Lucrative trade lanes...

[xenoneo]

There's very little info around about how to make money running freight.

Here's one I found by the planet Sora, in the very top right of the map.

The route is DiVinci Reasearch Complex, which is just to the left of Sora, to Astralis, which is just above Sora.

Buy Combat mechs from DaVinci for 5496 and sell at Astralis for 6536. (x45 is 46,800)
Buy Energy Cells at Astralis for 5619 and sell them at DaVinci for 6669. (x45 is 47,250)

The items come back after you have purchased them all, but if you want to fill up before you come back, utility droids and hydroponics make about 500 profit each as well.

I was origionally selling the mechs to Sora, but a mission took me up to Astralis where I found a much better buyer.

Side note: if you deliver goods and people while running goods you'll be friendly with the area very quickly.
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I haven't found the best route for this next one yet, but I noticed ATR vehicles sell at Ruhr for 5187 and sell at Planet Fairuz for 5534.
There's probably another station around there that will take them for more and I'll let you know if I find it.
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If you've found a good trade route, post it here to help other space truckers. :)

[TrotTheBot]

What freighter are you flying? Cargo space-wise?

[Nokta]

There's little information about trading simply because it is not fully implemented nor balanced yet. As it is now is simply impossible to run a decent trade-mining business with a fair value-for-time ratio.

No point in travelling 10-15 minutes to make 45k when I can just shoot down 2 randoms reds in 2 minutes and gain 50k to 100k in just selling the junk they drop (not to mention how much you'll gain if you manage to capture and tow their ship to port).

I am actually waiting eagerly for mining-trading prices balances. At the moment this is exactly what's preventing me from playing this game more :D

[MeepdragonVII]

Originally posted by tomislav.the.devilkin:

What freighter are you flying? Cargo space-wise?

The "(x45)" remarks seem to point at the Myrmidon itself (45 cargo).
Would show you can even make a trader's living with this ship.

[xenoneo]

Originally posted by Nyx:

There's little information about trading simply because it is not fully implemented nor balanced yet. As it is now is simply impossible to run a decent trade-mining business with a fair value-for-time ratio.

No point in travelling 10-15 minutes to make 45k when I can just shoot down 2 randoms reds in 2 minutes and gain 50k to 100k in just selling the junk they drop (not to mention how much you'll gain if you manage to capture and tow their ship to port).

I am actually waiting eagerly for mining-trading prices balances. At the moment this is exactly what's preventing me from playing this game more :D

Yes, when I wrote that I was using the starting ship.

I make $94,050 every 3-4 minuites like this.
To get to each base takes about 1min 30sec, as they are about 2 hexes apart.
I plot a course while I am in the store, and when I get close enough to see the next base, I select to dock.
Since I'm already have PTE at full when I dock, as I leave I'm still going full speed.
This means I don't waste any time searching for a ship to board or puling it into a garage.
I just make money quickly, while I complete freelance missions between said bases.

As far as Mining goes, I kept some ore on me as I was scouting item values for a while.
Raw materials consistantly sold for less than complicated items like the mechs, cells, and ATRs, but the values did change drastically.
Gold for instance went as low as 100 to as high as 700, from just the handful of bases I checked at.
Of course there's probably ore in high risk asteroids that are currently just as profitible as my trade lane or piracy.
Mining runs probably would be most beneficial in a freightliner for sheer volume since sales inventory is limited in bases, handicapping a frightliners ability to get the most out of a run from just trade.

I read that eventually they'll add tooltips to show bases that will buy your inventory for more money, but that's not in yet.

However, you can see that it is viable currently to make money quickly through trade right now.

We have to test things out to find out where the money is, and share the information to help others.
It's all out there, don't assume it isn't.
That's why I made this post.

[Nokta]

Originally posted by xenoneo:

I make $94,050 every 3-4 minuites like this.
To get to each base takes about 1min 30sec, as they are about 2 hexes apart.
I plot a course while I am in the store, and when I get close enough to see the next base, I select to dock.

Wow, you found the El Dorado there! Nice find!
If you are making 94k every 4 minutes with a 45 cargo bay ship that means that with a dedicated frightliner you'll be making around 130k a minute.
I definitely have to test it.
That is probably a too rewarding trade lane for the time and effort a player puts in it. These are the kind of things that will be (hopefully) sorted out.

But untill they fix it we can exploit it to our heart pleasure ahahah.

[TheGeordieGriller]

It's very easy, very early on to sell the Myrmidon and buy a Cavalier (Corvette with 80 cargo capacity), jump to the Planet Sora gate and start trading Combat Mechs/Energy Cells between DaVinci/Astralis.

Quite fun indeed :)

[thethomasgeorge]

Originally posted by xenoneo:

There's very little info around about how to make money running freight.

Here's one I found by the planet Sora, in the very top right of the map.

The route is DiVinci Reasearch Complex, which is just to the left of Sora, to Astralis, which is just above Sora.

Buy Combat mechs from DaVinci for 5496 and sell at Astralis for 6536. (x45 is 46,800)
Buy Energy Cells at Astralis for 5619 and sell them at DaVinci for 6669. (x45 is 47,250)

The items come back after you have purchased them all, but if you want to fill up before you come back, utility droids and hydroponics make about 500 profit each as well.

I was origionally selling the mechs to Sora, but a mission took me up to Astralis where I found a much better buyer.

Side note: if you deliver goods and people while running goods you'll be friendly with the area very quickly.
---------------------------
I haven't found the best route for this next one yet, but I noticed ATR vehicles sell at Ruhr for 5187 and sell at Planet Fairuz for 5534.
There's probably another station around there that will take them for more and I'll let you know if I find it.
---------------------------

If you've found a good trade route, post it here to help other space truckers. :)

cheers for that, I tracked down the area and mined it for some quick cash. Only probs is that even with the 45 cargo space, the stock doesn't replenish fast enough. I put all power into engines and have a few speed enhancements so I don't even need to get a freighter.

[binks]

You just fail to mention that flying in this area gives you radiation damage...

[MeepdragonVII]

Hi binks!

Well, it didn't back in April ;-)

[Waervyn]

I was mining magnesium for a bit, bought the first freighter and started mining Titanium for about 100k/200k per hike. The hike was really short as the asteroids are next to the base ^^

[Silver Smurfer]

It could be 100k per second, but it makes no difference if the supply is limited...

Is it limited, or not? Replenishes with time? Or with Load?

[Zloth]

From what I've seen, when a commodity that's supposed to be at a station (as opposed to stuff you've dumped there) runs out, it gets replenished the next time you go to the station.

I found a heck of a run in the north east. Go south from the planet Sora and you'll see a high energy research station right next to the rift ribbon. Park there and buy mechs. Enter the ribbon going south (you do NOT want to go north!) and you'll pop right into Advanced Arms HQ one sector away. Sell them and buy utility droids. Head back to the research station. You'll net 400-500 per sale. Each round trip only takes about 5 minutes. Of course, you've got to GET up there first!

[jamesc70]

One of the buttons on the starmap shows you all the high and low prices for all goods everywhere. Wouldn't it be more useful to sift through that information than actually looking for deals?

[Silver Smurfer]

Traders love me, i am the main supplier of random goods selling them for all prices. Green, red, yellow, purple, cyan. Prices make no difference for me. The best station is the closest station :D

[deviousity]

I found that when just starting out, I could make a decent profit by flying Thrusters and Prostetics back and forth between Plymouth Shipyard and MultiOps HQ near Soreen. The stations are less than 30 seconds apart--even less if you pick up a Dynamo III enhancement from Alameda, and Navigation officer Rico Dempsey from Vigo. The Thrusters sell for +1k each, and the Prostetics net a couple hundred. In my starting ship I was making about 65k per minute (depending on supply). Still, it takes a long time to make a million, and much longer for the 5 mil you need for a decent destroyer.

I'd use the funds as a starting point for the officers and enhancements you need for boarding, and do that as early as possible. It's also worth noting that you gain levels for making money. I'd use those perk points to pick up Field Commander 2 (or 3 if you have more patience than me). You can buy some very good enhancements (Cerberi, OmniLink, Dynamo, and Watanabe III) at Alameda, one sector up from Planet Trinity. If you want to trade exclusively, you can just get Rico and the Dynamo III, then go about your business. :)