I’m still new to this game and came here from Elite Dangerous where trading is mostly done by moving stuff around (like a trading caravan), flying around to find the best deals. I realise EVE is very different (if only because it’s player driven trading) but I still like to space truck around buying and selling my wares, even if that means it’s not going to be “the most efficient” (I really don’t enjoy station trading).
After looking around a bit I have found a few websites that can help with determining trade routes and possible deals (just as in Elite) but most websites seem more focussed on station trading, the EVETrade website does have some options but I feel like it’s severely lacking in options. I checked out some people selling spreadsheet services but the most obvious one seems to have shut down.
Could someone please point me to websites, programs, active spreadsheets (or someone offering those) that work for travelling traders?
EVETrade isn’t bad actually, if I’m hauling hub-hub I often do a trade or 2 to pay for my time. There was a better one (Eve-Central) some time ago but it deceased unfortunately.
Day to day I use my own google spreadsheets and download prices using the Fuzzworks.co.uk API, this works very well for me. In conjunction I use https://evemarketer.com/ . But I suspect you want a bit more
The market is mostly player driven, this is both an advantage and disadvantage at times. If you can predict player behaviour or understand what players are doing in a particular location then you can make good margins. so trying/understanding other playstyles will help. Like any market fear & greed play a large part so predicting others responses while holding your own in check is key.
Trade is only a part of my game play, doing a variety of things will keep you interested and feed your trade stock. For e.g. if you do PvE then you can collect salvage, from the salvage build rigs, sell the rigs for nice isk.
I’ve looked into the fuzzworks website and it’s helping a lot actually, but no idea on the whole api stuff as that is well out of my league. Other sites like evemarketer as you mentioned help me to figure out prices as well. I’m just really looking for a spreadsheet or whatever to help me determine what to trade and where to go. I realise it’s a bit much to ask for because it essentially removes one’s own efforts (pretty much just as it’s in Elite).
My point is that I’d like to learn about, and be able to recognise, trade locations that are NOT necessarily the obvious trade hubs and since I have no idea why or how those locations exist, or how to recognise them, I’m kinda lost heh.
I’d like to do more than ferry between Jita and Dodixie because then I’m really just being a space trucker, not a travelling trader. Not sure if that is even realistic or makes sense but with my little knowledge of EVE that IS what I’m trying to aim for.
I tried mining when I started playing (a few weeks before committing and creating my current account using a referral), didn’t like it much. Manufacturing seems very akin to station trading (to me) in that you pretty much never undock and really just juggle with numbers.
I have 3 characters in total, this one which is my “do silly stuff that probably gets me killed” (I tried gas mining yesterday and exploded), my Combat one which is now actually my money maker, and the trader one. All three are still very low SP (I put the SP into the combat one). So the variety is there, for now at least.
You can certainly do more than that, but there are no shortcuts, with experience you’ll learn to spot opportunities and take advantage. For example just a few days ago someone was recruiting for an industrial corp in a hisec pocket surrounded by lowsec and supplying the Factional Warfare active in that area. You don’t have to mine, you can source your materials using buy orders and spotting bargains on the market, i.e. take advantage of other players apathy.
My endpoint is selling various high value goods, I gather particular materials, buy/sell those materials, manufacture items, possibly move them to the right market. In all cases I’m adding value and margin at every stage.
It’s taken me a significant amount of time to build my supply chain, anything worth doing in Eve takes effort and time IMO.
All of these things (mining, production, hauling, trading) intersect when you’re pursuing an industrial career, OP. If you focus on any one aspect of the process, to the exclusion of the others, it can seem like drudgery, e.g. your comment about “just a space trucker” or how mining doesn’t scratch that particular traveling trader itch.
You want a diverse range of engaging activities that are also profitable. I’ll give you an example of how being an industrialist can accomplish that for you. Recently, I contracted with a pvp corporation hosting a frigate duel competition to coincide with the Skilling Is Just a Means event.
They had depleted their regional market of basic T1 frigate hulls that they were supplying for new players participating in their tournament. A little bit of networking helped me identify that need and got me the opportunity of fulfilling a triple-digit frigate order for them.
My previous mining efforts had built up a stockpile of minerals sufficient to complete the order. The logistics of where they needed delivery meant it made the most sense to haul that mineral stockpile to the delivery location and build on site, which was a 20+ jump haul, about a third of it through low-sec. After that bit of space trucking, I brought in my main and alt to run simultaneous build jobs from BPCs to get fast turnaround for the order.
It’s a situation that was kind of the essence of being a traveling trader, but involved a chain of game activities that kept me from feeling as if I was pigeonholed into one bit of drudgery that wasn’t really what I enjoyed doing.
So, that’s my advice. Instead of bouncing between individual trade-related activities looking for the one that meets all your gameplay desires, pursue a more complicated goal that requires multiple activities to pull of successfully.
You’re pretty much describing my goal. Doing trading but with more/actual interaction with other players (the one thing that’s really missing in Elite) and less with just the market interface itself. Figuring out their needs, wants and drives and then be able to supply and adapt for that.
If you like to haul trading, try to feed markets in NRDS nullsec space or FW systems. People usually pay higher price there with good volume. feel free to mail me if you need few hints
Try looking at the map for locations that have lots of mission agents and/or localized with many in/out route to surrounding systems and set up buy orders for ores/minerals/equipment than haul it to market in Jita (main market) or Amarr (not a terrible market either).
There’s this thing called cloak, using that correctly lowers risk by quite a bit. And yes I’ve read on PushX but they’re not traders, they’re space truckers.
Everything just depends on where and what you’re doing.
Cloak doesn’t usually work by itself. Bumping, command bursts, all sorts of anti-cloak techniques.
Insta-lock by itself can be faster than cloak.
Blockade Runners are really m3 restrictive (niche transport).
DSTs can be fitted for High Sec travel…but you have a problem of “undock-active-armor” issues.
Mainly, when you undock people assume their highest EHP, but their EHP is really 30% of that. So they are carrying 10 tornadoes worth of materials, but really are only strong enough to take 3 tornadoes.
There’s also dunkers, who send fighters microwarping on your butt before you even can cloak.
Just depends on where and what you’re doing on what counters you’ll experience.
I can order from Jita and have it “trucked” to me, or I can wait to see it pop up in my local trade hub.
Also do NOT under estimate how lazy people are.
They won’t even go one jump to save 20%…chances are they’d have it shipped to them directly from Jita, rather than go one jump even in null.
One of the largest consumptions of things are hulls and fittings, and people want to “buy-all and fit-to-active ship” in station. They don’t want to run around gathering it all
