Trading Not Levelling Up?

[mk_thot]

I've been sitting at level 10 trade skill with 1/185xp since I started the game, I've had a caravan running, I have a workshop running, and I've been going around the map selling trade goods for the highest prices I can, but nothing works. It's getting really annoying, am I doing something wrong? Or is the skill broken?

[GIJoe597]

Caravans and workshops do not gain you trade skill. Only buying and selling
"trade items" do.

Is you trade skill in red>?

[The Mau Corporation]

Buying and selling at a profit - the higher the profit the higher the xp gain - is the only minor edit I'd add to GIJoes response.

[Ronish]

If you have 1 point in the charisma attribute and no focus points in trade, then I think the skill cap is 10.

[flyingscot1066]

To get your Trade skill jump started, go down to the desert and buy Desert Horses for <300 dinars each, and Mules/Sumpter horses for <75 each. Bring them up to Vlandia and sell them for 400+/100+. Do not fall into the trap of just dumping the entire load at once on one merchant! If you have 100 Mules, and they're selling for 125 dinars each, if you sell them all the price (for both mules and Sumpters) will plummet to 40-50, and you will lose massive profits. Use the L SHIFT key to add increments of 5 at a time until the price starts to drop. Sell at the higher price and move on to the next city. Start selling at Chaikand, and work your way north. Bring Furs back south. After a few runs the prices will start to even out, and you'll have to find a new trade route, but apply the same principles. By that time your Trade skill should be up around 50+.

[Fiddle Gastro]

Diversify your stock so that you can sell something at every town you visit.

Limit your purchases to goods that are at least 50% below average cost and never sell at anything under average price.

[mk_thot]

So, I guess I didn't realize you actually had to BUY the goods from the merchants, I've been selling goods I looted from bandits, as well as stuff I bought from "The Art Of The Trade" quests, which don't do anything for your trade skill when you sell them. Also the Trade skill's "How To Learn" lists operating trade caravans as a way to increase your skill level as well, but I guess that doesn't work?

[GIJoe597]

That works for companions. The human cannot run a caravan. There are many perks that are useless to the human player.

[The Mau Corporation]

The game won't explicit say your companion increased trade (at least mine doesn't) like other skills but you'll notice once they start gaining perks to choose.

[Classic Randers]

You can use workshops to get cheap goods to trade with, I have cities near olives and grapes making wine and oil for me that I buy cheap and sell around the empire pretty high. Strategic workshops can be helpful to level trading, but they don't level it directly.

[Core]

Trading is BS. Many had been mentioning it. I have seen TW noting that feedback twice.
Maybe they'll change it later on...
For your case, you could try using auto trader mod. Because it normally works, albeit slow, grinding and horribly boring.

[The Mau Corporation]

Originally posted by Locklave:

Originally posted by The Mau Corporation:

The game won't explicit say your companion increased trade (at least mine doesn't)

It does in the lower left mixed in with all the useless spam, meaning it might be burried by said spam in 1 second. It's easy to miss.

Weird, my game only shows scouting advancements from my traders (all 7 companions). The tactics, medicine and combat when they tussle with someone but never trade advancements (tho they do advance and I've perked them up to 50+).

[Teralitha]

You can buy products a little cheaper usually from the villages direct, then find a town that is paying a higher price and sell there. Prices change pretty quick, and you will have to travel from town to town selling a little here and a little there. The best trade deals ive found are the buying and selling of horses. A good buy price for mules is 50 gold or less. usually on the east side of the map. Then take those mules and sell them on the west side of the map. You can only sell about 50 of them at a time because the price drops. So you just go from town to town, selling about 50 mules at a time. This in my experience, has been the most profitable trade route, and for trade exp.

Once your trade exp goes up enough, you will start to see color codes on the item prices to indicate if its profitable or not.

[AggroXXY]

Originally posted by Teralitha:

You can buy products a little cheaper usually from the villages direct, then find a town that is paying a higher price and sell there. Prices change pretty quick, and you will have to travel from town to town selling a little here and a little there. The best trade deals ive found are the buying and selling of horses. A good buy price for mules is 50 gold or less. usually on the east side of the map. Then take those mules and sell them on the west side of the map. You can only sell about 50 of them at a time because the price drops. So you just go from town to town, selling about 50 mules at a time. This in my experience, has been the most profitable trade route, and for trade exp.

Once your trade exp goes up enough, you will start to see color codes on the item prices to indicate if its profitable or not.

Selling velvet, wool and leather will net you much bigger profits, much quicker.

[AggroXXY]

Originally posted by Teralitha:

You can buy products a little cheaper usually from the villages direct, then find a town that is paying a higher price and sell there. Prices change pretty quick, and you will have to travel from town to town selling a little here and a little there. The best trade deals ive found are the buying and selling of horses. A good buy price for mules is 50 gold or less. usually on the east side of the map. Then take those mules and sell them on the west side of the map. You can only sell about 50 of them at a time because the price drops. So you just go from town to town, selling about 50 mules at a time. This in my experience, has been the most profitable trade route, and for trade exp.

Once your trade exp goes up enough, you will start to see color codes on the item prices to indicate if its profitable or not.

Don't sell all your items in one place. That's how you wreck the economy.

[Ruffio]

Originally posted by AggroXXY:

Originally posted by Teralitha:

You can buy products a little cheaper usually from the villages direct, then find a town that is paying a higher price and sell there. Prices change pretty quick, and you will have to travel from town to town selling a little here and a little there. The best trade deals ive found are the buying and selling of horses. A good buy price for mules is 50 gold or less. usually on the east side of the map. Then take those mules and sell them on the west side of the map. You can only sell about 50 of them at a time because the price drops. So you just go from town to town, selling about 50 mules at a time. This in my experience, has been the most profitable trade route, and for trade exp.

Once your trade exp goes up enough, you will start to see color codes on the item prices to indicate if its profitable or not.

Don't sell all your items in one place. That's how you wreck the economy.

Trading now, vs how it was first year of early access not quite the same. The danger with respond to like a 4 year old post.