well I got wondering about Trade and Trade Goods so I started looking around. If you are willing to travel you can make quite a profit if you use the market right.
I was planning on selling Slaves and Freed Slaves but then crunched a few numbers and found I carry more, sell more and be safer if you just played the market on legal goods.
As we speak I am traveling 6 jumps in my Tub (read a book and yawn a lot) to pick up 9000 head of Livestock. Cows. FireFly irony anyone? Want to be a smuggler/criminal and I end up with a cargo hold of cattle.
Well buying at 600isk and selling at 1050isk I'm willing to swollow my pride for the haul.
Once I get the hang of this I could see huge profits on goods if you spot a low selling price on something. For now I'll stick to legal goods and move into other things once I get the hang of the market.
Mining, missions and trade. Could make for a profitable way to spend your time. Just keep the market window open as you travel and check a few things here and there all the while watching the Ore markets.
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Trade Goods:
Tip of the day. Check the Quantity before you make 8 jumps to pick up something
I found a large shipment anyway and made a decent profit so no loss really. Also, all that time travelling in a slow boat gives you time to browse the market. I found some goods there where 3 jumps away that sold in Charmerout system and where bought in the same system just a different base. 13,000 units at a 20isk profit per unit just for hoping to the next base. Not a bad side trip.
All in all. I would say don't travel more that 9 jumps total; pickup and delivery, for less than 1million ISK. You can make that mining in about the same or less time.
This was a good dry run. I made about 4million ISK in about 2 hours but more than that it gave me another something to look for in this very complex game.
So if you ever see livestock for around 700-800isk buy them. They easily sell other places for 1000isk. At 1m3 per unit I can move 9,000+ units at once.
Finally, to maximize your profits you may want to get some Trader skills that lower the taxes you pay. I pay about 75k in taxes for every full shipment I sell. So with a profit line of 450k per trip 75k can add up quick.