Trading profitssss

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spacecoyote99
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Trading profitssss

Post by spacecoyote99 » Fri, 19. Oct 18, 14:48

I was re-watching the gameplay video for the nth time and was examining the "trade" screen, here: https://youtu.be/N6s9sXjqCME?t=150

From that scene we can see that a Food Ration is worth 43cr, takes up 4m3 of cargo space. The a little later you see a mercury being equipped (https://youtu.be/N6s9sXjqCME?t=165) which has 1000m3 of cargo space. By that we can calculate that a full load of cargo will be worth 43cr * 250 units (1000/4) = about 10.000cr (rough estimate, but good enough for approximation.)

Let's guesstimate you can make a nice 20% profit by buying at the lowest low and selling at the highest high. That's 2000cr earned for a trip with this Mercury.

I know rations aren't the most exiting of the trade goods, but I always felt that in previous X games profits from trading runs compared to their time and money investment (hundreds of thousands or even millions of cr on a simple trader) were on the low side and these numbers feel very similar to earlier games. Not to mention the risk of losing your traders to NPC attacks.

Other occupations often net millions of credits for similar time spent (lockboxes, "fend of the attackers" missions, etc)

Maybe I'm just too greedy :teladi:

radcapricorn
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Re: Trading profitssss

Post by radcapricorn » Fri, 19. Oct 18, 15:03

spacecoyote99 wrote:
Fri, 19. Oct 18, 14:48
I was re-watching the gameplay video for the nth time and was examining the "trade" screen, here: https://youtu.be/N6s9sXjqCME?t=150

From that scene we can see that a Food Ration is worth 43cr, takes up 4m3 of cargo space. The a little later you see a mercury being equipped (https://youtu.be/N6s9sXjqCME?t=165) which has 1000m3 of cargo space. By that we can calculate that a full load of cargo will be worth 43cr * 250 units (1000/4) = about 10.000cr (rough estimate, but good enough for approximation.)
That's assuming equipment is not treated as cargo space like it was done before Rebirth.
Let's guesstimate you can make a nice 20% profit by buying at the lowest low and selling at the highest high. That's 2000cr earned for a trip with this Mercury.
That is a very, very low guesstimate. Even in Rebirth you could make profits much higher than that, and in previous games a good haul of food net you a 200% (!) profit.
I know rations aren't the most exiting of the trade goods, but I always felt that in previous X games profits from trading runs compared to their time and money investment (hundreds of thousands or even millions of cr on a simple trader) were on the low side and these numbers feel very similar to earlier games.
That's not true. Freighters do pay off pretty fast if you focus on lucrative trades, even in Rebirth. Not to mention you could, uh, "procure" freighters without actually paying for them, some times even already filled with goods ;)
Not to mention the risk of losing your traders to NPC attacks.
That's why it's reasonable to first trade in safe space, until sufficient protection could be amassed. The latter suffered in Rebirth greatly though, due to revised travel mechanics.
Other occupations often net millions of credits for similar time spent (lockboxes, "fend of the attackers" missions, etc)
It depends on playstyle. A well-setup trading network can support you rather well, although that was more true before Rebirth.
Maybe I'm just too greedy :teladi:
Ain't no such thing as a "too greedy" Teladi :D

LameFox
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Re: Trading profitssss

Post by LameFox » Fri, 19. Oct 18, 15:16

I'd figure starting out with something like a single mercury (or vulture; I think they said at least one start was like that) you would want to prioritise hauling high value cargo or trading over very short distances. Low value goods were better suited to large transports or automated traders in the past, which I assume probably continues.
***modified***

spacecoyote99
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Re: Trading profitssss

Post by spacecoyote99 » Fri, 19. Oct 18, 16:48

radcapricorn wrote:
Fri, 19. Oct 18, 15:03

That is a very, very low guesstimate. Even in Rebirth you could make profits much higher than that, and in previous games a good haul of food net you a 200% (!) profit.
Uf I think I need to work on my trading then. It's been a while but I don't recall ever making more than 50%.

Ok let's see how things when the game comes out.. Getting harder to think up useless speculation to post about :D

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Tenlar Scarflame
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Re: Trading profitssss

Post by Tenlar Scarflame » Fri, 19. Oct 18, 17:23

As an example from the ancient world, buying Silicon Wafers at minimum price and selling them at maximum price could get you something like 200% ROI. (Sometimes it was obnoxious to find buyers... so, there's the tradeoff :roll:) Argnu Beef could get you like 300% if I remember correctly.

Finished products like weapons and shields tended to have more stable prices, but lower-tier stuff could vary dramatically.
spacecoyote99 wrote:
Fri, 19. Oct 18, 16:48
Ok let's see how things when the game comes out.. Getting harder to think up useless speculation to post about :D
I tell myself every single time to stay off the hype train. And yet, here I have been for the last couple months relentlessly picking apart all the screenshots. :P
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BlackDog
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Re: Trading profitssss

Post by BlackDog » Fri, 19. Oct 18, 17:32

Tenlar Scarflame wrote:
Fri, 19. Oct 18, 17:23
I tell myself every single time to stay off the hype train. And yet, here I have been for the last couple months relentlessly picking apart all the screenshots. :P

MY BROTHA! WE HAVE SO MUCH IN COMMON!

RodentofDoom
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Re: Trading profitssss

Post by RodentofDoom » Fri, 19. Oct 18, 21:09

But do you go for

low volume in a smaller fast ship
high volume in a larger slow ship

the answer will i guess depend if trade-deal sniping is a thing
but would be interesting if it is, as that adds THINK to the TRADE paradigm.

Alci
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Re: Trading profitssss

Post by Alci » Sat, 20. Oct 18, 04:33

spacecoyote99 wrote:
Fri, 19. Oct 18, 14:48
Maybe I'm just too greedy :teladi:
more likely you just don't realize the mathematical consequences behind your example :) Follow this:

1) there are commodities of various prices
2) you can always spend all your money when filling your ship
3) if you have 10k you fill the ship with Food for 43, if you have 20k you fill it with Medical Supplies for 92, if you have 800k you buy one antimatter battery for 800k (and leaving 95% ship empty, changes nothing, you seek highest ROI that allows you to spend everything)
4) meaning every run, no matter what you transport will get you 20% (even with your numbers),

thats x1.2, thats pretty steep exponential series :)

it's x6 after 10 trades
and you get your first milion after 25 trades at which point it's 200k per run :)

It's a bit more complex due to commodity and opportunity, but 20% is a bit underestimate anyway.

Conclusion: 20% per trade is actually pretty good in any game and situation as long as you are using all your money (and you can, Save/load insurance is for free :) )

lplates
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Re: Trading profitssss

Post by lplates » Sat, 20. Oct 18, 11:28

I would assume that Cargo space is upgradable. The screenshot could be the base cargo size for the ship.

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