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The main method of trading is doing what other players can't be bothered to do: either they're too lazy or the opportunity cost is too big. Most market activity occurs in and around [[Trade Hubs]]. | The main method of trading is doing what other players can't be bothered to do: either they're too lazy or the opportunity cost is too big. Most market activity occurs in and around [[Trade Hubs]]. | ||
=== | === Station Trading === | ||
Station trading is trading in its most basic form. You buy low and sell high. | |||
Basically, you want to find items with a reasonable volume traded and a significant difference in buy and sell order prices within the same station. A large source of these types of items comes from NPC loot: players run missions, collect loot and just want to sell it for a quick buck, since they don't have the time or the Trade skills to set up sell orders for everything. On the other hand, players searching for one will pay quite a bit more since they can't get it anywhere else. | |||
Basically, you want to find items with a reasonable volume traded and a significant difference in buy and sell order prices within the same station. A large source of these types of items comes from NPC loot: players run missions, collect loot and just want to sell it for a quick buck, since they don't have the time or the Trade skills to set up sell orders for everything | |||
The simple rule of thumb is buy low and sell high. For station trading to be performed effectively, ensure that your sell order's gross profit minus your buy order's cost minus taxation still leaves a profit! Setting up buy and sell orders on multiple items minimizes risk of a market price crash on any one particular item. If you can make 20,000 ISK on an item and manage to trade 100 of these per day this will give you 2,000,000 ISK. Do this with 50 different products and this equates to 100,000,000 ISK per day! | The simple rule of thumb is buy low and sell high. For station trading to be performed effectively, ensure that your sell order's gross profit minus your buy order's cost minus taxation still leaves a profit! Setting up buy and sell orders on multiple items minimizes risk of a market price crash on any one particular item. If you can make 20,000 ISK on an item and manage to trade 100 of these per day this will give you 2,000,000 ISK. Do this with 50 different products and this equates to 100,000,000 ISK per day! | ||
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Start small, reinvest, and you will soon see your total ISK grow very quickly. When you start working with billions of ISK you can trade higher priced items, which, in turn, can increase your margins and also price out some of the competition! | Start small, reinvest, and you will soon see your total ISK grow very quickly. When you start working with billions of ISK you can trade higher priced items, which, in turn, can increase your margins and also price out some of the competition! | ||
Station trading is all about volume. Your margins are often thin, and you'll need to save money everywhere you can. That means training Broker Relations and Accounting to 5. | |||
Station trading is all about volume. Your margins are | |||
Early in your trading career, these fractional percentages have a minimal impact i.e. if trained to level 5, you need to trade 667 million ISK of goods to earn back the 5 million ISK you spent on the Accounting skillbook. As you build your trading volume, however, these reductions are quite meaningful. Without getting into the math, training Broker Relations and Accounting to 5 will increase your profits by 11% | Early in your trading career, these fractional percentages have a minimal impact i.e. if trained to level 5, you need to trade 667 million ISK of goods to earn back the 5 million ISK you spent on the Accounting skillbook. As you build your trading volume, however, these reductions are quite meaningful. Without getting into the math, training Broker Relations and Accounting to 5 will increase your profits by 11% (assuming you do not need to modify your offer). | ||
Guides: | Guides: | ||
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*[http://soundcloud.com/alexkal1/irdalth-delrars-impromtu Irdalth Delrar's Impromtu Station Trading Guide] | *[http://soundcloud.com/alexkal1/irdalth-delrars-impromtu Irdalth Delrar's Impromtu Station Trading Guide] | ||
=== | === Cross region trading=== | ||
Sometimes items have different values in different areas of space. You can buy low in one place and sell high in another place. | |||
Basically, you buy some goods at one station, load them up into your hauling ship, carry them off to another station and sell them for profit. This works because most players don't have the ships or the time to move everything themselves. Finding good trade routes is hard (and changes on a daily basis), so most players use an external tool such as [[Using EVE-Central to haul profitably|Eve-Central]] or [http://code.google.com/p/navbot/ Navbot]. However, there are usually certain routes that are profitable in general, such as hauling stuff from mission hubs, where mission runners dump their loots, to trading hubs where there is less supply. | |||
See [[Hauling]] for more details. | |||
Guides: | Guides: | ||
*[[ | *[[Creating an Alt Hauler]] | ||
*[http://eve. | *[[Using EVE-Central to haul profitably]] | ||
*[[Hauling 101]], [[Advanced Hauling]] | |||
*[[Making Money with Hauling - Level 4 Cargo Missions]] | |||
*[http://classes.eve-ivy.com/Disco%20Uncertainty%20-%20The%20Dark%20Side%20of%20Eve.mp3 The Dark Side of Eve] - A discussion on suicide ganking and pirate tactics. Firmly recommended listening. | |||
*[[Known pirate systems]] - Avoid these. | |||
=== Speculation === | === Speculation === | ||
Speculation is the act of buying goods in the hope that their price will rise in the future. For example, PLEX prices can rise significantly during the summer holidays, so buying them earlier in the year and selling them during the summer can create a large profit. Speculation can also occur on patch changes or market stampedes. | Speculation is the act of buying goods in the hope that their price will rise in the future. For example, PLEX prices can rise significantly during the summer holidays, so buying them earlier in the year and selling them during the summer can create a large profit. Speculation can also occur on patch changes or market stampedes. | ||
Speculative market trading requires you to have good understanding on the wider EVE economy. Owning a crystal ball also helps. | |||
== Tips and Tricks == | == Tips and Tricks == | ||