Using external tools to haul profitably: Difference between revisions

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[[File:EVECentralRoutes.png|200px|thumb|right|EVE-Central Trade Routes]]

8. You'll then get a list of all available trade routes from your current system to anything in your region. It's a good idea after your first search to enter your cargo capacity and to click the "filter for security" options - you want to find routes that will fill your ship and which stay in high-sec. Look for trade runs that generate ~~more than 300K~~ of ISK per trip, and which are short duration. In systems with lots of stations, you will likely discover some good trade runs with 0 jumps! NOTE: be sure to check the volumes of both the seller AND the buyer before you purchase them - EVE-Central will tell you this. You don't want to buy 100,000 of an item only to find that your buyer only wants 20,000.

8. You'll then get a list of all available trade routes from your current system to anything in your region. It's a good idea after your first search to enter your cargo capacity and to click the "filter for security" options - you want to find routes that will fill your ship and which stay in high-sec. Look for trade runs that generate the largest amounts of ISK per trip, and which are short duration. In systems with lots of stations, you will likely discover some good trade runs with 0 jumps! NOTE: be sure to check the volumes of both the seller AND the buyer before you purchase them - EVE-Central will tell you this. You don't want to buy 100,000 of an item only to find that your buyer only wants 20,000.

One important factor to consider before selecting your trade run is sales tax. The universal sales tax rate in EVE is one percent (1%). EVE-Central does not include the effect of sales tax in its calculations, and this is a potential trap for haulers carrying low margin goods. While the vast majority of trade runs in EVE have more than a 1% margin between the buying and selling prices, it is never guaranteed. Smaller haulers are unlikely to haul low-margin items, since they naturally tend to focus on trading goods that maximize profit per cubic meter (m3) of their very limited cargo space. But freighters, and haulers with very large capacities, are more likely to select larger volumes of goods at lower margins, so they can fill their expansive holds, and they can get caught more easily in a sales tax trap.

For example, let's say that EVE-Central lists a trade run for buying 79.5 million ISK of Robotics, and then selling it at a nearby station for 80 million, showing a net profit of 500 thousand ISK - not bad! But this does not take in to account the sales tax of 1% on that 80 million ISK sale, which will give you an additional cost of 800 thousand ISK - resulting in a net loss of 300 thousand ISK!

A good rule of thumb, therefore, when selecting your trade run is to look at the potential profit margin of the run, and compare it to the original purchase price - if the profit is not more than 1% of the purchase price, pass on it, and find a better run, even if it means one that will not completely fill your cargo hold.

9. THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT: Most of the time, EVE-Central provides good trade run suggestions, but it's always a good idea to double-check. Verify that the EVE market window data is the same as the EVE-Central recommended route information. This is why you want to start in a system that is NOT a trade hub. The market in a busy trade hub, such as Jita, can be so volatile that between uploading market data and doing the route search, it can change significantly. Better to do this in relatively quiet systems with more market stability.

10. If your trade route checks out, buy the items from the station that you will haul. Warp to that station, open Items, and drag them into your ship's cargo hold. Undock, warp to the buyer destination, dock there, unload back into Items, then right-click your items and select "SELL THIS ITEM". Check one last time that the buying price is the same as what you expected from the EVE-Central data - if it does, execute the sale. (If it doesn't, you may want to sell it anyway if it's still profitable. Use the Wallet/Transaction tab to find the price that you bought the item, if you forget. Be extremely leery about using the Advanced selling option to set your own selling price, as this will apply a broker fee that can erode or eliminate your profits ~~- see the next section for more information on taxes and fees~~.)

10. If your trade route checks out, buy the items from the station that you will haul. Warp to that station, open Items, and drag them into your ship's cargo hold. Undock, warp to the buyer destination, dock there, unload back into Items, then right-click your items and select "SELL THIS ITEM". Check one last time that the buying price is the same as what you expected from the EVE-Central data - if it does, execute the sale. (If it doesn't, you may want to sell it anyway if it's still profitable. Use the Wallet/Transaction tab to find the price that you bought the item, if you forget. Be extremely leery about using the Advanced selling option to set your own selling price, as this will apply a broker fee, in addition to the usual sales tax, that can further erode or eliminate your profits.)

11. The market window for the item you just bought and sold will now change. Click on that item, export a new file, and upload it again to EVE-Central, so that it has the most current information.

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 [[File:EVECentralRoutes.png|200px|thumb|right|EVE-Central Trade Routes]]
-. You'll then get a list of all available trade routes from your current system to anything in your region. It's a good idea after your first search to enter your cargo capacity and to click the "filter for security" options - you want to find routes that will fill your ship and which stay in high-sec. Look for trade runs that generate more than 300K of ISK per trip, and which are short duration. In systems with lots of stations, you will likely discover some good trade runs with 0 jumps! NOTE: be sure to check the volumes of both the seller AND the buyer before you purchase them - EVE-Central will tell you this. You don't want to buy 100,000 of an item only to find that your buyer only wants 20,000.
+. You'll then get a list of all available trade routes from your current system to anything in your region. It's a good idea after your first search to enter your cargo capacity and to click the "filter for security" options - you want to find routes that will fill your ship and which stay in high-sec. Look for trade runs that generate the largest amounts of ISK per trip, and which are short duration. In systems with lots of stations, you will likely discover some good trade runs with 0 jumps! NOTE: be sure to check the volumes of both the seller AND the buyer before you purchase them - EVE-Central will tell you this. You don't want to buy 100,000 of an item only to find that your buyer only wants 20,000.
+One important factor to consider before selecting your trade run is sales tax. The universal sales tax rate in EVE is one percent (1%).  EVE-Central does not include the effect of sales tax in its calculations, and this is a potential trap for haulers carrying low margin goods.  While the vast majority of trade runs in EVE have more than a 1% margin between the buying and selling prices, it is never guaranteed.  Smaller haulers are unlikely to haul low-margin items, since they naturally tend to focus on trading goods that maximize profit per cubic meter (m3) of their very limited cargo space.  But freighters, and haulers with very large capacities, are more likely to select larger volumes of goods at lower margins, so they can fill their expansive holds, and they can get caught more easily in a sales tax trap.
+For example, let's say that EVE-Central lists a trade run for buying 79.5 million ISK of Robotics, and then selling it at a nearby station for 80 million, showing a net profit of 500 thousand ISK - not bad!  But this does not take in to account the sales tax of 1% on that 80 million ISK sale, which will give you an additional cost of 800 thousand ISK - resulting in a net loss of 300 thousand ISK!
+A good rule of thumb, therefore, when selecting your trade run is to look at the potential profit margin of the run, and compare it to the original purchase price - if the profit is not more than 1% of the purchase price, pass on it, and find a better run, even if it means one that will not completely fill your cargo hold.
 . THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT: Most of the time, EVE-Central provides good trade run suggestions, but it's always a good idea to double-check. Verify that the EVE market window data is the same as the EVE-Central recommended route information. This is why you want to start in a system that is NOT a trade hub. The market in a busy trade hub, such as Jita, can be so volatile that between uploading market data and doing the route search, it can change significantly. Better to do this in relatively quiet systems with more market stability.
-. If your trade route checks out, buy the items from the station that you will haul. Warp to that station, open Items, and drag them into your ship's cargo hold. Undock, warp to the buyer destination, dock there, unload back into Items, then right-click your items and select "SELL THIS ITEM". Check one last time that the buying price is the same as what you expected from the EVE-Central data - if it does, execute the sale. (If it doesn't, you may want to sell it anyway if it's still profitable. Use the Wallet/Transaction tab to find the price that you bought the item, if you forget.  Be extremely leery about using the Advanced selling option to set your own selling price, as this will apply a broker fee that can erode or eliminate your profits - see the next section for more information on taxes and fees.)
+. If your trade route checks out, buy the items from the station that you will haul. Warp to that station, open Items, and drag them into your ship's cargo hold. Undock, warp to the buyer destination, dock there, unload back into Items, then right-click your items and select "SELL THIS ITEM". Check one last time that the buying price is the same as what you expected from the EVE-Central data - if it does, execute the sale. (If it doesn't, you may want to sell it anyway if it's still profitable. Use the Wallet/Transaction tab to find the price that you bought the item, if you forget.  Be extremely leery about using the Advanced selling option to set your own selling price, as this will apply a broker fee, in addition to the usual sales tax, that can further erode or eliminate your profits.)
 . The market window for the item you just bought and sold will now change. Click on that item, export a new file, and upload it again to EVE-Central, so that it has the most current information.