best place to trade

[davbenbak]

I've found trading is more important in the late game after everything safe has been scavanged and I'm making alcohol and cigerettes. Who gives the best trades, the church, center of town, hospital, garage, guy who comes to the door?

[Brick Slayer]

Every trader prefers a certain kind of item will give you more or less for what you offer him. Some traders I know of: The guy at the garage gives you tons of good stuff for medicine but basically nothing for materials, the guys at the army outpost will give you tons for alcohol and cigs but nothing for weapons that you bring on for example

[davbenbak]

I didn't think the military base they gave me that great a deal but I could be wrong. They didn't have much to trade

[Doraemon]

Garage is definitely the best place if you have meds. The Square is not a good place for me. Franko is better than the priest in church but the latter is always there and you can go any time you want.
People like trading alcohol and cigs but I find that trading bullets actually can gain a a lot.

[SpectatorBehold]

The garage is defintively the best one since it has tools like the Sawblade and Hatchet. It even has a few electrical parts, which Franko will never carry in his inventory and can be a rare commodity that you will need to build some of the more advanced stuff at the shelter, carried by few other traders. Only downside is that what the guy there want is medical supplies, which you may well need more yourself. Other than that, can't really say I find any other trader more preferable than any other... I do trade with Father Olek and the guy at the hotel, but that's only as long as I can find wood on-site there and trade it with them. The trader at the Semi-Detatched House isn't very good from what he hear, but I do think I recall seeing electrical parts in his inventory, so that could be a reason to trade with him. The doctor at the hospital doesn't have much goods to offer, so it is not really recommneded to trader with him - through he does offer tools (Shovel and Crowbar, I think) so if you're out of resources to craft one yourself, could be worth trading with him for those. The guy at the military outpost offers food, weapons and ammo, so he's not a bad choice if you're in need of these. The market square... I don't use it too often, but there's a trader that will occassionally sell things such as broken guitars, broken helmets and broken vests, so if you need those, a visit to the market is good. It should also be said that other traders are not guaranteed to be carrying the supplies you needin their inventory, but at the marketplace, you're guaranteed or almost guaranteed to find the supplies you need... That's pretty much it, I think.

[Rabbit CoCo]

Originally posted by davbenbak:

I didn't think the military base they gave me that great a deal but I could be wrong. They didn't have much to trade

They perfer alcohol and cigs.

[brown29knight]

It all depends on what you have, and what you want to get.

The Military base will trade extra for alcohol and cigs, and has a reliable supply of canned food, pure water, bullets, weapon parts, and guns. Good for keeping your water supply up, getting canned food for the kids that randomly stop by, getting cheap bullets to trade with other merchants, or getting weapon parts to make sawblades/axes/and repair broken guns. The most useful thing there, in my opinion, is the pure water, as you need a steady supply for food, vegitables, herbs, and alcohol production.

The Garage trades well for meds, herbal meds, and bandages, and has a supply of components, parts, electrical parts, and tools. (shovel, crowbar, sawblades, hatchet) Early game this is useful for getting tools before you can make them, and getting parts for traps and electrical components. Late game, you'll likely be using him as a steady source of components, for water filters, and cig/bandage making. It is also worth mentioning that the first time you trade him what he wants, you get a morale boost, as you are "helping someone in need" If you do not NEED what he offers, it may be worth waiting to trade with him to help keep your people happy.

The Semi-detached house and brothel traders have a varied stock, but both rip you off in trade value. Not worth it, unless you NEED something specific, and they still may not have what you go there looking for. Both of these are best used while looting their respective areas to tailor you haul to be a bit more of what you want.

The Hospital is less of a trade, and more a way to boost morale. Trade them meds or bandages to make your people happy.

The church needs food to feed the people there, so seems to pay a bit more for it, and often has wood and components available. Not a trade you want to do often, but it can be useful.

The market square has a little bit of everything, but the prices are not the best. This is the place to go when you absolutely must have food/meds/bandages, no matter the cost. If you are doing well, you'll likely want to avoid going here.

The guy at the door (Franko) is my personal favorite trader. Why? Because he has a good selection of stuff at fair prices, but mostly because he does not force you to go to him at night. this means inventory space is not an issue, you can both sell and buy far more than anyone can carry. (just how does Franko do it?) that said, what he'll pay more or less for varies based on shortages. Listen to the raido to hear what is in demand, he'll pay more for those things (and charge more too)

Late game, I usually need a ton of components and water to keep my food and trade goods production high. Therefore I'm heading to the garage for components, the military base for water and ammo, trading both water and components from Franko, as well as tobbacco sugar and herbs, (trading him the bullets I got at the base) and repeating as long as my trade goods hold up.