NOMAN's Trading Guide

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.

Stamp	Chapter

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,”

Strategies To Consider - or Principles Link to heading

Practice is king! Especially Multi-Tool, MaxLift and Ships Tractor Beam as well as ATLS.
Never fly empty!
Diversify! In our case diversify from primary/secondary and if large ship filler commodities as well
Low quantity with high profit per SCU is prioritized (#primary commodity)
Medium quantity with medium profit per SCU is #secondary commodity
Mass quantity with low profit per SCU is #filler commodity (HULL-series trading)
Respect the limits of inventory
Sell all / everything (#BatchSelling)
Calculate the inventory cycles
Loan before buy
Rent before buy

Requirements Link to heading

Reputation at Organizations trading spots (neutral or higher)
<= Crimestat 2
Multi-Tool with TruHold Tractor Beam Attachment
Undersuit with helmet
Knowledge of your ships grid and off-grid cargo capability
Knowledge of your ships fuel tanks and quantum drive capability

Optional Link to heading

MaxLift Tractor Beam (20k) with Batteries (not required yet)
a Heavy Core armor pieace and a Heavy Backpack for food, drinks and loots while waiting on inventory cycles.

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). All of them also have habitation. 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.

Trade Runs & Go’s Link to heading

A #TradeRun has a start and an end. You buy & pick up and delivery & sell commodities.
You do one pick up and delivery, that is considered to be “One Go”. If you finish trading, that is “One Run” as well. Each Go is a stop, a landing (1:1).
If you continue trading, buying commodities at that delivery location, then you do a “Second Go” (2:1).
One Go can be One Run (1:1).
Multiple Go’s in One Run (n:1).

Our focus on Trade Runs is doing multiple Go’s, for the fun, the challange, the logistics and of course the #profit.

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)

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 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

To Consider Link to heading

Things to consider as a Trader: 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

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.