Best first stations for Profit?

[Aladine]

What are the first best stations or even the best stations to setup for making some CA$H?!

[BellatorMonk]

Silicon Chips

[Aladine]

So I just spent a lot of time getting this running, It does not seem to be more profitable than running mining ships that auto mine and sell.

[Malkuth]

It’s hard to tell someone what works best in there play through. The economy is dynamic and is not the same for everyone.

What you should of done is find out what in your economy is so far behind in orders (IE needs) that when you build a station you will never have stock. Eventually it will even out again etc.

[ImHelping]

I've been a combination of sick, procrastinating, and multitasking (X4 + DnD with friends ULTIMATE NERD SHAME) so I've yet to BUILD one.

That said, while the product is not worth much, Spice factory seems like a safe bet for a product that won't stagnate AND is easy for a player to start making.

It's not dirt easy to make like energy cells and water. But it only NEEDS E cells and water to make.

The secondary reason for this, is it will make it faster for you to start selling your own drugs later. With hopeful bonus of getting pirate drug lords to come to you for those sweet bargains if the AI is smart enough.

When it comes to food and drugs.medical supplies. Spice is used for eeeeeeeverything (Except Spacefuel. Which is just water+wheat anyway).

This is all guesswork though.

[Franstastic]

The best thing you can make is claytronics so make the things you need to produce claytronics then later on just fuel claytronics factories

[ImHelping]

Originally posted by Franstastic:

The best thing you can make is claytronics so make the things you need to produce claytronics then later on just fuel claytronics factories

This reminds me of one of the things I'm still hazy on about the economy.

How do you actually learn (in game) what is actually USING end products like claytronics?

Because as far as the encylopedia is concerned. They are used for nothing.

I mean, you can GUESS they are used in some aspect of shipbuilding, like "shield components" the encyclopedia has no 'used to craft' listing. But what's the practical method of which to determing (again, in game) what claytronics, antimatter converters, etc, are actually being used for.

No, no. Not "But the trade data says they are bought at-". That's a pricetag. What are they USED for. What consumes them?

This is basic economics here. because it can be the most expensive item in the universe, that won't matter if nobody is using it up.

In my current save, none of the wharfs, shipyards, or equipment docks under sattellite surveliance is buying claytronics. While trading stations are "buying" them at 3 dot "large volume"... for 1 credit less than they are selling them. and notably under it's "average price" at that. (5.3k out of 6.2k storage according to one station's data).

Then again. Spice sales have also seemed to have stagnated despite having a known consumable for such popular hits as Spaceweed and medical supplies. So much for my previous idea?

[Drakan]

Energy cells. Best first station :) Lowest cost to build - always in demand.
Best profitable station period? Who knows - game economy changes, plus updates are still balancing economy / factions / war.

[cyron43]

Originally posted by Franstastic:

The best thing you can make is claytronics so make the things you need to produce claytronics then later on just fuel claytronics factories

Sorry but that's not true. THEORETICALLY claytronics makes the highest profit per hour (979,000) BUT it has a production cycle of 15 minutes with just 480 units per hour. Also there is almost no demand for claytronics (just take a look at the trade offers in the map).
Surprisingly SILICON WAFERS are a safe bet. It makes about 718,000/h (which is not much less than claytronics) with 2400 units/h at a 3 minutes production cycle. There is always high demand for silicon wafers as they are used for many other products. Add to this you don't have to build a long factory line in order to produce everything you need for claytronics. Thats's a huge investment for claytronics and the ROI is ridiculous, even more when you take the low demand into account. So it takes a looong time for the break even and only after that you really start to EARN money (if ever)!
Silicon wafers are the way to go since all we need is two m-class mining ships (preferably Drill vanguard because this type is the best compromise between load capacity and speed), an S-size solid storage, an S-size container storage and the production module (basic modules like docking bay are self-explanatory).
Source: http://www.x4-game.com/#/wares

[Xero]

So far, I've been having good luck with spacefuel. Though I could see microchips being a good item as well.

[cyron43]

Originally posted by Xero:

So far, I've been having good luck with spacefuel. Though I could see microchips being a good item as well.

Been there, done that. It wasn't a good choice. Look here: http://www.x4-game.com/#/wares/microchips
You can make about 63% more with silicon wafers.

[Gregorovitch]

The simplest early banker cash cow is smart chips. There is a colossal demand for them and they are easy and cheap to get up and running - just a silicon refinery and some smart chip fabs.

After that it really depends on the economic situation in your own game, which stations are producing what where. Consult the trade overlay and use filters.

A few rules of thumb:

1. As far as the products demanded by shipyards and warfs etc in large quantities, hull plates, engine parts and so on, you cannot rely on sustained demand over time for every product. Demand ebbs and flows. But they are high value and very profitable. Therefore it is best to set up a complex to make lots of different products in smaller quantities to start with, not all eggs in one basket (smart chips are the exception). Station traders do well shifting full loads of such products for best prices.

2. Many other products are only bought in small consignments by many factories. Food for example, and microchips. Station traders only do one deal at a time rather than fill up the hold and trek round a load of customers. Which is inefficient so if you make this type of product you will be reliant on NPC traders calling at your station which they will only do if your price is ultra-competitive and they can find you easily. For this reason it's worth paying through the nose for a good plot by a highway to make such stuff. The same logic applies to tech wares like quantum tubes and microchips.

3. Exceptions to 2 are refined metals, silicon wafers, meat (or species equivalent) and such. Intermediate products that are demanded in large quantities by certain stations such as hull plates and food rations factories. You will face stiff competition for these products but you have the advantage that your station traders can deliver in quantity at distance for the best deals.

[Xautos]

Posting gap between replies #7 and #8 is more than 90 days of inactivity, so it's a necro and locked for that reason.

If you wish to post a new thread about what station can make the most first time out, you can start another.