Trade hubs

Trade Hubs are centers of trading in a region of space, usually found in a solar system with many gates that serve as a main pass-through center. Volumes of goods traded in trade hub systems far exceed goods traded in other systems in the region, marked by high availability of goods in one place. The volume of goods increase customers to the system, attracting more sellers, increasing volume, and stabilizing prices. In busy regions such as The Forge, a large fraction of trade takes place at the hub, such as Jita.

The convenience of "one-stop shopping" is such that buyers are usually willing to pay a slight premium just to get the items at the hub rather than elsewhere in the region (this can usually be seen by examining the sell orders of an item). However, in low-population regions where the hubs are not as developed, there may be no premiums charged on goods and often the range must be increased on buy orders in order to reach more sellers.

Trade hubs are created in certain locations for a number of reasons, including location (choke points, proximity to mission hubs or different regions) and available facilities (research facilities, manufacturing lines etc). These factors cause players to use particular stations and systems over others, and once a station is known as a trade hub then players are more likely to use it, cementing its status.

If your corporation is at war (as EVE University often is), be cautious around trade hubs, as your enemies will often be lurking there, hoping to catch you hauling valuables unawares. It's highly recommended to create an out-of-corp hauling alt character to avoid unnecessary losses.

Major Trade Hubs

Jita - The Forge - Caldari Space

• Population: 33,501
• Total market offers value: 119.4 trillion ISK
• Location: Jita IV - Moon 4 - Caldari Navy Assembly Plant

Jita is the center of trade in New Eden and is by far the largest hub in game, often having over 1000 players in system with consistent traffic in and out. Trading in Jita is extremely competitive due to the high level of activity. This often results in fairly low profit margins, and is harder for players with low ISK to succeed in due to the richer able to shrug off the low margins by trading in volume. However, players new to trading will be able to turn over smaller orders more quickly, and therefore learn what to do/what not to do sooner. Be mindful of low volumes as well, since if you do find products with decent profit margins (say above 20%), these items flow a lot slower than those with narrower margins.

Amarr - Domain - Amarr Space

• Population: 7,856
• Total market offers value: 693.3 billion ISK
• Location: Amarr VIII (Oris) - Emperor Family Academy

Rens - Heimatar - Minmatar Space

• Population: 7,856
• Total market offers value: 137.9 billion ISK
• Location: Rens VI - Moon 8 - Brutor tribe Treasury

Dodixie - Sinq Laison - Gallente Space

• Population: 5,865
• Total market offers value: 91.4 billion ISK
• Location: Dodixie IX - Moon 20 - Federation Navy Assembly Plant

Trade Hubs in Empire Space

Metropolis

• Hek, Hek VIII - Moon 12 - Boundless Creation Factory
  • Population: 3,397
  • Total market offers value: 80.3 billion ISK

On the direct route from EVE University's home in Aldrat to Hek you will pass through Heimatar (Eystur system), which lets you check prices in Rens to see if you can get a better deal there.

• Eram

Placid

• Orvolle
• Stacmon

The Forge

• Jita, Jita IV - Moon 4 - Caldari Navy Assembly Plant

Heimatar

• Rens, Rens VI - Moon 8 - Brutor tribe Treasury
• Lustrevik - many mission runner's base of operations.
• Eystur
• Pator - the second closest trade hub to Aldrat, 5 jumps away.

Essence

• Oursulaert, Oursulaert III - Federation Navy Testing Facilities

Domain

• Amarr, Amarr VIII (Oris) - Emperor Family Academy
• Penirgman

Sinq Laison

• Dodixie, Dodixie IX - Moon 20 - Federation Navy Assembly

Lonetrek

• Nourvukaiken
• Nonni
• Sobaseki - 1 jump to Jita, on the border to The Forge
• Torrinos - 0.5 highsec, leading into EC-P8R (0.0, Pure Blind)

Molden Heath

• Gelfiven
• Teonusude

Tash-Murkon

• Tash-Murkon Prime, Tash-Murkon Prime II - Moon 1 Kaalakiota Corporation Factory

The Citadel

• Hatakani
• Kaunokka
• Motsu
• Suroken

Genesis

• Yulai
  • Yulai is the old major empire trade hub. CCP didn't like one system being the major single trade hub and closed routes to and from Yulai. This made Jita the new major trade hub of New Eden.

Verge Vendor

• Alentene
• Cistuvaert

Khanid

• Agil

Black Rise

• Ichoriya

Everyshore

• Azer

Devoid

• Esescama

Kador

• Yarebap

Kor-Azor

• Kor-Azor Prime

Solitude

• Boystin, Boystin V - Moon 6 - Federal Intelligence Office Assembly Plant
  • This station is also home station of EVE University's Project Solitude.

Trade Hubs in Claimable Nullsec

There are huge trade hubs in Nullsec but almost all stations owned by alliances are restricted to members of the alliance and some friends. There is currently only one freely accessible trade hub in claimable Nullsec: The station in 4-C8MI in Scalding Pass.

Scalding Pass

All stations in the region Scalding Pass are freeports (everyone is allowed to dock, no docking fees, all services can be used). The owner of most of these stations is the alliance The Gorgon Empire (-GE-).

• 4-C8MI: Freeport 2 of the alliance Phoebe Freeport Republic (PFR) is a still growing trade hub.