Guide to Trading

Trading Guide

Welcome to Echo-Delta's trading guide. This guide will show you the trading strategy that will hopefully make you some profit.

This guide will cover the following subjects:

1. Trading Laws
2. Trading Basics
3. Increasing Your Profit
4. Perfecting Your Empire
5. Fleet
6. Guaranteed Profit
7. Trade Phases
8. Important Notes

In this guide, when I mention any trade rates, you must try and get as close as you can to these trade rates to get as big a profit as possible, it MAY NOT be possible to reach these trade rates.

1. Trading Laws

When trading, you must follow certain rules and regulations, the main two being the pushing rules, and the trade rate laws. When you trade, you must not gain any unfair profit out of a lower player, and, when trading to any player, you must stay within the regulation trade ratios of 3:2:1 and 2:1:1. In this guide I will show you how to use these two laws to make yourself a profit.

Note: In older Universes, trade rates are changed, check your Unis thread for the exact changes.

2. Trading Basics

The strategy of trading is that people (usually turtle/miners) make two or more transactions to end up increasing the number of resource units they began with. Each set of trades is a 'trade block' and at the end of the guide I will show you how to operate on a 'trade phase' basis.

A basic trade block will look like this:

* Deuterium > Crystal in 3:2:1
* Crystal > Deuterium in 2:1:1

This trade, at the best trade rates possible will double your Deuterium at the start. (100% Profit).

This trade should be used after most players in a Universe have established most of their colonies.

3. Increasing Your Profit

As you need to increase your profit, you need to make your trade blocks larger, I recommend a maximum of 6 transactions per block, but if you like, you can try more.

Here is a large trade block:

* Deuterium > Crystal in 3:2:1 2 Crystal
* Crystal > Deuterium in 2:1:1 2 Deut
* Deuterium > Crystal in 3:2:1 4 Crystal
* Crystal > Deuterium in 2:1:1 4 Deut
* Deuterium > Crystal in 3:2:1 8 Crystal
* Crystal > Deuterium in 2:1:1 8 Deut

This will gain you 700% Profit, and you can use the same buyers and sellers, as long as they are not the same person.

When you cannot get ahold of Crystal, use metal. You get less profit, but it is easier to source. The example below is where you can field only one crystal seller:

* Deuterium > Metal in 3:2:1 3 Metal
* Metal > Deuterium in 2:1:1 1.5 Deut
* Deuterium > Metal in 3:2:1 4.5 Metal
* Metal > Deuterium in 2:1:1 2.25 Deut
* Deuterium > Crystal in 3:2:1 4.5 Crystal
* Crystal > Deuterium in 2:1:1 4.5 Deut

This will gain you 350% Profit, so when Crystal stocks are low, you can expect to get 1/2 the profit you would when Crystal stocks are high.

4. Perfecting Your Empire

Your Empire should have all your colonies distributed evenly among the galaxies, around the mid point, and you should have two planets in your home system, and the furthest two from your home system out of G1, G3 and G5. All your colonies should be maxed out on mines and have a decent defence.

On the technology side, you want as high computer tech as you can manage, and high engine techs, focusing on Impulse and Hyperspace

5. Fleet

Your fleet should be mainly small cargoes, and have some Battleships as escorts, this will allow you to move res quickly and efficiently.

6. Guaranteed Profit

When you want guaranteed profit, you need to find one or two fleeters, and in the case of one fleeter, any other player. Then you want to trade like this:

* Deuterium > Metal (You>Fleeter1) in 3:2:1
* Metal > Deuterium (Fleeter2/Other>You) in 2:1:1

This will gain you only 50% profit, however it will be the easiest to perform, and even so, when you're talking about 10kk worth, you make 5kk deut, which isn't bad by anybody's terms.



That is the main guide sorted, but now I will let you in on the secret that I operate on. Trade phases.

7. Trade Phases

A trade phases is a period of three days, where I record everything in my notes to work out my gross profit. Each day is separate, and as one closes, I update my notes. I will list this in bullet point form and explain at the bottom.

* Trade Phase Start
* Guaranteed Trades - at least 2
* High profit trades (350-700% Profit) at least 1
* Basic Trades (100% Profit) at least 2
* Day 1 Close
* Record notes including fuel bills
* Day 2 Start
* Guaranteed Trades - at least 2
* High profit trades (350-700% Profit) at least 1
* Basic Trades (100% Profit) at least 2
* Day 2 Close
* Record notes including fuel bills
* Day 3 Start
* Guaranteed Trades - at least 2
* High profit trades (350-700% Profit) at least 1
* Basic Trades (100% Profit) at least 2
* Trade Phase Close
* Record notes including fuel bills
* Calculate Gross and Net profit

What I do is I take my gross profit from the three days and then subtract fuel bills to find out my net profit and calculate how much I made in Deuterium. I then spend up to 50% of the profit (in a ratio of 3:2:1) on upgrading my mines or technologies over the next couple of days. After 2 days rest, I then begin the next trade phase. This strategy gets me loads of trades and profit over three days, allows me to upgrade my techs and buildings to perfect my empire for trading and allows me to use my excess profit to build my fleet for when I go raiding and crashing.

8. Important Notes

All these notes are suggested by people and will be updated as the guide goes on...

* Older Universes have different trade rates, make sure you check them out.
* "Never cheat on a trade agreement, do it once and your reputation is burned, that means no more trading." - M A F I A
* "Having a few planets with higher mines than the rest is never a good idea. If you want the highest income for the least amount of res spent, you need to have all planets on equal levels." - mvm
* More to come...

The End

Trading is perfect for me. And I recommend it if anyone needs short, sharp, profit.