Trading goods - Is it really worth it?

[Kaesar Sm]

Is it really any financial and gametime-wise point in buying and trading the different goods(mostly unique from map to map) like copper, silver, wood planks and similar?
I would love to be able to actually see a profit to have a secondary income while doing quests and make it more valuable and cost-efficient to travel between cities and villages. Also would like to make more money from batte-accquired weapons&armor.

As I see it, even on beginner settings trading does not make a profit while paying my mercs in between travelling from village&cities to other locations on the map.
This making it alot harder and tedious to make and save up money for better and more durable equipment so I can actually become more able to beat enemies and accomplish quests.

I am grateful for and appreciate all answers, thoughts, insight and advice from you guys :)

[Vertibird]

for max profit buy trade goods from villages with allied reputation, sell to citadels with ambushed trade routes.

[Eriktion]

I mostly do it in the early-mid game ... heck Id even buy stuff like cheese / wine if the price is good and sell it with profit

I wouldnt buy trade goods if I really badly need armor / weapons

[Kernest]

Trading obviously makes a profit if you take goods bought at below market value from a friendly location and then sell at a larger settlement, even if there's no event going on even further jacking up the prices in your favour, such as ambushed trade routes as Vertibird mentioned.


What trading goods don't do, is pay for themselves if you're trying to make a profit simply by transporting them. You don't buy at a location and then travel to a different location to sell off the trading goods you bought, you buy the goods and then you sell them off when your travels happen to take you to a place where you get a better price for them.

You can also buy & sell food similarly for profit, though there the price is dependent on how fresh the food is, so you should only buy if there's an event going on (such as hunting season) or if you know that next up you're going to a citadel or a large city that doesn't have that food normally available.

[thebadman]

It is, you can sell for 140% value on relations alone, not to mention events.

[Alaskan Moose]

oh yeah it is,

[aardvarkpepper]

Originally posted by Kernest:

You don't buy at a location and then travel to a different location to sell off the trading goods you bought, you buy the goods and then you sell them off when your travels happen to take you to a place where you get a better price for them.

this

[zAcEz]

A tip I use to see the value would be to look at an item worth 100g in my inventory.

Non trade goods always sell at a fraction of its worth but the %value is the same across other items during that visit.
Likewise, for trade goods, u can sell them anywhere from 80~140% and is the same unless a town produces that good.

<15 is for clearing junk while >19 is worth selling. 15~19 I decide based on how much inventory space I have free.
I apply this to my T2 & T3 gear to maximise profit on armor & weapons.

[Blazing]

From my experience, there's nearly always a big harbot city that sells amber. I tend to increase the reputation with that city and it gives me a good price for trade goods that I buy at or a little bit above average value.

[Admiral Obvious]

If you have a map which has a castle on a harbor, or other types of port, you can (ab)use the fact that ships travel instantly to locations (not sure when that was changed, nor why).

For example, I had a castle preparing a feast. It also had a job for caravan escort, so I went and used the ships to go to all the villages on the map with not inflated prices, then bought ALL their food, and then used the boats to instantly deliver, fresh, full stacks of food, as well as my bands personal supply. I nearly tripled what I spent.

Trade goods themselves are useful if you do it right. Like, wood planks can give you double their value in a village with a rebuilding effort. Other more mundane resources, like amber shards are harder, since they seem to be biome based.

[Grigsey]

Generally: Make note of places you quest from frequently and what they sell, what type of town. Ideally, a good village w/ 2 or more resources, a trade town as a selling/buying different goods , and a citadel to sell at eveything at if stuff takes you that way or got a ton of goods for cheap at the trade town.

You want good rep w/ the people and the house to make it worth it.

Everytime you go that way, pick up stuff, sell it, exploit events as needed. Keep an eye out for tavern rumor of see my buddy at the market for good deals in the trade town (or village if they happen to have a tavern). Don't focus solely on it, just make it part of what you are doing anyways.

If there is a place you can get grain/bread at good prices and notice a famine somewhere else you can make a surprisingly large amount of money for a low investment when that situation comes up.

Basically, be an opprotunist and you'll have more than enough money to buy cool stuff like famed items and recruit awesome tier bros.

[Stal Hamarr]

If the city where you sell stuff has ambushed trade routes, don't take their quest to clear brigands from site XX.
Ambushed trade routes mean higher prices when you sell stuff and if you leave the brigands alone, they keep the status active.

Big harbor city with allied relations and ambushed trade routes mean VERY high prices when you sell stuff. This applies to everything, so stash all the trade goods and treasure items from sites, repair all the looted t2 weapons and sell everything at that city.

[WastedTrojan]

Certain trade goods are extremely valuable and others just give a small amount of income. If you can get allied reputation with a small town that sells dyes, you can buy them for ~300 and then sell them for ~525 at a citadel. Gems are the most valuable trade resource, but you can also get good profits from salt, copper, amber and dyes. Lumber is bit less profitable and the worst is peat. EDIT: I just found that if a city is rebuilding they will buy lumber for high prices. Big harbor city at friendly offering 375 per lumber, which I can buy for 175.

Im currently playing on a seed that starts in a small village with dyes, next to a small village with salt next to a citadel. Got to allied with both towns and I can buy dyes, buy salt and sell at the citadel for ~1000 gold in profits in less than day of travel and im not even friendly with the citadel yet. veteran economic difficulty if that makes any difference in trading.

[Tephros83]

Originally posted by Kaesar Sm:

Is it really any financial and gametime-wise point in buying and trading the different goods(mostly unique from map to map) like copper, silver, wood planks and similar?
I would love to be able to actually see a profit to have a secondary income while doing quests and make it more valuable and cost-efficient to travel between cities and villages. Also would like to make more money from batte-accquired weapons&armor.

As I see it, even on beginner settings trading does not make a profit while paying my mercs in between travelling from village&cities to other locations on the map.
This making it alot harder and tedious to make and save up money for better and more durable equipment so I can actually become more able to beat enemies and accomplish quests.

I am grateful for and appreciate all answers, thoughts, insight and advice from you guys :)

I only do convenient, incidental trading because it's boring. Profit? Yes. Impactful? Only early on. A place is selling peat for cheap and I'm about to go to a city that will pay well for it.

Most profit is repairing weapons I don't need and selling them at citadels or big cities. If the selling price of the weapon exceeds its durability points, it's worth repairing to sell as long as buying tools for less than 300. Orc weapons do well. Buy tools at small forts and places with workshops.

[thebadman]

Workshops, armorsmiths and armoers to be specific. They all produce cheap tools, workshops even cheaper just like healer grove produces cheaper medicine than temples or arrow maker sheds and fletchers.