known that at the beginning instead of starting out with pencil/paper, and then in frustration spending hours reading the forums on how to figure out the whole trading mechanic.

Thanks!
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"Manual"??? Ha, funniest things I've ever seen on this forum!!
 
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