Basic Trading Guide
The first thing - there are comprehensive trading guides in the EVE forums under MARKET DISCUSSIONS - scroll down a bit and you will find them.
You will find some sticky essential threads - here is a good one here
http://myeve.eve-online.com/in…p?a=topic&threadID=487360
Read em all and read through the forum posts going back the last month or so -
That's it folks. My job is done.
Ok - okay. More information required right?
1. BUY LOW - SELL HIGH
You will need to acquire stock to sell - you want to place BUY ORDERS to do this.
With BUY ORDERS, you dictate the price you want to pay to buy stuff and everyone has the ability to place BUY ORDERS right from the start.
Let's see, an Example1, BUY AND HAUL
You are visiting relatives in Sovetskya and you notice many pilots are selling their old run-down over-the-hill Shrouds and upgrading them for Laggs. An idea pops into your head!
You offer all the sellers one dollar more than the price they would have got when selling their Shrouds - you wait until you get about 10 of them - then take them all to NY to sell at Tarsus prices +5mill. How much would you make?
Example2, BUY AND HAUL
You set up a buy order in Sigma 17 to buy all code names for 100k each - you will buy upto 100 of them. 10 Million goes out of your account (into something called escrow) to your shopkeeper in Sigma 17 - for business. This cash can be returned to you if you suddenly decide to cancel the order - the money is not lost to you -
After you acquire enough to start a small selling shop, you transport them to NY to sell them for 500k each - how much would you make?
EVE Example 1- no hauling required
As you start playing EVE you notice a lot of people take up mining initially to make cash. You see there are some beginner ships that give bonus's to mining and that in the market screen - there is a 250k gap between the lowest seller and the highest buyer.
Captain Jack is selling his Navitas for 500k and Commodore Privvy wants to buy one for 250k
As Priv is rarely on - you overcut his buying price and offer 251k and lo and behold - you acquire a Navitas for 251k.
You then try and sell that ship for 499k - undercutting Captain Jack who can't get out of Cardiff - and you make a tidy profit - even after you pay the tax. Repeat and rinse until the profit margin becomes too low to get involved in.
AZ's ACTUAL EVE EXAMPLE 1
Basic Miners - everyone needs em to mine at the beginning - I look at the market and notice in my region they are generally on sale for 2,000 ISK and people are buying them for 1 ISK (yes - I do mean 1 ISK) - I ask myself - is there an opportunity here?
I set up a buy order for 2 ISK - to buy 500 of them - within 5 jumps of my present location.
Very quickly they start coming in all over the place - I try and sell em before the other guys realise I am onto their little earner.
I sell the Basic Miners for 1,999 ISK (see below about sell orders) , that I had bought for 2 ISK -
2. SELLING
When you right click and try and sell something - you will automatically be given the best price available - from other traders that have set up buy orders - look closely and you will see an advanced option - use that to set the prices YOU WANT to sell at.
You CAN right-click and sell eveything you want, keep an eye on the indicator that shows whether you are selling below or above the AVERAGE price. If you are about to sell an item for -50% of the average price - think again, you may want to use the ADVANCED options to set your own sell price!!!
3. NOTES AND LESSONS LEARNED
1. There are trade skills that you can develop to reduce the amount of tax you pay and others that allow you greater range when buying and selling. At the beginning you can only place a buy order in the station you are docked. Later on, you can train to place buy orders 20 systems away without even undocking.
2. Many of the trade skills are dependent on Charisma - something that most EVE character guides say you don't need as that doesnt help you fly ships or shoot weapons and misiles. Apparently you dont need a lot of Intelligence to trade.
3. The markets are mostly driven by other players - you are in market pvp with them.
4. Prices will go up and down - expect it.
5. If you set buy orders across many systems (for example within 10 systems) - you may acquire expensive items in low sec space which could be hard to get in and out alive.
6. Items and Ships - Items can be moved around - but most ships will probably be sold where you acquired them.
7. Be careful when you set your prices and before you click on ok/ return - a small mistake with a digital point can be costly
8. Can I tell you what items to trade? Sure - give me 500mil ISK first
9. 10% Rule -
You will rarely make more than 10% on items you trade
If you make 10% profit on your wealth every day - compounded everyday - by the end of the week you will double your money.
10. Trading is a lonely way to play EVE
11. Why Traders LOVE Fighters
We love em - lots of hugs and kisses. Fighters have brains - but it's not kept in their head - you know what I mean?
Fighters love violence and killing things - they have little patience - time thinking is less time for blowing up things.
Four fighters do a hard mission together and loot all their victims - they are loaded with guns, ammo, shields, lots of goodies they looted of their victims. They can sell all their loot for X in that system they are in - or for X+30% 4 systems away - what did they do?
Any questions? Ask on the SWAT forum or PM me.
