Finding out Where to sell trade goods is frustrating.

[maestro]

So, I've been "blessed" by a settlement that produces De-Scented Pheromone Bottles.

And every now and then I return to the settlement, to find that there's 100 of these bottles waiting for pickup.

So, I pick them up and I can never remember where TF I'm supposed to sell them, and today, I look through the list of stations...

It says its a "Scientific" Item. Don't get why or how that is, but whatever.

So I start warping places...

Industrial economy? "Local trade goods." (like, seriously, wtf?)
Manufacturing economy? "Local trade goods." (um... ok?)
Technology economy? "Local trade goods."

I tried like 6-8 different economies and they all say "local trade goods" and have anywhere from -20% to -70% price on them until FINALLY I found one.

There really needs to be a better way to figure out where to sell stuff in the game, to be honest. The tooltips of SOME items will tell you, but yet not other items. And some of these items make no sense, like how is a "scientific" item also the local trade goods of a manufacturing economy? Or Industrial, for that matter?

The whole system in general just seems like it was just thrown together with little thought, and not much UI support to tell the player how it actually works.

[Raven]

I just take them to the local station and sell them..I look on them as 'found goods', in that they cost me nothing to produce them so the sell price is irrelevant. (Forget about the time/materials you put into building the Settlement. you did it for the greater good).

[Jaggid Edje]

It is very straight forward after you do figure it out, which may be why the game doesn't do a better job of guiding you. It's entirely based on the economy type of the system in terms of what goods they give good prices for both buying and selling, and the economy level determines the volumes.

For "Scientific" goods, regardless of types, the best place to sell them is always Trading economies. And it works that way for all of the economy types, the materials from a specific economy type will always sell best at another specific economy type, regardless of the actual item.

There are 2 seperate trade loops for leveraging the prices as a result, and only two:

Trading -> Advanced Materials -> Scientific -> <back to Trading>

Mining -> Manufacturing -> Technology -> Power Generation -> <back to Mining>

[UncreativelyNamed]

I agree that the "being a merchant" system (and the in-game economy in general) is a mess, and as a fan of 4x games, that's disappointing to me. It's one of those things that's a good idea but rather horribly executed. I started to document the "specialty" of each system that I visited on the ol' Massive Spreadsheet of Madness, along with what each system sold/wanted and for what prices, thinking I'd set up some epic trade routes where I'd buy low in some places and sell high in others. But, it just got really confusing and didn't seem worth the time, especially when I started to care less about money, anyway. However, that was more when I first started playing, and now that I know more, I might try again in a save, just to see if I can set up what I was envisioning before.

But, however you do it, if you want to do a regular trade route or if you just want to find a good/the best place to sell your bottles, I think you're going to have to do a lot of system-visiting and, if you want to set up trade routes, a lot of careful note-keeping and then figuring out what to hit in what order to maximize profits. But, I have a sneaking suspicion that the sold/wanted items might change periodically. It's been a while, so I don't clearly recall, but I sort of remember noticing that when I was initially trying to set up a trade route. If I'm remembering right, then trade routes or just trying to maximize profits on the item your settlement sells might just be fruitless. So I hope I'm wrong.

[Geldric™]

The information @Jaggid posted can also be found on this wiki page: https://nomanssky.fandom.com/wiki/Trade_route

In addition to @UncreativelyNamed posted - I use the Steam Client NOTES feature to keep track of which systems/route I visit.

If you really want to "do this" then placing a base (w/Teleporter) at Trade Outposts can help with the buying part(1). I haven't tracked the NPC ship landings at the Station since the Orbital update so I don't know if it has changed significantly.

(1) often times you will complete your trade loop before the station has had time to replenish so a quick trip to a Trade Outpost can bolster your purchases.

[Mercenary-V]

There are 2 trade loops (1>2>3>4 and A>B>C) where buy goods in system 1 and sell in system 2 and say buy in B and sell in C.

The easiest way to remember what comes after what; are the colours on the galaxy map, assuming you have an Economy Scanner.
1. NROY = Neon (blue) > Red > Orange > Yellow and back to Neon
2. GPB = Green > Purple > Blue and back to green

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/nomanssky_gamepedia/images/6/64/Trade_loops_for_no_mans_sky.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20230209202215

Another way is to save this image to your phone and check the ICONS of the system in the galaxy map.

As regards to your original problem I see 2 solutions.
1. If inventory is NOT a problem then keep the goods in your inventory. as you play the game and go-to new systems; check the prices and if profitable, sell. make it incidental to your gameplay not its purpose. if your settlement is making the same goods then maybe you can build a base in the system with maximum profit.
2. do as @russel says: consider the goods as found and sell them - whatever you get is your profit. this is what i do.

Kinda Off Topic: The game has toooooooooo many names for the same thing. A Tier 3 economy can be booming, advanced, wealthy, affluent, succulent, ebullient, jubilant...you get the picture. Same way those portal glyps should've been numbers. In a bid to be cute they overdid it.

[wkitty42]

FWIW: i read the item's description... if it says it is "scientific" i look on my teleport Space Stations for "Science" economy and teleport there... if they don't want it, then i look for another "Science" economy and try there... the hardest part is figuring out the economy icons and remembering what they mean so you can match the item you are selling to them...

i haven't decided if 3star or 1star is "better" but then the question is are we selling or buying? in the case, we're talking about selling which is the POV i use here... if one is "better", how is it "better"... 1star don't have as much $$$ but their want/need level should be "high" but i have no "range of values" to offer or work with... 3star will have more $$$ but their want/need level may not be so high... then again, $$$ are basically unlimited in NMS from an economy POV...

idk... i mostly play without all kinds of planning like i used to do back in the days of BBSes and online space games like TradeWars 2000... if i can sell for more than i paid, sure... profit is profit... do i have a spreadsheet keeping up with the buy/sell amounts and profits/losses? no... if the game kept up with it automatically, i'd use it but otherwise, meh...

anyway, my main point is use the teleport... almost all the info you need is in the icons for the Space Stations... economy and stars... plus it is much faster and cheaper for travel... be sure what you are trading will fit in your suit, ship, and/or freighter inventories and that you have the matter transporters installed...

[DrBonifarz]

It really is not that terribly difficult:

The description of trade goods tells you in which economy type it was produced and which economy type has high demand for it. As stated above, the wiki summarizes the economy types and trade routes well (mnemonic: ITEM-CAR, symbols in this order: Gears, Chip, Battery, Pickaxe, Clock, Helix, Flask)

Economy tier determines the stock available for purchase (among other things, like the class distribution of ships). But it has no impact on prices or margins.

Buy and sell factors (visible with economy scanner) indicate an average price level, which applies to trade goods only (not to raw materials, suppies etc).

Originally posted by Interceptor:

Same way those portal glyps should've been numbers. In a bid to be cute they overdid it.

They quite literally are, the game emphasizes their numeric values multiple times. When entering a portal adress, you can just enter the (hex) sequence via the glyph positions without even looking at the symbols. But wouldn't it be terribly boring without the symbols :D

[maestro]

Originally posted by DrBonifarz:

It really is not that terribly difficult:

The description of trade goods tells you in which economy type it was produced and which economy type has high demand for it. As stated above, the wiki summarizes the economy types and trade routes well (mnemonic: ITEM-CAR, symbols in this order: Gears, Chip, Battery, Pickaxe, Clock, Helix, Flask)

No.

It.

Doesn't.

https://nomanssky.fandom.com/wiki/De-Scented_Bottles?so=search

Nowhere does it say where to sell these (in the in-game tooltip, I mean). Make sure you're looking at the tooltip on the left, as the one on the right is old.

Tried linking JUST the in-game tooltip box, but apparently the wiki is stupid about direct linking pics. Hate websites that do that stupid BS.

Now that said, I have seen other trade goods that DO say what systems demand them, and that's nice and all, but not all of them do (like this one).

[Jaggid Edje]

Originally posted by maestro:

Now that said, I have seen other trade goods that DO say what systems demand them, and that's nice and all, but not all of them do (like this one).

Yep, some do and some don't. It's very inconsistent. You are 100% correct.

[Mr. Bufferlow]

Unfortunately, the game does not have a frugal mode to go along with Survival and Permadeath. It never makes sense to me to do the trading option in the game because credits come so quick and easy no matter what you do.

I do use the save editor to change my settlement output to something useful. At least for me, I never get anything useful provided by the game RNG. I usually go with Tritium and Oxy since those are always helpful and grindy to pick up during exploring.

I guess a player could create some self-imposed rules to delete items rather than sell them to create a frugal mode. Not sure it would work out since scanning alone is pretty OP for earning credits. I really enjoy the exploring/scanning aspect of the game so it would not be fun for me to stick with the basic scanning options that keep the value earned down.

[DrBonifarz]

Originally posted by maestro:

Nowhere does it say where to sell these (in the in-game tooltip, I mean). Make sure you're looking at the tooltip on the left, as the one on the right is old.

I just checked again in-game, and it looks like this.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561199112240052/screenshot/2520401666561742982/
The wiki misses the purple color hint in the description text. In all of those item descriptions, the relevant economy type is shown in purple, like the commercial or trading economy here (as already answered by Jaggid Edje).
Note that there are also trading goods that are not tied to any economy type.

[Johnny in the Clouds]

Trading is relatively simple. Each trade item hints in the pop up information on the item, what type of trade item it is and where to sell it, at which type of trade economy.

On the Discoveries page every system with an inhabited space station has an economy badge, a conflict badge and a race badge. The economy badge indicates what kind it is like Energy, Mining, Industrial, Trade, Advanced, scientific.

Trade badges [nomanssky.fandom.com]are below and various linked economy goods will use similar icons:

Energy = Battery power Icon
Mining = Pick axe icon
Industrial Manufacturing = Cog Wheel
Trade = Pocket Watch icon

Technology = Micro Chip icon
Advanced materials = DNA chemical icon
Scientific = Chemist's Flask icon

The same badges, smaller versions, can be seen printed on the space station images listed at any teleporter. The quickest way to buy and sell from space stations (without using an owned freighter) is to teleport back and forth to the correct space station buying and selling. Collecting and selling as you go.

If you own a freighter then buying and selling can be done entirely onboard the freighter with a trade terminal and teleporter installed, which is a lot of fun as you can use the bridge also to select the galaxy map to travel to new systems. It curiously adds another fun dimension of immersion to the game to trade this way.

The galaxy map also displays the same badges. With the economy scanner installed on either ship or freighter (and usefully a conflict scanner), it is easy to choose the matching economy type for any trade good needed to be sold for high prices. The actual pricing is also hinted at in the economy scanner information on the galaxy map. Buy low and sell high (often very high making millions).

Using a freighter millions can be made very quickly just buying and selling goods, hopping from one economy to the next or looping back and forth between favourite syatems, all from the comfort of your freighter listening to the byte beat machine as you 'work' :).

There is also a very simple two word mnemonic to remembering which economy is matched with the next, while buying and selling.

'E M I T' and ' T A S ' (remember the word EMITTAS)
Each letter recalls the economy type of bought goods and each adjacent following letter, the matched economy type to sell the purchased goods to. (recall also the item information pop up, that explains which economy items are best sold to)

Like this:

E (Energy)
M (Mining)
I (industrial)
T (Trade or industrial trade)

and

T (Trade or advanced trade)
A (Advanced)
S (scientific)

EMIT - Simply loop from one to another, Energy to Mining to Industrial to Trade and back to Energy again and so on.

TAS - loop from station to station with the second mnemonic Trade to Advanced to Scientific and back to Trade and so on.

Checking the system economy badge icon and 'chanting' the mnemonic 'EMITTAS' quietly out of earshot of any nearby Gek, simply loop from one station to the next, buying up and selling on the goods to make am endless amount of money.

Energy to mining.
Mining to Industrial
Industrial to Trade (manufacturing)
Trdae back to Energy
Repeat : D

It can be easy to misread visual icons but stick with it and use the two word mnemonic EMIT TAS (note there are 2 Trade types like manufacturing and advanced)

Where confusion can arise is not realising that some trade economies may be labelled with variant names like manufacturing similar to industrial etc but will always fall under the main seven EMITTAS economy types and the same economy badge icons.

For a game like No Man's Sky the economy system is actually quite fun without being overly complex. It's a game after all and of course selling items to any trade terminal is absolutely fine, still making millions but far slower.

The best thing is not sell at all...store the items (in freighter storage) ready to sell later when full. That leaves more time to play the game doing other things if trading is not important and only done occasionally. That approach means less visits to stations and can give more units in return, selling to the matched economies all at once.

Note: Selling piecemeal (in small amounts) to the same system the items price will drop so not as much money will be made. It's best to sell a lot of the same item in one go and move on to another station. Store stuff until you have no room and need to sell.