Elite: Dangerous. I broke down.

[republic]

Am I the only KJ losing money?

I think the plan needs to be - don't pick up stuff floating in space. Basically, you're marked as wanted with a fine because you "stole" it - which doesn't really seem right.

I picked up some military plans and lost 3k on those and just recently I left a station and found a load of "white squares"...turned out to be Tea and Coffee. I thought "Ohhh...free money". Nope. Stolen and a 10k fine. Worst thing is, where I am, I can't even find anywhere that'll buy them. I've landed at a couple of Outposts (I thought they would be wanting things like Tea and Coffee) and my cargo isn't showing in the commodities window.  :'(

Seems the auld saying is true in the future and space - you don't get something for nothing.

On a side note about this - I'm not happy that "finding" lore about should mean you stole it. But then that's because I'm feeling hard done by just now. In the last hour I've went from 30k to 20k  :'(

What a w****r  8)

What system are you near?  Have you tried the trading tools?  (http://elitetradingtool.co.uk/)  If you click on Find Trades and put in your current system and click search it'll have a big list of available trades and the profit per ton.

For example, I'm near system Ualapalor and these are my results:



You can sort by most profit or shortest trade route.  Depending on your FSD you might be more profitable with a shorter and less profit per ton route because you can do it faster.

So today I can buy Beryllium from Tau Ophiuchii, station Robson Hub at 7621 and sell ti in Zaragas, station Jenner hub at 9000 for a profit of 1379 per ton.  Then I can turn around and buy Resonating Seperators from that station for 5651 and sell it back to the first station for 6606 for a profit of 955 per ton.  Each trip total gets me 2334 per ton.

[JudgeDredd]

UCG put me off using tools like that.

Just went another 2300cr down. Decided to stay clean and go mining. I can't find gold, Palladium or Platinum anywhere, so I just thought "Sod it - I'll do it the long, slow, hard way". Went to a rock formation to pull out some metals.

Started mining. Got 99% of Rudite(?) and the rock was dry. Went to another and was getting 2 other types of metal. As I only have one refinery, I couldn't extract those metals. So I went to another rock...same thing...then started seeing smoke from the dash...before I knew it, I was 400% and my hull was at 20%...then BAM!

I seriously suck at this game. I really do. I don't understand why all this shite is happening to me - but the game is seriously fighting me. Of course I'm not suggesting the game has something against me...but it's kicking me in the baws everytime I fire it up.

Bored and going racing at Albert Park 

[JudgeDredd]

Thanks republic. I have seen you post that link before, but when I've used it, this is often the result I see

[undercovergeek]

Yeah - thanks both.

I think I'll stay away from the BM stuff. It's way too easy to get scanned and the hit is pretty big.

I'm turning to generic missions. Picking up dropped goods or dealing with BM stuff just is not worth it

Trade all naughty stuff at the outposts..... No security there

Mikeck..... Some planets have their own rare goods like Lavian brandy youre not allowed a lot but the further you take them the more profit you earn.... Afaik people take them to the furthest planet selling their own rares and then take those back and so on

In gamma they weren't rare as in numerical but it's been nerfed now but still very profitable

[republic]

Thanks republic. I have seen you post that link before, but when I've used it, this is often the result I see

For some areas you have to either increase the distance or reduce the default profit per ton.  Here's some trades you can do there:



I would definitely try that bottom one, you could luck out with only 1 jump inbetween your two stations making for some very quick profit!

[JudgeDredd]

Thanks republic. I have seen you post that link before, but when I've used it, this is often the result I see

For some areas you have to either increase the distance or reduce the default profit per ton.  Here's some trades you can do there:



I would definitely try that bottom one, you could luck out with only 1 jump inbetween your two stations making for some very quick profit!

I used it again - this time from where I am now - Granthaimi, but this thing gave me trade like lots and LOTS of systems away. Also - the trade it was suggesting had a lot of jumps - I mean, A LOT - between the source and the delivery. One such one was between Amarak and Suchagga...you need to look at where those two are in relation to each other and how far away Amarak is away from Granthaimi - that kind of trade (earning me 2249cr profit) would likely cost me that in fuel...not to mention the number of evasions I'd have to do with twats trying to pull me out of FSD mode

[republic]

I used it again - this time from where I am now - Granthaimi, but this thing gave me trade like lots and LOTS of systems away. Also - the trade it was suggesting had a lot of jumps - I mean, A LOT - between the source and the delivery. One such one was between Amarak and Suchagga...you need to look at where those two are in relation to each other and how far away Amarak is away from Granthaimi - that kind of trade (earning me 2249cr profit) would likely cost me that in fuel...not to mention the number of evasions I'd have to do with twats trying to pull me out of FSD mode

Remember the profit is per ton.  So if you have a Hauler fully fitted for cargo (22 tons total) that would be $49,478 per round trip.

[JudgeDredd]

I used it again - this time from where I am now - Granthaimi, but this thing gave me trade like lots and LOTS of systems away. Also - the trade it was suggesting had a lot of jumps - I mean, A LOT - between the source and the delivery. One such one was between Amarak and Suchagga...you need to look at where those two are in relation to each other and how far away Amarak is away from Granthaimi - that kind of trade (earning me 2249cr profit) would likely cost me that in fuel...not to mention the number of evasions I'd have to do with twats trying to pull me out of FSD mode

Remember the profit is per ton.  So if you have a Hauler fully fitted for cargo (22 tons total) that would be $49,478 per round trip.

mmm. Thanks - I didn't know that but still...it's a hell of a journey!

I did use a tool in BETA that was bloody good - and found trades from your place - not a bazillion systems away. But that stopped working - closed down by the devs I think. That's when UCG told me off for being a fanny  :P

[SirAndrewD]

Ok, I give ....what is a "rare good"

I must have ended up in a different area of the Galaxy than everyone else..I've never heard of any of those places. I checked and they are waaaaaayyyy far from me. Right now I will stick to the old fashioned way: pick up what is in high supply and sell what I have when I find a place its in demand

Love this video by the way...laugh out loud everytime I watch it

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qYPtigdFxnA

Rare goods will be highlighted in yellow on the commodities screen, and there'll always be very few of them.  You have a quota of how many you can buy in one sitting. 

They do not behave like normal goods, as they increase in value the farther you get from the source, maxing out in value at 160ly.  For example, if you buy a max allocation of 14t of Diso Ma Corn at Diso for 300cr a ton, you can sell it 160ly away for about 20,000cr a ton.   

Many of the systems around Lave, the starting point in the original Elite, offer rare goods.  Even better, there are good trade routes there for standard goods, so you can move from system to system, buying rares with profits made from transporting standards. 

Once your cargo is maxed with rares, you can head out to sell them at a system 160 or more light years away.   Clearly a fair FSD and good fuel scoop are necessary for this part. 

Best place to go is Witchhaul, 200ly from the Lave cluster, as there are a lot of systems there that also trade with each other and offer good rare allocations. 

Rares are a good jump start to trading.  Once you get a ship with 100t of cargo space, standard trading is more lucrative with a good trade route.

[republic]

I wish there was a 'Trade Computer' device or something that would let you scan prices for things when you come into a system and keep them on file.  It would make trading much easier without having to use 3rd party tools.  Sure the prices would fluctuate and be out of date, but system X would always need some item and system Y would always be providing it.  I know the map provides that basic data, but the map is really difficult for me to read.  I often get lost and have to close it out and reopen.

It'd also be nice to be able to have a small stockpile in a station so if the market bottoms out you don't have to dump your cargo for a loss, you can just hold on to it until you find a place to get rid of it.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I got myself stuck with no fuel, heavy damage, and no cred in some obscure system with nothing but a twin sun and a small base with no commodities market.  I'm not that far into the game and I really had zero idea of how anything worked when I started so I am going to pull the plug and start over.  Hope I don't lose my extra ship that I got for pre-ordering, not that I'd ever used it.

[SirAndrewD]

I got myself stuck with no fuel, heavy damage, and no cred in some obscure system with nothing but a twin sun and a small base with no commodities market.  I'm not that far into the game and I really had zero idea of how anything worked when I started so I am going to pull the plug and start over.  Hope I don't lose my extra ship that I got for pre-ordering, not that I'd ever used it.

You always get your free Eagle back on a restart.  I know I did.

[republic]

I'm trying something I haven't done before, just bought a Cobra and went full on cargo ship with it.  Sold the weapons and downgraded the powerplant and onboard fuel to get the farthest jump distance I can.

We'll see how it goes  :)

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Is there an in-game encyclopedia or anything which will quickly inform you as to the nature of your cargo?

I restarted the game and, during my very first in-system jump, I spotted an unidentified signal and went to check it out.  I found a wanted smuggler and proceeded to shoot him full of cohesive light.  I got a 10K credit bounty and he dropped 3 containers of Gaewan dance dust and 1 of leather.  I'd never used the cargo scoop before so I decided to pick them up.  I figured the stuff was most likely illegal based on the name alone but there was no way I could tell just from scanning it or checking it in my cargo manifest once I'd loaded it on board.    I wanted to go to a Federal system to collect the bounty reward but I didn't want to go waltzing in there with a hold full of contraband.  I went to an independent system but they wouldn't buy either the dust or the leather so I just ended up dumping the stuff outside the station and took on a scrap delivery contract instead.  I feel like the Sanford and Son of space.

[republic]

As far as I know, you can ONLY sell things you have picked up on the black market and not all stations have blackmarkets.  You access the black market from the contacts menu.  All cargo that you pick up is market as stolen as well.