How to make profit via trading?

[Gork]

Title.

[Sumarlithi]

Talk to the Merchants in towns to find good deals. Or find a town with lots of something then by it cheaply(it goes up in price the less are there) and find a town with non or few of that item and sell it make sure it's better than the price you paid.

[Gork]

Originally posted by les:

Talk to the Merchants in towns to find good deals. Or find a town with lots of something then by it cheaply(it goes up in price the less are there) and find a town with non or few of that item and sell it make sure it's better than the price you paid.

The problem is i don't know if something is cheap. I might be buying something actually expensive with no guarantee of making a profit at next town etc.

[Sumarlithi]

Look around for prices also there should be an option in the trade menu for finding what will be profitable. And again if there is a lot of something buy some and find a town with non or little. Good tip jot down what you bought thge good for somewhere.

[Gork]

Originally posted by les:

Look around for prices also there should be an option in the trade menu for finding what will be profitable. And again if there is a lot of something buy some and find a town with non or little. Good tip jot down what you bought thge good for somewhere.

Thanks! Just tested this and i've been profiting. :)

[White Knight]

First you need to understand the marketplace. Diving in like a fool will get you burned...just like in real life.

In fact, put it in "real" terms and it will all make better sense. Walk around and stop into every marketplace you find. Villages and towns alike. It should't take you very long to understand that prices vary from place to place and time to time.

Don't trade in perishable goods because your army will literally eat your profits and stuff spoils on the road. Go for things like iron, salt, silks, dyes, spice, oil, etc. You'll find out where the highest prices are offered and where to go for the lowest prices too.

Let's take Tulga as an example (assuming you are playing Warband), you can get spices for 300 denars, maybe even less. Take the spice to the coast on the other side of the map and you won't have any trouble selling each unit for 1,000 or more.

Salt is a trade item at the other end of the spectrum but it is a solid producer of small, yet reliable profits. You can pick it up very cheap, like under 100 gold and then sell it for 300 without even having to travel very far. Tripling your investment in a matter of hours is good business.

More inventory space means more potential profits. More trade goods means more weight which will slow you down on the world map. Having extra horses (one for six inventory slots is a good rule of thumb) will help offset the movement penalties from bulky cargo.

Skill points in trade will save you a little gold with every transaction. If you want to be the best swordmaster in the shortest amount of time, then spending your skill points on trade or inventory management would be silly. If you are interested in making more money as a trader, then not doing so is just as bad.

Approach trading as a lifestyle choice and you will profit, treat it like a get-rich-quick scheme and you might get yourself into trouble. Buy up the deals as you find them and sell them off when you find the right buyer. Store your goods in a castle and wait for the best deals if you need to. Be cautious when buying or selling because the unit prices change with every purchase. Typically, you can only sell a few items at any one market before the price drops too low - just go to the next place and sell a bit more.

Ideally, you have enough space in your inventory to load up on valuable goods while still having room for the stuff you pick up off the battlefields. Trading is something that happens in the background while you are doing everything else. I feel confident when I have a variety of goods in my inventory. That way, I can take advantage of the best deals whether they come from villages or towns, etc. Stopping in to check also allows me to find the best deals so I can pick up sweet deals in all of those places as well.

Dealing with villages can be difficult because they don't have any money to start out. By buying items from them, you put a bit of gold in their pockets. Later, you can get that gold back by selling them stuff at massive profits...you just have to be careful. Villages will rip you off if you aren't careful because their prices are volatile. A clever trader can take advantage and profit from that volatility. An unwise trader could easily wind up with 800 denar iron (that's not good btw).

Four simple words could replace everything I just wrote, "buy low, sell high" - it really is that simple.

Also, it's worth pointing out that having good relations with the people you do business with will get you better deals.