The Practical Merchant: An Abridged Guide
Jul 19, 2021 22:54:12 GMT -5
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Post by thuvian on Jul 19, 2021 22:54:12 GMT -5
The Practical Merchant: An Abridged Guide
This is a short guide to practical merchanting. It assumes you have a reasonable grasp on STF concepts. When trying to make money as a merchant, it is easy to get trapped into a series of actions that seem like they should provide good value, but end up under performing. This is guide provides a practical series of rules to follow in order to make good money as a merchant.
Recommended Reading
General Strategy
High profit trading requires Trade Permits. Use Introductions and the Merchant (1) Market Confidant Talent to gain Contacts to buy Trade Permits. Zones need time to replenish supply and demand, so once you have a decent cargo capacity, plan to visit a zone only once per 6 months. Cross-faction trading is good, but requires double the Trade Permits. Do not trade into Trade Bans/Wars. Permitless trading should only be done to unlock Contacts to get Trade Permits. Permitless trading can be done in any quadrant due to the freedom in trade good supply and demand. However, Once you unlock Trade Permits, you'll want to shift operations to zones with Industrial, Orbital, and High Tech Industrial zones. A basic permitless trade route is: Crystal/Refined Materials/Consumer Goods. Go from Mining zones to Refineries to Industrial/Orbitals/High Tech Industrials. Buy Crystals, Hydrocarbon Fuel/Polymer Ingots/Refined Ursalite, and Clothing/Basic Medicines/Water Purifiers.
Trade Goods by Permit Limit: Supply & Demand
Permit 0/Permitless goods
Permit 1
Permit 2
Permit 3
Permit 4
Practical Rules and Notes
Low Value Goods
Trading anything less than $100/unit isn't worth your time. Ideally you'll only trade higher value permitless goods (~$150/unit) until you unlock a Contact that sells Trade Permits. Your hauling capacity will very quickly become smaller than your wallet, therefore your interest is on your margin after costs, not your percentage profit. Making 100% profit on $15/unit Grain is nothing compared to making 10% profit on $500 goods.
Know your Local Demand
All quadrants are not created equal. In general, any quadrant will have be missing a zone type or 3 AND have multiples of a zone. You must identify your available demand PRIOR to buying goods. When assessing demand pay attention not only to zones types but also trade laws. Permitless trading can be done in almost any zone. High Permit trading you'll want to do in Zones with more Industrial zones and fewer Population zones.
Travel Speed
In optimal conditions, ship travel speed is (roughly) Engine speed in AU per week. Space events will slow you down, more so if you fail the check or have to use a skill save.
Wormhole Transit is sometimes faster
Short wormholes sometimes make trips between two zones in different quadrants faster than transit within a quadrant.
Unsellable Goods
You can stash troublesome unsellable goods on any wilderness zone and pick them up later or ignore them forever.
Trade Bans and Trade Wars
Just avoid any Faction involved in either. It's not worth the headache. You can work your way up to Permits from any faction with the same strategy. If Trade Ban starts up, just change your business partners.
Trade Permits
You'll need Permits (or Black Market Contacts) for each Faction zone owner you intend to do business with. Rank 2 provide pirate protection. Rank 4 permits can be lost if act against the Faction.
Contacts
Market Confidant (Merchant 1) and Introductions are going to be your best choices to get contacts. Market Confidant works with both buying AND selling.
Population & Lux Population Worlds
They don't produce anything of value. They offer reasonable demand, but you'll have to go to another zone to pick up goods to sell.
Merchant Missions
These often great value if you can do them along with your normal hauling. Completing missions also will not count as violating a Trade Ban. You can also plan ahead to bring goods to a Quest giver before you have taken the quest to double up on deliveries.
Permitless Goods
Refinery zones produce a large selection of decently priced goods for sale. Other zones typically are more limited in what they supply, but are still viable. Leverage yourself into better permits quickly. Early on you can visit a zone a few times before exhausting their supply and demand, but once you get going, plan to visit once every 6 months (or longer).
Permit 1 Goods
Crop Harvesters are great, high value and with a 10 Trade Law can be sold to any Farming world you have a Faction Trade Permit 2 with. Narcotic Spice is hard to sell due to the low Trade Law requirement. Raw spice is also sometimes also harder to sell, it depends on the zone.
Permit 2 Goods
Explosives and Advanced Medicines are the way to go due to the High Trade Law. The other Permit 2 Goods are either low value or hard to offload.
Permit 3 Goods
Good prices and high Trade Law. Note that it is primarily Industry type zones to production zones. Population zones provide limited demand for these goods.
Permit 4 Goods
Good prices and high Trade Law. Supply is restricted to Industrial Type zones. Small Craft Components and Capital Ship Components offer an Industrial to Orbital/High Tech Loop. Power Generators sell basically anywhere.
Low Trade Law Goods
Low Trade Law zones are rare and have poor economies, try to avoid dealing with them. Only 38% of urban zones have a Trade Law 5 or less. In general, Rychart, Moklumnue, and Thulun have more lower Trade Law Planets. Stay with Trade Law 6+ Goods, but you'll still need to be careful of where you can sell them.
Black Markets
Black Markets are amazing because they allow you to ignore Trade Laws. You'll still need to get high enough Permit access to sell your goods. Black Markets also get higher selling prices AND a higher quantity for buying and selling. You will need Contacts and Talents to use the Black Market effectively. You can and should do legal sales in the Black Market. If you do not have illegal goods, then the Confiscation Black Market cards are trivial penalties. You can also stash illegal goods on a nearby world and reroll the card game to get a better hand if you really need to sell. Know what you are going to buy before you go into the Black Market, you don't get to resume Black Market actions if you go to the map or atlas.
Table of Trade Law & Zone Counts for Default v2 Map.
Trade Loops
Trade Loops don't really work because Zones cannot replenish supply and demand quickly enough. It takes approximately 6 months (depending on zone scores) to replenish stocks. And that's simply too long. Additionally, the higher value goods also lack effective chains (and have less supply and demand).
Rare Trade Goods
Trading Rare trade goods is very profitable, but has some rather hefty requirements and commitment. Iridlaentine, Pruvia Blooms, and Kaffange Royal Jelly are the easiest to start with due to their low requirements (Hight Trade Law, Low Permit Requirements). Be cautious when dealing with those Rare Trade Good with low legality requirements. The Black Market is really useful to exploit Rare Trade Goods. You'll want to increase your reputation with your Rare Trade Good Contacts to increase the frequency you can buy. You can only buy a load every few months, so make sure to have a big cargo bay, a good plan where to sell them, and anti-pirate charms. Xeno Artifacts are Rare Trade Goods, selling them is not trivial due to the Trade Law and Requirements. They are also restricted to a few zones. Technically Farfallen Rim and Indie worlds can be used to sell them, but the paying price isn't great.
Trade Loops
Early on, you may be able to do a trade loop due to the low amount of cargo you can haul, if so here is a functional Trade Loop to follow:
Trade Loop Route for Permitless Trading: Crystal/Refined Materials/Consumer Goods
This is a short guide to practical merchanting. It assumes you have a reasonable grasp on STF concepts. When trying to make money as a merchant, it is easy to get trapped into a series of actions that seem like they should provide good value, but end up under performing. This is guide provides a practical series of rules to follow in order to make good money as a merchant.
Recommended Reading
- startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/14787/buying-selling-make-money-merchant
- steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1231328006
- startraders.fandom.com/wiki/Rare_Trade_Goods
General Strategy
High profit trading requires Trade Permits. Use Introductions and the Merchant (1) Market Confidant Talent to gain Contacts to buy Trade Permits. Zones need time to replenish supply and demand, so once you have a decent cargo capacity, plan to visit a zone only once per 6 months. Cross-faction trading is good, but requires double the Trade Permits. Do not trade into Trade Bans/Wars. Permitless trading should only be done to unlock Contacts to get Trade Permits. Permitless trading can be done in any quadrant due to the freedom in trade good supply and demand. However, Once you unlock Trade Permits, you'll want to shift operations to zones with Industrial, Orbital, and High Tech Industrial zones. A basic permitless trade route is: Crystal/Refined Materials/Consumer Goods. Go from Mining zones to Refineries to Industrial/Orbitals/High Tech Industrials. Buy Crystals, Hydrocarbon Fuel/Polymer Ingots/Refined Ursalite, and Clothing/Basic Medicines/Water Purifiers.
Trade Goods by Permit Limit: Supply & Demand
Permit 0/Permitless goods
Good Law Permit Price Supply Demand
Hydrocarbon Fuel 10 - 100 Refinery Pop, Farming, Industrial, Orbital, High Tech
Polymer Ingots 10 - 150 Refinery Tradeway, Industrial, Orbital, High Tech
Refined Ursalite 10 - 145 Refinery Industrial, Orbital, High Tech
Crystals 10 - 100 Mining, Tradeway Farming, Refinery, Industrial, Orbital, High Tech
Clothing 10 - 145 Industrial, Orbital, High Tech, Farming Pop, Refinery, Mining, Lux Pop
Basic Medicines 9 - 110 Refinery, Industrial, Orbital, High Tech, Tradeway Pop, Farming, Mining, Lux Pop
Water Purifiers 10 - 180 Industrial, Orbital, High Tech, Tradeway Pop, Farming, Mining, Lux PopPermit 1
Good Law Permit Price Supply Demand
Luxury Rations 8 1: Spice Trader 250 Farming, Industrial, Orbital, High Tech Pop, Lux Pop, Tradeway
Raw Spice 6 1: Spice Trader 300 Farming, Mining, Tradeway Refinery, Industrial, Orbital, High Tech
Luxury Clothing 9 1: Spice Trader 320 Industrial, Orbital, High Tech Pop, Lux Pop
Crop Harvesters 10 1: Spice Trader 360 Industrial, Tradeway Farming
Refined Spice 7 1: Spice Trader 400 Refinery, Tradeway Pop, Mining, Orbital, High Tech, Lux Pop
Narcotic Spice 4 1: Spice Trader 500 Industrial, Orbital, High Tech Pop, Mining, Lux Pop, TradewayPermit 2
Good Law Permit Price Supply Demand
Weapon Components 5 2: Free Trader 500 Industrial, Orbital, High Tech Pop, Lux Pop, Tradeway
Advanced Electronics 5 2: Free Trader 600 Industrial, Orbital, High Tech, Tradeway Pop, Farming, Mining, Refinery, Lux Pop
Explosives 6 2: Free Trader 650 Industrial, Orbital, High Tech Mining, Tradeway
Advanced Medicines 6 2: Free Trader 700 Industrial, Orbital, High Tech Pop, Lux Pop, Tradeway
Permit 3
Good Law Permit Price Supply Demand
Spice Extractors 6 3: Full Trader 1000 Orbital, High Tech Farming, Mining, Tradeway
Gas Processors 8 3: Full Trader 1400 Orbital, High Tech, Tradeway Farming, Mining, Refinery
Ore Extractors 8 3: Full Trader 1600 Industrial Mining
Terraforming Components 8 3: Full Trader 1800 Orbital, High Tech, Tradeway Farming, Industrial, Lux Pop
Permit 4
Good Law Permit Price Supply Demand
Small Craft Components 7 4: Principal Trader 2000 Industrial Orbital, High Tech, Tradeway
Capital Ship Components 7 4: Principal Trader 2500 Orbital, High Tech Industrial, Tradeway
Power Generators 9 4: Principal Trader 2750 Industrial, Orbital, High Tech Pop, Mining, Refinery, Lux Pop, TradewayPractical Rules and Notes
Low Value Goods
Trading anything less than $100/unit isn't worth your time. Ideally you'll only trade higher value permitless goods (~$150/unit) until you unlock a Contact that sells Trade Permits. Your hauling capacity will very quickly become smaller than your wallet, therefore your interest is on your margin after costs, not your percentage profit. Making 100% profit on $15/unit Grain is nothing compared to making 10% profit on $500 goods.
Know your Local Demand
All quadrants are not created equal. In general, any quadrant will have be missing a zone type or 3 AND have multiples of a zone. You must identify your available demand PRIOR to buying goods. When assessing demand pay attention not only to zones types but also trade laws. Permitless trading can be done in almost any zone. High Permit trading you'll want to do in Zones with more Industrial zones and fewer Population zones.
Travel Speed
In optimal conditions, ship travel speed is (roughly) Engine speed in AU per week. Space events will slow you down, more so if you fail the check or have to use a skill save.
Wormhole Transit is sometimes faster
Short wormholes sometimes make trips between two zones in different quadrants faster than transit within a quadrant.
Unsellable Goods
You can stash troublesome unsellable goods on any wilderness zone and pick them up later or ignore them forever.
Trade Bans and Trade Wars
Just avoid any Faction involved in either. It's not worth the headache. You can work your way up to Permits from any faction with the same strategy. If Trade Ban starts up, just change your business partners.
Trade Permits
You'll need Permits (or Black Market Contacts) for each Faction zone owner you intend to do business with. Rank 2 provide pirate protection. Rank 4 permits can be lost if act against the Faction.
Contacts
Market Confidant (Merchant 1) and Introductions are going to be your best choices to get contacts. Market Confidant works with both buying AND selling.
Population & Lux Population Worlds
They don't produce anything of value. They offer reasonable demand, but you'll have to go to another zone to pick up goods to sell.
Merchant Missions
These often great value if you can do them along with your normal hauling. Completing missions also will not count as violating a Trade Ban. You can also plan ahead to bring goods to a Quest giver before you have taken the quest to double up on deliveries.
Permitless Goods
Refinery zones produce a large selection of decently priced goods for sale. Other zones typically are more limited in what they supply, but are still viable. Leverage yourself into better permits quickly. Early on you can visit a zone a few times before exhausting their supply and demand, but once you get going, plan to visit once every 6 months (or longer).
Permit 1 Goods
Crop Harvesters are great, high value and with a 10 Trade Law can be sold to any Farming world you have a Faction Trade Permit 2 with. Narcotic Spice is hard to sell due to the low Trade Law requirement. Raw spice is also sometimes also harder to sell, it depends on the zone.
Permit 2 Goods
Explosives and Advanced Medicines are the way to go due to the High Trade Law. The other Permit 2 Goods are either low value or hard to offload.
Permit 3 Goods
Good prices and high Trade Law. Note that it is primarily Industry type zones to production zones. Population zones provide limited demand for these goods.
Permit 4 Goods
Good prices and high Trade Law. Supply is restricted to Industrial Type zones. Small Craft Components and Capital Ship Components offer an Industrial to Orbital/High Tech Loop. Power Generators sell basically anywhere.
Low Trade Law Goods
Low Trade Law zones are rare and have poor economies, try to avoid dealing with them. Only 38% of urban zones have a Trade Law 5 or less. In general, Rychart, Moklumnue, and Thulun have more lower Trade Law Planets. Stay with Trade Law 6+ Goods, but you'll still need to be careful of where you can sell them.
Black Markets
Black Markets are amazing because they allow you to ignore Trade Laws. You'll still need to get high enough Permit access to sell your goods. Black Markets also get higher selling prices AND a higher quantity for buying and selling. You will need Contacts and Talents to use the Black Market effectively. You can and should do legal sales in the Black Market. If you do not have illegal goods, then the Confiscation Black Market cards are trivial penalties. You can also stash illegal goods on a nearby world and reroll the card game to get a better hand if you really need to sell. Know what you are going to buy before you go into the Black Market, you don't get to resume Black Market actions if you go to the map or atlas.
Table of Trade Law & Zone Counts for Default v2 Map.
Trade Law: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Zones: 135 6 5 32 21 58 97 113 48 30 24Trade Loops
Trade Loops don't really work because Zones cannot replenish supply and demand quickly enough. It takes approximately 6 months (depending on zone scores) to replenish stocks. And that's simply too long. Additionally, the higher value goods also lack effective chains (and have less supply and demand).
Rare Trade Goods
Trading Rare trade goods is very profitable, but has some rather hefty requirements and commitment. Iridlaentine, Pruvia Blooms, and Kaffange Royal Jelly are the easiest to start with due to their low requirements (Hight Trade Law, Low Permit Requirements). Be cautious when dealing with those Rare Trade Good with low legality requirements. The Black Market is really useful to exploit Rare Trade Goods. You'll want to increase your reputation with your Rare Trade Good Contacts to increase the frequency you can buy. You can only buy a load every few months, so make sure to have a big cargo bay, a good plan where to sell them, and anti-pirate charms. Xeno Artifacts are Rare Trade Goods, selling them is not trivial due to the Trade Law and Requirements. They are also restricted to a few zones. Technically Farfallen Rim and Indie worlds can be used to sell them, but the paying price isn't great.
Trade Loops
Early on, you may be able to do a trade loop due to the low amount of cargo you can haul, if so here is a functional Trade Loop to follow:
Trade Loop Route for Permitless Trading: Crystal/Refined Materials/Consumer Goods
Mining - Crystals
Refinery - Hydrocarbon Fuel/Polymer Ingots/Refined Ursalite
Industrial/Orbital/High Tech - Clothing/Basic Medicines/Water Purifiers
