Summary Link to heading

The NOMAN’s Trading Guide gives impulses and things to think about - take it as a baseline.
The #principle of trading is simple: buy at low prices (Max Inventory) - sell at high prices (Out of Stock). Also known as Demand and Supply.
To trade in the ‘Verse is a tedious but rewarding work - an #occupation. We enjoy finding lucrative commodities and the journey we experience on the way to the selling spot.
Maximizing cargo capabilities for maximum profit and reducing risk of a loner dependency on the fluctual market and their prices is primary objective.

“Max In / Max Out” - wRATHON

Ships & Vehicles Link to heading

Vehicles Link to heading

With vehicles we understand non-flyable “ground” vehicles. For running commodity trading as a business:

• The Argo ATLS is the vehicle worth buying for 76k aUEC. You find the ATLS in all New Deal dealerships, Buy & Fly’s, Astro Armada and Teach’s Ship Shop.

There are other vehicles to consider once base building is implemented or for role playing.

• The Tumbril Cycle, 1 SCU
• The Drake Mule, 2 SCU
• The Argo MPUV Cargo, 2 SCU
• The Argo CSV-SM, 4 SCU
• The Argo MPUV Tractor, 16 SCU

Ships Link to heading

With ships we understand all flyable vehicles with a quantum drive equipped. This is a list from size (SCU) and price up worth to consider. As everything: we grow, and with us our business as well our ships.

Starter Pack / Game Package Link to heading

• The Aurora Mk II ($65 IRL) with its cargo module ($11 IRL) is considered to be a hauler but is not. 2 SCU + 6 SCU ($78 IRL) with the module for, it’s not a hauler but an expensive Citizen Starter Pack.
• The Crusader Intrepid ($88 IRL is listed as a Hauler with 8 SCU gridded capacity, but is not really. It has a beautiful interior, sounds awesome with afterburner but doesn’t deliver boxes bigger than 2 SCU’s.
• The Drake Cutlass Black ($140 IRL is listed as Privateer if not Pirateer and holds a 46 SCU gridded capacity. If not as a Game Package, worth to upgrade to. Although it is the most expensive Game Package, it’s the only one worth the money - for real!

Ships - dedicated to cargo and hauling - available in-game Link to heading

• The Esperia Prowler Utility has 32 SCU gridded cargo capacity, medium ship.
  17 mio aUEC at Astro Armada, rentable for 337k a day at Traveler Rentals in Area18 and Orison as well at Regal Luxury Rentals in New Babbage and Teach’s Rentals.
• The MISC Hull A has a 64 SCU gridded cargo capacity, small ship.
  1,8 mio aUEC at New Deal in Lorville, rentable for 35k a day at all Traveler Rentals and Vantage Rentals in Lorville.
• The Crusader Spirit C1 has 64 SCU gridded cargo capacity, small ship.
  3,2 mio aUEC at New Deal Crusader. For us the best entry point of a decent hauler.
• The Drake Cutlass Black has 46 SCU gridded cargo capacity, medium ship.
  2,1mio aUEC at New Deal in Lorville, rentable for 53k a day at all Traveler Rentals and Vantage Rentals in Lorville and Refinery Stations.
• The MISC Freelancer Max has 120 SCU gridded cargo capacity, medium ship.
  4,1 mio aUEC at New Deal in Lorville, rentable for 86k a day at all Traveler Rentals LEO and Gateway Stations and Vantage Rentals in Lorville.
• The Crusader Mercury Star Runner has 114 SCU gridded cargo capacity, medium ship.
  12,3 mio aUEC at New Deal Crusader. For us way too many Crusader doors to pass into the bridge but decent defense capability.
• The RSI Zeus Mk II has 128 SCU gridded cargo capacity, medium ship.
  6,5 mio aUEC at New Deal in Lorville. For us the best ship as a daily driver and entry point of a decent hauler.
• The RSI Constellation Taurus has a 168 SCU gridded cargo capacity in the cargo bay, medium ship.
  8,1 mio aUEC at New Deal in Lorville and Teach’s Ship Shop, rentable for 161k a day at Regal Luxury Rentals in New Babbage.
• The Anvil Asgard has a 180 SCU gridded cargo capacity, medium ship.
  17,9 mio aUEC at Astro Armada. For us the best ship as a “Privateer” or allrounder and therefore the bigger sibling of the Cutlass Black.
• The Argo RAFT has 192 SCU gridded cargo capacity, medium ship. 3,6 mio aUEC at New Deal in Lorville and Teach’s Ship Shop, rentable for 68k a day at Vantage Rentals in Lorville.
• The MISC Starlancer MAX has 224 SCU gridded cargo capacity, large ship.
  8,9 mio aUEC at New Deal in Lorville and Astro Armada. For us the best experience in a small and consistant crew for casual tradings.
• The MISC Starfarer has 291 SCU gridded cargo capacity, large ship.
  14 mio aUEC at New Deal in Lorville and Teach’s Ship Shop. For us the best ship if you are into industrial role play, this is actually a refueling ship.
• The Crusader Starlilfter M2 has a 522 SCU gridded cargo capacity, large ship.
  29,5 mio aUEC at New Deal Crusader and Lorville. For us the best ship to protect your valuables with better armor and shields as well as remote turrets in a small crew of 3 members.
• The Drake Caterpillar with 576 SCU gridded cargo capacity, large ship.
  12 mio aUEC at New Deal in Lorville. For us the best ship for space trucking feeling. But not efficient enough even in a crew of 4 members.
• The Crusader Starlilfter C2 has a 696 SCU gridded cargo capacity large ship.
  19 mio aUEC at New Deal Crusader and Astro Armada. For us the best ship for large shipments where we deliver from stations to stations.
• The MISC Hull C has 4608 SCU gridded cargo capacity, large ship. **16 mio aUEC at New Deal in Lorville. For us the best ship for proper space trucking experience.

Ships - dedicated to cargo and hauling - available to pledge for (maybe) Link to heading

There are more cargo ships, planned, concepted or simple not available in in-game ship shops yet.

• The Drake Golem OX, small ship, 64 SCU gridded capacity, ~ $80 IRL
• The RSI Hermes, large ship, 288 SCU gridded capacity, ~$220 IRL
• The Gatac Railen, medium ship, 640 SCU gridded capacity, ~ $225 IRL
• The MISC Hull B, medium ship, 512 SCU gridded capacity, ~ $280 IRL
• The Drake Ironclad, large ship, 2204 SCU gridded capacity, ~ $450 IRL
• The Drake Ironclad Assault, large ship, 1440 SCU gridded capacity, ~$535 IRL
• MISC Hull D, large ship, 6912 SCU gridded cargo capacity, ~ $550 IRL
• The Anvil Liberator, large ship, 400 SCU gridded cargo capacity, ~ $575 IRL
• The Banu Merchantman, capital ship, 2880 SCU gridded cargo capacity, ~ $650 IRL
• The MISC Hull E, large ship, 12,288 SCU gridded cargo capacity, ~ $750 IRL

There are even more ships with cargo capabilities as listed here, but ship is not designed for cargo and hauling.

Cargo - Box Size & Configuration Link to heading

The difference between Cargo Hauling as contracts and Commodity Trading can be summarized as followed:

The strategy is, do hauling contracts to gain enough money to start invest in commodities. Learn the mechanics, methods gain experience of moving boxes. Once obtained, you can start to risk. As everywhere, “no risk no fun”, and in the ‘Verse: “Risk / Reward”. Go all in, risk to loose everything - if you do so - repeat. The Contractor decides, what boxes in what sizes and material to pickup where and where it has to be delivered. The only “freedom” you have is the order of pick up and delivery. If you don’t complete, there’s no reward. If you deliver partially, you get partially rewarded and reputation is less. If you fail or abandon a contract respectivaly, the reputational damage is massive - and that makes sense. On Trading, you decide, what boxes in what sizes and material you want to pick up. Depending on the ship you have available, that gives you maximum flexibilty. Since you have no timer on the clock (beside patch releases), there’s no hurry.

“Practice is King” - wRATHON

Box Configuration Link to heading

The box, or cargo container can be configured as Box Configuration and is defined as:

• what material
• what size

Standard Cargo Unit (SCU) is a unit used to describe the volume of cargo in-game. It is commonly used to describe cargo capacity of vehicles in the ‘Verse. It is based on the size of 1 m3 (1,000 L) stored inside a container with a standard thickness of 0.125 m, making the total size of 1 SCU 1.25 m3. Different commodities also have different weights. That is to consider when you load heavier material compared to light material - it has an impact to maneuverability of your ship.

Box Size Link to heading

1 SCU is the smallest box size and is considered to be the basline. When we calculate the weight and the placement on the cargo grid, we start from here. Weight distribution inside the ship is not a thing yet, so only the total amount of weight is to consider. Following box sizes for commodities are available:

We don’t cover the cargo pods for mining in this guide. But there are other cargo containers, where you decide, what you put inside.

Trade Link to heading

#Etymology Link to heading

• “path, track; course of action,”
• “a track, a trace, course”
• “one’s habitual business”
• “#occupation, the craft or business one has learned and carries on for #profit or a living,

The TradeRun - TradeGo - Batch (Bulk) Link to heading

#TradeGo Link to heading

We go to 1 location and “We Buy” 1 commodity what our liquidity allows us (all in) and “We Sell” it preferably to the best price we find at 1 location.

• We pick up 1 commodity at 1 pick up location and deliver to 1 selling spot, preferably to the best price.
• A #TradeGo is defined by a stop, a landing, a selling spot.
• 1:1 TradeGo

#TradeRun Link to heading

If we finish here, that is also a #TradeRun.
A simple #TradeRun is focussed on 1 #BatchBuying and 1 #BatchSelling with 1 #commodity.
We go to 1 location and “We Buy” 1 commodity what our liquidity allows us (all in) and “We Sell” it preferably to the best price we find at 1 location.

• We pick up 1 commodity at 1 pick up location and deliver to 1 selling spot, preferably to the best price.
• A #TradeRun is defined by finishing a session, a chain.
• 1:1 TradeRun

If we continue, that is a proper #TradeRun with multiple #TradeGos.
A proper #TradeRun is focussed on “Never Fly Empty”!
We go to 1 location and “We Buy” commodities, “We Sell” the commodites at the selling spot and “We Buy” more commodity at that location.

• We chain multiple #TradeGos to a #TradeRun.
• We pick up 1 commodity at 1 pick up location and deliver to 1 selling spot, there we buy 1 more commodity to deliver somewhere else.
• Ideally, a #TradeRun never ends. But we choose at least commodity at the selling spot to buy and the next selling spot may not offer you commodities to buy.
• If you are a rookie trader, or just follow the principle of “Never Fly Empty”, that is what we consider “enjoying the experience and finding lucrative commodities”.
• A #TradeRun is defined by finishing a session, a chain.
• n:1 TradeRuns

#BatchBuying / #BatchSelling - Bulk Action Link to heading

A #BatchBuying is, where “We Buy” the whole warehouse (Max Inventory) of 1 commodity at the pick up location.
Sometimes, we can buy multiple commodities at a pick up location, that are multiple #BatchBuyings.
A #BatchSelling is, where “We Sell” the whole cargo load into the warehouse (Out of Stock) of 1 commodity at that selling spot. After we’re done, the warehouse shows “Max Inventory”.
Sometimes, we can sell multiple commodities at the selling spot, that are multiple [#BatchSellings(/tags/batchselling/). \

• 1:1 - TradeGo - 1 BatchBuy of one commodity (from Max Inventory to Out of Stock), 1 BatchSell of that commodity (from Out of Stock to Max Inventory).”

“Max In / Max Out” - wRATHON

#MassTradeRun Link to heading

“Now - the king discipline of NOMAN’s Trading is to find commodities, where you NEED multiple #BatchBuyings in order to fill up the warehouse from “Out of Stock” to “Max Inventory” (one [#BatchSelling]/tags/batchselling/).
#MassTradeRun is focussed on #BatchBuying and #BatchSelling. We’ll invest in a lot of #Commodities in order to bank big later on.
Our primary focus is to sell 1 complete batch per commodity and location by reaching the limits of inventory’s capacity [~5000 SCU / player / location]. \

• n:1 - TradeRuns - n BatchBuying of one commodity (from multiple Max Inventory to Out of Stock), 1 BatchSell of that commodity (from Out of Stock to Max Inventory).”

Action Link to heading

In order to achieve #MassTradeRuns we need to distinguish our actions:

• “We Buy” - on the commodity terminal, where we buy the commodity, we pick up (load the ship)
• “We Sell” - on the commdity terminal, where we sell the commodity, we deliver (unload the ship)
• “We Store” - “We Buy” the commodity but don’t pick up (load the ship), or we pick up and store it at a space station (unload the ship)

There are also passive actions:

• “We Lost” - we lose commodities due to bugs, errors, glitches or preferably through piracy.

Trading Locations Link to heading

Trading Spots are any locations with Commodity Terminals, the place where you buy and sell commodities. We utilize UEXcorp as main source of “inspiration”. Unfortunately, their list is not complete.

Trading Stations Link to heading

On our #TradeRuns we also passing space station that have Commodity Terminals. Make sure, every now and then you have a “Go” at a space station where you buy and/or sell commodities. That will give you the opportunity to refuel the ship (hangar) and refill the body (medical center). And of course, they offer habitation (to log off). Due tue the nature of trading, you easily can log off at any of those station and continue trading next session - no bonds to a contractor.

Requirements Link to heading

We asume, you have basic knowledge of economics and logistics.

• Reputation at trading spots (neutral or higher)
• <= Crimestat 2
• Undersuit with helmet
• Multi-Tool with TruHold Tractor Beam Attachment
• MaxLift Tractor Beam
• Knowledge of your ships grid and off-grid cargo capability
• Knowledge of your ships fuel tanks capability. We prioritize milage over speed for the quantum drive.
• Minimum 1 million aUEC of investment to start with (simple)
• Best 10 million aUEC of investment to start with (properly)
• Heavy Core armor with Heavy Backpack for food, drinks and loots while waiting on inventory cycles

Economics Link to heading

Basics Link to heading

The basics of commodity trading is simple: buy at low prices (Max Inventory) - sell at high prices (Out of Stock). Also known as Demand and Supply.

• To operate a ship and crew, we have expenses in fuel, repair, food & drinks, armor & gear
• To commit a trade, we have to invest (enough money to lose) in order to buy commodity with the promise to make profit
• To buy & sell commodities, we need knowledge about trading locations and commodity prices
• To sell commodities, that’s revenue. Money flowing back into our account
• To make profit, we substract expenses from the revenue

Profit (/ˈprɑː.fɪt/) Link to heading

• Money that is earned in trade or business after paying the costs of producing and selling goods and services.
• Profit is the money earned by a business when its total revenue exceeds its total expenses.
• Gross profit subtracts only the direct cost of producing goods from the total revenue.
• Operating profit takes into account both the cost of goods sold and operating expenses such as selling, general, and administrative costs.
• Net profit, or the bottom line, is the money left over after subtracting all expenses from total revenue.
• Revenue (vs. Profit) is the total amount of sales generated by a business for its goods or services.

How To Calculate Profit Link to heading

• To calculate profit, you need to take the revenue from above, subtract all expenses, then take away any deductions.
• This difference is the final amount of money that was gained after all transactions were completed.
• Expenses - refueling, food and drinks
• Extraordinary expenses - repair, initial invest in gear, armor, utility and rental services
• To simplify we calculate “(-invest+revenue)/commodity = profit/commodity” (for further analysis and splitting into trading go’s) - (gross profit)
• To summarize we erradicate the commodities but subtract the all expenses to get the profit per run “(-invest+revenue)-expenses = profit” - (net profit)

Accounting Link to heading

We provide an accounting sheet, were we track all our trading actions. In general our financial statement is within a patch release cycle. Link to the Accounting Sheet

#Principles of Trading Link to heading

• Never Fly Empty!
• Practice is king! Especially Multi-Tool, MaxLift and Ships Tractor Beam as well as ATLS.
• Profit over Instant Gratification
• Milage over Speed
• Store the boxes at space stations, each station (locations with warehouse/inventory) offers 5000 SCU (per player)
• Load the boxes according to delivery location and selling spots. First In / Last Out.
• For small quanities or box sizes, utilize smaller cargo ships to shuttle the commodities (C1 up to Asgard/Taurus)
• For big quanities or box sizes, utilize bigger cargo ships (Starlifters, Caterpillar, Ironclad)
• Loan before buy, rent before buy, and eventually buy the ship - in that order, you don’t want to fill up the Starlifter with 7x 4SCU boxes
• Calulcate the inventory cycles
• Respect the Patch Release cycles - commodites not sold, will be lost

Tips & Tricks Link to heading

Things To Do Link to heading

You can follow blindly, or you’ll feel the consequence

• BatchBuy and BatchSell or
• Buy 50% of your cargo grids capability where you can buy stuff at two locations (or in proportion)
• Check “Local Market Value” and inventory status BEFORE unloading
• Sell 50% where you can sell stuff at two locations (or in proportion)
• Bigger boxes means less tractor beaming work - ergo less (time) effort
• Refuel BEFORE unloading
• Utilize Auto Unloading at trading locations where possible
• Utilize Auto-Store ship in hangar
• Store your ship from the ASOP terminal in the lobby, watch your number plate
• Use medbeds to refill your body AFTER selling the goods
• Retrieve ship from ASOP, wait until hangar and number plate of the ship appears
• Check commodities in the ship BEFORE leaving the hangar
• Sell to Max Inventory, or go to the next selling spot
• Think fast - work smart
• Be smart in general when it comes to tacle piracy

Things (Not) To Do or To Avoid Link to heading

The Loards of Bug Citizen will hit you at one point

• Check-In at Freight Elevator Terminal until you see the empty elevator
• Wait a sec or two, when F prompts, then press
• Most of the gridded cargo will be destroyed on crash. Most on off-gridded cargo will retrievable.
• Navigation/Maps sucks, orientate yourself
• Prioritize trading spots with Max Inventory/Out of Stock, results in higher profit
• You don’t want to go back to a selling spot, because inventory was maxed, while selling
• Expect piracy in unlawful systems (Pyro) - have a gun with enough ammunition to defend yourself and your goods
• Expect piracy everywhere - don’t (un)load manually, while players are there
• Expect piracy everywhere - unload & store high value first & fast
• Expect piracy lawful systems (Stanton/Nyx) - that hurts the most, you can’t defend yourself in armistice zone, and outside, you’ll get a crimestat

Things To Consider Link to heading

• Greed is not our driving force
• Our driving force is focus, consistency, efficiency, strategy and logistics
• We gradually increase profit rather instant gratification
• We Buy & Load at outposts to reduce loss through piracy and bugs
• We Store at space stations, before we deliver mass quantities to selling spots
• We plan ahead and plot the routes and calculate risks involved
• BatchBuying/BatchSelling in one system to keep us liquid
• BatchBuying/BatchSelling in multiple systems for maximum satisfaction
• Bigger boxes means less tractor beaming work
• Squared boxes means more efficiency
• Bigger ship takes longer to load, we do that in safe & secure space stations
• Every Go (stop/landing) takes time, especially loading / unloading small boxes.
• We bring a partner - for tractor beaming help, cover our backs and for reviving, remote turrets or as a second pilot (escort), or just a second inventory
• An efficient crew size with the current state of development is 4 (1x freight elevator, 1x ALTS handling, 1x placing boxes inside the ship, 1x backup & escort)
• We consider #Mass TradeRuns as a “long term” investment with no instant gratification - within a patch cylce
• We don’t need but maybe want a MaxLift Tractor Beam (20k aUEC) to traverse SCU boxes further than 20 meters and boxes bigger than 16SCU.
• It’s recommanded to have armors with enough capacity for food and drinks (Heavy Core Armor).
• Water & energy drains faster with Hauling than Mercenary on a Distribution Center
• If our reputation is “not eligable” or “hostile” (faction) in Pyro, we don’t go there
• We borrow, before we buy the ship
• We rent, before we buy the ship
• We gain experience in Cargo Capability vs. Time Effort for different ships
• Open cargo spindles vs. enclosed cargo bays
• We gain experience in Cargo Capability vs. Maneuverability
• We gain experience in Maintenace Costs of the ship
• We buy the ship in-game

Change Log Link to heading

• created 2026-05-10
• published 2026-05-14

DISCLAIMER: Link to heading

Star Citizen is in Alpha (Early Access) and therefore in development. Any prices, inventory capacity, inventory cycles may vary and change based on server region and shards. We experienced different prices for the same commodity at the same location within the same cycle.