How does Auto Trade with Freighters work?

[Schwerlast Pikachu]

So I bought 2 M Freighters and set them to Auto-Trade (Galaxy) but they stay in one system and make only small sales with small profits or bigger ones which most of the time make me lose money. What am I missing here?

[BlueBawlz]

goto information after right clicking ship on nav, then set its functions i sug that you only assian in 1 item as they will spend all your money and make multiple small payout stops. set them to escape on pirates and make sure they have good travel drives

[Tex]

Originally posted by BlueBawlz:

goto information after right clicking ship on nav, then set its functions i sug that you only assian in 1 item as they will spend all your money and make multiple small payout stops. set them to escape on pirates and make sure they have good travel drives

What do you suggest to buy and sell?

Also one of the major problems is that you cannot auto trade without a level 3 star captain and its completely random whether you get one when you buy a ship.