Trading: real world example

[Slamz]

~40 km travel
+108% faraway bonus
Selling price 49.42 gold

We made these goods for ~3 gold each?  Call it 4 with the visiting fee (which technically we keep since we own the village?)

We did a run with 1000 goods.

Profit = ~45,000 gold


Now bear in mind that going 40km with 1000 goods took literally over 3 full days and that was a straight shot almost entirely over plains.  I *could* have gone to a much closer location and sold the goods for a profit of about 25 each, but I made more money by going 40km away, even counting the round trip.  By the time I get back, there will be another load of goods ready to go.  (The return trip will be much faster now that I have no crates.)


I don't mind telling you all this because
a) I think it's worth the example.  Once strategus is fixed, I think it will be worth it and we should see a lot more people trying it and a lot more good battles as a result.
b) I don't actually plan to do that again until chadz fixes the "lost equipment" bug.  Too much risk with that bug in place.  So no point in trying to ambush me because I won't be back until chadz finally finishes Skyrim.  :-p


If not for the bug, I would have kept going even further and could have made a great deal more money.  I think another 20km or so would have been prime money making country.

[Earthdforce]

Note to self: Attack NH_Slamz on sight.

[Slamz]

Note to self: Attack NH_Slamz on sight.

Too late.  Can't loot gold!

If you see me with 200 crates, though, that might be a good time.  (Though I won't be doing that again until looting is fixed.  I'm ready to arm my caravan with full metal gear, heirloomed longspears, heirloomed bows, etc.  THEN we'll see about that long trek into the desert.  It's not a problem of money anymore, at least.  There's plenty of money in trading!)

[Graf_Hodenschaf]

Thx for that info, Slamz. The hard thing is to know which village is rich and which one isnt. This would shorten your journey alot!

[Gheritarish le Loki]

Thx for that info, Slamz. The hard thing is to know which village is rich and which one isnt. This would shorten your journey alot!

Send a scout with horses, you can go at 99 speed on quickmarch.

Slamz, your info are only valuable for clan, because for small merchant it's easier to make short travel, i'll have to wait a very very long time before i could have 1000 goods...

[Turkhammer]

Thx for that info, Slamz. The hard thing is to know which village is rich and which one isnt. This would shorten your journey alot!

Yes, traders should have a clearing house for information about such things.

[PhantomZero]

~40 km travel
+108% faraway bonus
Selling price 49.42 gold

We made these goods for ~3 gold each?  Call it 4 with the visiting fee (which technically we keep since we own the village?)

We did a run with 1000 goods.

Profit = ~45,000 gold


Now bear in mind that going 40km with 1000 goods took literally over 3 full days and that was a straight shot almost entirely over plains.  I *could* have gone to a much closer location and sold the goods for a profit of about 25 each, but I made more money by going 40km away, even counting the round trip.  By the time I get back, there will be another load of goods ready to go.  (The return trip will be much faster now that I have no crates.)


I don't mind telling you all this because
a) I think it's worth the example.  Once strategus is fixed, I think it will be worth it and we should see a lot more people trying it and a lot more good battles as a result.
b) I don't actually plan to do that again until chadz fixes the "lost equipment" bug.  Too much risk with that bug in place.  So no point in trying to ambush me because I won't be back until chadz finally finishes Skyrim.  :-p


If not for the bug, I would have kept going even further and could have made a great deal more money.  I think another 20km or so would have been prime money making country.

You didn't factor in how many troops you had, and how much that costs in upkeep. To move 1000 goods at max speed would require 2000 troops, no?

[Mala]

In my region i have seen such caravans. A lot of them were ambushed quite often by bandits.

[Jarlek]

You didn't factor in how many troops you had, and how much that costs in upkeep. To move 1000 goods at max speed would require 2000 troops, no?

Horses. And it's 2 troops per CRATE, not per trade goods.

[Slamz]

You didn't factor in how many troops you had, and how much that costs in upkeep. To move 1000 goods at max speed would require 2000 troops, no?

It was worth it even at minimum speed.  You will make more money carting those goods across 40+km than you would make spending that same amount of time sitting in a village, crafting and selling.

Let's examine...

10 days crafting = 240 goods @ 4 each (really I think the cheapest would be 2.5 if you owned the village, but let's say 4)
Travel to and from selling location takes 1 full day to sell for 30 each at a nearby place that has a base goods cost of 25, plus a small travel bonus

Goods sold for 7200 - cost of 960 = 6240 profit divided by 11 days = 567 gold/day


Same thing, but travel for a total of 5 days (round trip) to get the bonus I got, selling for 49 each due to a larger travel bonus.

Goods sold for 11760 - cost of 960 = 10800 divided by 15 days = 720 gold/day


So even for a solo player, this is worth it.

Even at the speed I was going, which I'm pretty sure was the minimum possible, this is worth it.


The only tradeoff is the risk of getting jumped.

[mandible/splinteryourjaw]

So for approx 100-150 more gold per day you amass an army and risk losing 125 troops (4k gold maybe) + all equipment (if less than 10k bandits will beat you, but we will say 5k) + all trade goods 7200 is sold in a safe zone = 16-25k risked to make 500-750 more.........verdict.................hire a professional....hire the bartering brigade or even the trade union    

[Slamz]

So for approx 100-150 more gold per day you amass an army and risk losing 125 troops (4k gold maybe) + all equipment (if less than 10k bandits will beat you, but we will say 5k) + all trade goods 7200 is sold in a safe zone = 16-25k risked to make 500-750 more.........verdict.................hire a professional....hire the bartering brigade or even the trade union    

Yeah.  I'm basically pointing out that it's superior money.  Whether it's worth the risk is debatable.  Certainly if you can find a trader willing to pick up your goods and pay you a decent price for them, that could be a good deal all around.  You could pay something like a +100% travel bonus, which is nothing to sneeze at, while the trader accepts the risk but goes off to find a 300% travel bonus.

[Gheritarish le Loki]

No it doesn't worth it for a solo player, as said Mandible it's almost impossible to build and equip an army for a solo player, how will i find those 10k? i need to trade before...

But if i buy 5 horses (about 2k) i can take 4 crates, that makes 24 goods that i can craft in a day, with 5 horses my speed is 44 and 99 with quickmarch, nobody can catch me, then i go to a really close fief where i can sold at 25 gold, it takes me less than 2 hours to make the round trip.
Even more, i don't have to worry about my path to avoid rivers, mountains, etc, one click to go, one click to come back (meaning i don't have to be on my computer all the time, only 5 mins then 2 hours later 5 min again).
2 x 5 mins for 500 gold a day with almost no risk.