Okay, I need a bit of advice here.
I have played in a few corps where we mine and somebody else does all the buying and building.
I was only a bit player and contributed by going out in fleets and mining. The ore mined by the individual was bought through a buy back program, and that got you paid.
I’ve since lost the ability to play as often as I did back then, but still enjoy Eve. I still like to mine and build. That said, I decided to try and form a small group and see if I enjoy that. I admit its a one man show and it consists of alts. I chose Amarr and went from there as a place to start. Pochven does cramp the hauling now, so if I decided to stay in Amarr that will be the region I do most of my activities out of.
I am still early enough on to pick up and move without a ton of time lost, and am wondering if it would just be better to pull stakes and move on the other side of Pochven and closer to Jita. I could try an area not directly in the Forge, or just tool around the Forge till I can find a system with belts in them or very nearby and a fairly low cost index to manufacture in.
Kinda at a halt for now till I hear a few of the arguments. More experienced player advice would be greatly appreciated. This sort of game play might be a grind and I doubt I will achieve as much as I would like, but for now its how I have chosen to play.
To stay in this Region or move on? That is the question.
To answer the question, you haven’t provided the key piece of information: why are you mining and manufacturing? Reading between the lines, it sounds like “to sell manufactured goods on the Jita market”.
Yep to sale on the market, its simply that the major amounts of goods moved per day through a single hub is Jita. That comes with the caveat that most of the NPC stations within maybe ten hops usually have a higher manufacturing index cost per job. I think it might have something to do with the number of jobs going on at the moment in any giving station. Then you have standings with the owners and that comes into play. There are pluses and minuses for moving closer to Jita. There are other markets hubs out there, and currently I am using Domain. I think its a bit slower, but there are pluses and minuses here. I find that the cost to actually build the goods is cheaper in general once you leave the Domain area and go to another place such as Kador or Tash Murkon. The hauling is not to bad.
I guess I am asking for the long view. I was wondering if any others might be able to tell me if I am looking at long game, would it be better to stay parked here in Amarr, or would it be better to move early on and absorb the higher cost? Would the benefit of being in a more active hub be worth it?
A more active hub means more competition and generally lower margins. I do business in Hek and Rens - much smaller hubs than Amarr but the stuff I make sells quickly at much better margins than I would normally experience in Jita.
The key is to study the market - in particular the price history tab for items you are considering. The graphic shows the both prices and volumes. Eve is a commodity market and they tend to be cyclical - if you watch the cycles and position your sell orders in the top half they should sell reasonably quickly and at a fair profit (assuming you have chosen a high volume item). The best way to lose money is to chase the market down - be patient and let it come to you. If markets only went down they would have settled at 0 a long time ago!
Over time, you will develop a “feel” for the market(s) you participate in and your ability to anticipate and catch a “bounce” off the bottom will improve (they can be incredibly satisfying, not to mention profitable).