how to make money in this game?

[jnpoint]

I do not have any money to pay the trader - what do I do to earn or make money?

[FridayBiology]

you could sell spare furniture and tools?
depending on your race different objects and items will be easier to craft in mass early on.

personally I build five of each of the Chairs / Tables / Beds. and then swap them out.

[Runo]

My Carpenter is my main income maker .
I make sure that farmers plant saplings so wood is plentyful then make loads of chairs etc .
Stone masons are good too ... infact I make lots of surplus " everything " to sell .

[Senpai Yardic]

dig gold or sell stuff,

[Malakite]

Sell almost everyhting except gold, silver and iron Those three things I really never sell since I need them for equipment and vaults later in builds everything else is fair game though. Selling stone from mining can net you 100-200 gold each day pretty easy if you are focusing on mining early after you have built shelter and have crops growing.

[R00iValk]

A good way to go, makes a lot of money even from the start, is to make Wall-Mounted Tapestries, and sell 1 for just 35 Gold.

1. Start a Silkweed farm. The more the better. They take a considerable time to grow, so it's worth having a few set up.
   
2. Now, as your waiting for these to grow, start leveling up your Weaver to level 1. Have the Weaver build the Loom, a Spinning Wheel and a Weaver Workbench. You'll need a loom for the Tapestries anyway, so, two birds, one stone.
   
3. When these silkweed grow, the farmers will harvest it and it will give you Bundles of Fiber. Use these to maintain either 3, 5, or any amount of Tapestries.
   
4. Now, when a merchant arrives, sell him the tapestries.

Nice thing about this, you make money, you level up your Weaver, and your farmers.

Worked for me.

[Kal Skirata]

Originally posted by jnpoint:

I do not have any money to pay the trader - what do I do to earn or make money?

okay, first you need to accept a trader quest that you know you'll fail, like 18 Table for One in 48 hours, then wait for someone like Norm Windriser to come along, then you click on the Sell tab in the bottom left of the trade pop-up, then you select what you want to sell, or whatever you probably won't ever need (preferably something that will be really easy to replace in case you do need that item, so that way you won't end up possibly losing people). And that's literally the only way you make money in Sandbox Mode. If you have hostiles turned on, then you can loot the giant zombies and hostile camps.

[jnpoint]

Thank you for the help. Can I lose people? Wow, I like this game more and more.

[DannySuperNoob]

People can die in the game, so be careful when the town is attacked. I get attached to my characters sometimes and feel depressed when one is killed off

[BE4R]

I sell my children to the goblin slavers. 2.5k each.

[Sittal]

Originally posted by Bear:

I sell my children to the goblin slavers. 2.5k each.

This isn't Dwarf Fortress...