Identifying items for trade: Difference between revisions

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~~As there are a lot of trading classes going up, I'd like to start a thread for trading "rules of thumb", so to speak. Specifically, how to~~ identify a potentially profitable ~~product. I'm going to share a quick trick I've used~~ to ~~get about 2.5b ISK~~ in ~~3 months of active trading, ie. checking orders for 30min once or twice a day.~~

How do you identify a potentially profitable item to trade in?

It's called the '''Bullworth Burger'''.

This article explains a quick trick you can use to do this. It's called the '''Bullworth Burger''', in honour of the E-Uni member who originally expounded it.

This is how you use the Bullworth Burger:

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#'''Trade in large volume.''' This is more important if you have smaller amounts of isk, as you want quick turnover, but it is generally a positive thing. This is the "Guacamole on the Side" - green bars on the bottom. The more guacamole, the better.

#'''Have good profit margins.''' People sell it for a bit of quick cash, but are willing to pay a lot more to buy it. This is the "patty", or big brown shape, representing the highest and lowest sell/buys. The thicker the patty, the better.

#'''Are used, replaced, and discarded often.''' This is represented by a middle-of-the-road Median price. This ensures you can accumulate and sell inventory with some regularity. "Mustard in the Middle" - represented by yellow squares in the middle of the graph. The mustard should be in the middle of the "patty" as often as possible. This means supply and demand is somewhat balanced. The yellow square indicates the median price - that is, half of the orders occurred above that price, and half below. Generally speaking, a high order "pushes" the yellow box down, a low order "pushes" it up.

#'''Are used, replaced, and discarded often.''' This is represented by a middle-of-the-road Median price. This ensures you can accumulate and sell inventory with some regularity.

#*"Mustard in the Middle" - represented by yellow squares in the middle of the graph. The mustard should be in the middle of the "patty" as often as possible. This means supply and demand is somewhat balanced.

#*The yellow square indicates the median price - that is, half of the orders occurred above that price, and half below.

#*Generally speaking, a high order "pushes" the yellow box down, a low order "pushes" it up.

#'''Given the above, are relatively steady in their pricing.''' "Lettuce and Ketchup" - green and red lines. Lettuce leaves are straight for the most part, indicating good stability. Ketchup is best spread around, so should be a jagged line moving up and down, indicating short-term price fluctuations, which helps you acquire items for less and sell them for more.

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Disclaimer: There is just a method of evaluating items, as it focuses on trading behaviour, but may not work for everyone or in every region. Finding a good trading and pricing strategy is best learned by doing, and is far beyond the scope of the Bullworth Burger.

===Examples===

[[File:Bullworth1.jpg]]

Fig 1.1 - Good Volume, Volatile Buy/Sell, Little Profit

Fig 1.1 - '''Good Volume, Volatile Buy/Sell, Little Profit'''

The checklist: Good Guacamole, and with somewhat stable lettuce and an oscillating tomato. The mustard dots are all over the place, indicating mostly days of extremely heavy selling (dot near the top of the patty), with some days of very heavy buying. You can probably buy this item on one day, then sell it the next day or week, but it's not reliable. Furthermore, assuming a 2% fee from your orders, buying at a low of 117k and selling at a high of 130k, that's only about a 10k profit per item. In recent days, you would buy at 117k and sell at 120k, at a loss, most likely. Hardly worth your time. So, too little patty on this one.

Note: Due to the heavy buying of this item ~~I would assume~~ it's a consumable that producers are actively marketing. This means that not only will you be competing with other traders, but with industry types as well.

Note: Due to the heavy buying of this item, it's probably a consumable that producers are actively marketing. This means that not only will you be competing with other traders, but with industry types as well.

[[File:Bullworth2.jpg]]

Fig 1.2 - Good Volume, Stable, ~15% profit, plenty of ISK movement

Fig 1.2 - '''Good Volume, Stable, ~15% profit, plenty of ISK movement'''

The checklist: Good guacamole - even if only 40 units are moved per day, it's stable and at 20m/trade that's about a 800m ISK daily market. Lettuce is nice and flat with the tomato moving smoothly up and down. The patty is nice and thick, for the most part, and the mustard is almost always in the middle of the patty, but towards the bottom. This means that capsuleers are offloading to traders slightly faster than they are buying, so you will probably acquire faster than you can sell. One strategy to mitigate this is to haul or use courier contracts to move your bought stuff to busier hubs.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-As there are a lot of trading classes going up, I'd like to start a thread for trading "rules of thumb", so to speak. Specifically, how to identify a potentially profitable product. I'm going to share a quick trick I've used to get about 2.5b ISK in 3 months of active trading, ie. checking orders for 30min once or twice a day.
+How do you identify a potentially profitable item to trade in?
-It's called the '''Bullworth Burger'''.
+This article explains a quick trick you can use to do this. It's called the '''Bullworth Burger''', in honour of the E-Uni member who originally expounded it.
 This is how you use the Bullworth Burger:
@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 #'''Trade in large volume.''' This is more important if you have smaller amounts of isk, as you want quick turnover, but it is generally a positive thing. This is the "Guacamole on the Side" - green bars on the bottom. The more guacamole, the better.
 #'''Have good profit margins.''' People sell it for a bit of quick cash, but are willing to pay a lot more to buy it. This is the "patty", or big brown shape, representing the highest and lowest sell/buys. The thicker the patty, the better.
-#'''Are used, replaced, and discarded often.''' This is represented by a middle-of-the-road Median price. This ensures you can accumulate and sell inventory with some regularity. "Mustard in the Middle" - represented by yellow squares in the middle of the graph. The mustard should be in the middle of the "patty" as often as possible. This means supply and demand is somewhat balanced. The yellow square indicates the median price - that is, half of the orders occurred above that price, and half below. Generally speaking, a high order "pushes" the yellow box down, a low order "pushes" it up.
+#'''Are used, replaced, and discarded often.''' This is represented by a middle-of-the-road Median price. This ensures you can accumulate and sell inventory with some regularity.
+#*"Mustard in the Middle" - represented by yellow squares in the middle of the graph. The mustard should be in the middle of the "patty" as often as possible. This means supply and demand is somewhat balanced.
+#*The yellow square indicates the median price - that is, half of the orders occurred above that price, and half below.
+#*Generally speaking, a high order "pushes" the yellow box down, a low order "pushes" it up.
 #'''Given the above, are relatively steady in their pricing.''' "Lettuce and Ketchup" - green and red lines. Lettuce leaves are straight for the most part, indicating good stability. Ketchup is best spread around, so should be a jagged line moving up and down, indicating short-term price fluctuations, which helps you acquire items for less and sell them for more.
@@ Line 24: / Line 27: @@
 Disclaimer: There is just a method of evaluating items, as it focuses on trading behaviour, but may not work for everyone or in every region. Finding a good trading and pricing strategy is best learned by doing, and is far beyond the scope of the Bullworth Burger.
+===Examples===
 [[File:Bullworth1.jpg]]
-Fig 1.1 - Good Volume, Volatile Buy/Sell, Little Profit
+Fig 1.1 - '''Good Volume, Volatile Buy/Sell, Little Profit'''
 The checklist: Good Guacamole, and with somewhat stable lettuce and an oscillating tomato. The mustard dots are all over the place, indicating mostly days of extremely heavy selling (dot near the top of the patty), with some days of very heavy buying. You can probably buy this item on one day, then sell it the next day or week, but it's not reliable. Furthermore, assuming a 2% fee from your orders, buying at a low of 117k and selling at a high of 130k, that's only about a 10k profit per item. In recent days, you would buy at 117k and sell at 120k, at a loss, most likely. Hardly worth your time. So, too little patty on this one.
-Note: Due to the heavy buying of this item I would assume it's a consumable that producers are actively marketing. This means that not only will you be competing with other traders, but with industry types as well.
+Note: Due to the heavy buying of this item, it's probably a consumable that producers are actively marketing. This means that not only will you be competing with other traders, but with industry types as well.
 [[File:Bullworth2.jpg]]
-Fig 1.2 - Good Volume, Stable, ~15% profit, plenty of ISK movement
+Fig 1.2 - '''Good Volume, Stable, ~15% profit, plenty of ISK movement'''
 The checklist: Good guacamole - even if only 40 units are moved per day, it's stable and at 20m/trade that's about a 800m ISK daily market. Lettuce is nice and flat with the tomato moving smoothly up and down. The patty is nice and thick, for the most part, and the mustard is almost always in the middle of the patty, but towards the bottom. This means that capsuleers are offloading to traders slightly faster than they are buying, so you will probably acquire faster than you can sell. One strategy to mitigate this is to haul or use courier contracts to move your bought stuff to busier hubs.