I went searching for some guides on trading to post on here. I found a few that were detailed and thought out, but one stood out the most. So we bring to you, Cesodevo Avina's Guide To Trading
- Before Buying
- Paying with Credits
- Paying with Entities
- Buying from Factions
- Before Selling
- Selling
- Selling to Factions
- When and how can you be stolen from?
- Negotiating/Scamming
- Other Notes
What you need to do when trading.
What does trading consist of? Well, trading functions like this. One person sees an item he wants. Another person has that item. So the first person tries to meet the trading requirements of the buyer, be it with credits or entities. Before I break this down into several aspects, let's get some things cleared up.
Buyer: The person that wants the item featured.
Seller: The person that has the item the item featured.
Middleman: A person that acts as a referee between buyer and seller. Both parties give their part of the trade to the middleman, and the middleman gives the buyer what the seller gave him and gives the seller what the buyer gave him.
Scammer: A person who has conned someone into buying or selling an item that is far from its actual worth.
Thief: A person who has not fulfilled his side of the trade, by taking the side of his trade partner(s) but keeping his own. This can be a buyer, a seller or a middleman.
Before Buying
So you want to buy something. So how do you go about? Just like in real life if you want something. You go to different stores, compare prices, service and so forth. From there you make your decision. In Star Wars Combine, there is no difference.
There are many areas you can buy items at. These are:
- Faction Forum Sales Areas
- Classifieds Area
- Centerpoint Market Station
- Hapes' Galactic Market
- Commerce Area
- NPC Market
So lets say, you want to buy a YT-1300. You should check each above mentioned area in search for the cheapest price. However, there are other things you need to take a look at, which are the sellers. Each seller has a certain reputation, developed from his or her actions in the universe. Usually, the more successful trades the person has done, the better his reputation is. However, not only trades determine your reputation. Other things like the faction you are in, or the way you act around others can influence your rep for the better or the worse. To bring an example, there is no point in trying to kiss everyone's rear section in trying to sell something to the New Republic if you are speaking on behalf of the Galactic Empire. Just like no one will want to freely trade with you if you are not remotely known in the universe and have already committed various crimes.
Anyway, the worse the reputation of the seller is, the less you should trust the person if he offers the item you want. Chances may be that you will gain a disadvantage of some sort.
Now, you see this YT-1300 being on sale for 800k credits. How do you know if that is cheap or not? Well, there are ways to find out. For one, you can ask more experienced players in your faction what they think about the price. Usually, the longer someone has played, the more that person can tell you about prices. But say you don't have anyone to turn to? Well, that is why databases exist. There is a database on Centerpoint Market Station, and if you take a look at it, you will see that the average price for a YT-1300 is just above 600k credits. So according to this, if you buy the YT-1300 for 800k credits, you will pay 33% more than the average price for a ship of the same model. And that is a lot. So always do your research.
Now, you read about reputation of players. How do you find out about the seller's reputation? For this case, there are also ways to find out. The 2 quickest ways to find out are by either asking more experienced players about them, or by looking for any statements by about them in the RPG Center on the SWC forum, notably the Commerce Area and the Trader's Lounge. The more you find out, the more sure you can be about the seller.
Allright, so now you know about the price and about the seller. Let us assume that the seller seems to be acceptable and that the YT-1300 he is selling is at 600k credits. As that is just about an average price, you can buy it if you want it. You can do this either with credits or with other things.
Paying with Credits
This is the most common way of trading. You pay with Intergalactic Credits in order to obtain the item you want (Just like you pay with your country's currency to get what you want in real life).
Now, while there just one command to send the money to the seller, there are many ways to actually get the money to the seller.
One way is to fully send the whole amount to the seller right away. This method generally is considered highly dangerous over a certain amount, unless you know the person you are buying the item from, and/or have done a fair amount of trades with him before. The latter may not mean you are safe however, as he may have just recently turned into a thief.
Another way is to send the money in pieces. Using above example, you could pay the seller 300k credits, then he will have to make over the ship, then you give him the remaining 300k. This method is not all too safe either, but if the seller is a thief and planning to steal your money, you will at least not lose all your money, only half.
The next way is to use the help of a middleman. This is considered the safest way, as long as you choose a reputable middleman. Do not rely solely on middlemen however, and some middlemen can actually also be thieves or have an unacceptable or shady reputation, and some of the more noble middlemen can be unavailable at times. Also, some of these higher-classed middlemen may actually turn down your request to middle for you for whatever reason. Remember, they do not have to act as middlemen. It is not their duty, it is rather something like a priveledge.
Paying with Entities
Paying with entities is the true form of trading. Taking a look back at history from a galaxy far, far away, there was no money, so people traded goods for goods. In SWC, you can do the same thing.
However, this requires a good knowledge of how much what entities are worth. Let's stick with the above example, you want the YT-1300, but you do not have 600k. However, you do have a JM-5000, a Firespray, 2 hotels and a personal residence. However, you do not want to spend any money. Not a problem, you can make a proposal to trade some of your things for the ship that you want so badly.
In this case, one of the hotels plus the personal residence will just about equal the same sale value as the YT-1300. So go ahead and make that offer to him (Note, hotels and PRs generate income so once you are unassigned as manager you won't make money from them anymore, keep that in mind). He may ask you about their status (if it is powered and generating income), but if the deal is good enough, the seller might agree to trade those two things for the ship.
This method is a good alternative if you have entities you want to get rid of but know they won't sell as good as you want them to. However, keep in mind that the seller may not accept your trading offer, so be prepared for that. You might have to sell the entity to get cash from it so then you can buy the ship.
And some sellers, like factions (good example is Kuat Drive Yards), refuse to use trades. Most of the time, they have a note or similar on their sales page that says something like 'No trades, only credits accepted'. In that case, you will have no choice but to pay with cash.
Remember, you can be stolen from with this method as well, just like when paying with credits. So as always, proceed with caution.
Buying from Factions
There are many production factions out there, who make ships with an either small or large intent of selling them to the public. The two most notable examples of this are MandalMotors and MandalTech.
When factions sell their goods to the general public, they usually receive so many orders that they cannot be bothered to use a middle when doing sales. So as a result, whenever they attempt to sell something, they ask the potential buyer to send the full amount of credits directly to the faction.
While usually you should be suspicious when someone refuses to use a middle and wants you to send the money directly, factions are a different story. Production factions can never allow themselves to fall into thievery. The result of this would be a drastical loss of customers and eventually the dissolution of the faction. So they are more or less forced to complete trades in a fast time.
In other words, whenever you buy from a production faction, you can rest assured that you will receive what you paid for.
If for any reason however, your order cannot be processed, you will receive your money back. (Note: I have not been able to confirm the last sentence, it is an assumption which I am pretty sure is truthful however)
Before Selling
Before you plan on selling anything, make sure you meet the requirements. Also make sure that you are not selling more than you want to. Staying with the above example, if you want to sell a YT-1300, make sure it is empty and that no NPCs, characters, vehicles, raw materials or items are inside it. If you don't check and you end up selling a ship and a vehicle for the price of a ship, then that is your fault.
You should also unassign yourself as everything you are planning to sell before you actually sell it, so then the potential buyer will not have to. This is especially important with facilities.
Reason behind the importance of this for facilities is: You may or may not know it, but the amount of money your income-generating facility makes or loses depends on the trading level of the operator of the facility. The higher it is, the more money the facility will make, or the less money it will lose. In Mandalore, the majority of us rely on one person that we see as operator, and that is Vandar Nijed, with a trade skill level of 4. The maximum level is 5.
If the operator is not unassigned, it can have a bad reputation on him, depending on who the new manager or owner of the facility is. As we want to avoid that from happening, unassign both fields. Not only on facilities but with every entity you want to sell.
In addition to all of this, if you want to sell your ship to the general public (in this case, to anyone that is not in Mandalore or MandalCorps), you must make sure that, if the ship is in Mandalore space, that it is in the Abrion system or the Abrion sector, as that is the only area in Mandalore space that is available to the rest of the galaxy. Selling a ship that is not in that system is not allowed.
Of course, if you are selling the ship to anyone in Mandalore or MandalCorps, then it can be anywhere in Mandalore space, it will not matter then.
Selling
Ok, so now that those things are done, it is time to sell your YT-1300. Only question is...where?
There are many areas where you can sell your items. The list of areas is in the section 'Before Buying'. However, keep in mind that you may only sell the same item only in one area. Meaning, you are not allowed to for instance sell your YT-1300 both in the Hapan GM and in the Classifieds Area. There is a simple reason for this.
Let's say you actually do list your ship in both areas. Now, two different people, one browsing the Classifieds Area, another browsing the Hapes GM, see your offer and buy it. And eventually you will receive twice the price of the YT-1300, but you only have one ship. The result will be that you will be listed as a thief because you put up a listing for an item that you did not have. Either you will be classified as a thief, or you will be named an untrustworthy trader, which in the end can mean the same thing as a thief. And Mandalore arrests and executes all thieves they find.
Statistically, most trades are being done over Centerpoint Market Station. If you are faily new to the Combine and to trading however, maybe the Classifieds are would suit you better.
Well, now that you have decided where you want to sell your item, it is time to find out how much you should sell it for. For that, you need to do quite a bit of research. First of all, you need to find out the average price of the YT-1300 that you want to sell. If you do not know this, you can check various databases or ask professionals. A great place to inquire about entity prices is in the IRC channel #swc-traders.
So once you have found out what the average price is, it is time to see how many other people are selling the same thing you are selling. If you want to sell your ship, you will need to make sure that potential buyers will buy your ship over the one from the other seller. One way to ensure is to check the price of the other seller's ship. Is it around the average selling price? Is it much lower or much higher than said price? In either case, you need to make sure that when you list your ship, that you do not make yours more expensive than the fellow seller's. If you do, chances are that no one will buy your ship until the cheaper ship has been bought.
Often when trading will you encounter that when you offer something for a cheap price, that someone will buy it from you right away, and as soon as the trade is finished, you will see the same item you sold in on sale again, just under the buyer-now-seller's name and for a more expensive price. Do not be ashamed if you see this. Most people that do something like either are or at least call themselves professional traders. There is not always a guarantee that they will sell the item under the higher price, but even if they do, you did not sell the item do get them richer, you sold it for to get yourself richer.
Now let's see, you have just about done all the research you have to do. The last thing you need to do now, which is also a very important issue, is check the number of different sales of the same thing you want to sell. You surely are familiar with the real-life term 'Supply and Demand'. Well, in SWC it is no different. The more listings of something there is, the less people want to buy them, especially if the potential buyers do not deem those entities useful. However, if there is a single listing for something that not many people have (like rare entities), there is naturally a high demand for it since the supply is so short. In other words, the lower the supply and the higher the demand, the higher the price can go. And the higher the supply and the lower the demand, the less frequent will those entities be purchased. So make sure that the entity you want to sell has more demand than supply, or else it could take a while before it gets sold.
Whoo, finally we are done with all the research. Now that you know everything you need to know, it is time to place your YT-1300 into the open to let it be known it is for sale. And here is where your patience comes in. How long do you want to wait for the entity to be sold?
If we look at the average price of a YT-1300, we will see that it is somewhere around 600k credits. So, under the assumption that you will be only one selling a ship of that model, placing the price at 600k will give you very good chances of getting the ship sold quick. Of course you can also raise the price to 650k credits, but it will take longer until someone buys it. If you place it at 700k credits, it will take even longer to sell. And at 800k credits you might not be able to sell it at all. Of course reversed it functions in a similar way. If you put the price at 550k credits, it will sell faster. If you place it at 450k credits, it will sell almost instantly, because that is, compared to the average price, very cheap. However, at such a low price, it will actually be a loss at sell it for that little.
Eventually, someone is going to buy your listing. As the seller, you should give all available payment options to the potential buyer. These include direct transfer of credits (also called 'buyer sends first'), trades if you want them (also called 'trades will be considered') and middlemen (also called 'use a reputable middleman').
In any of the above cases, make sure to complete your side of the deal as soon as possible, but with care. Don't become hasty, you might do something you will regret later on, like sending the ship first and then wondering why you have not received any money. In that case, you will have been stolen from. So just like when buying something, always proceed with caution, but don't take up days just to complete the trade.
Selling to Factions
It may or may not be widely known, but some factions actually buy things from individuals. Not only production factions fall under this category, just about every faction can be a potential buyer of something you want to sell. However, the majority of these 'somethings' usually are space ships. Factions buy ships from individuals for different type of reasons, which all very from faction to faction. A Government may want to buy your ship in order to strengthen their naval military, a ship production faction may want to purchase your ship to use it as a carrier for their own ships.
With most factions, selling to them is just like buying from them. Because of their lack of time to deal with one individual's wishes, you will be required to send the entity first before you receive the money. Remember what was said earlier, reputations of factions are hard to build back up once they crumble, so they will not dare to think about stealing from you. So even if you are a bit worried about your ship when you send it to a faction, you will receive the money. But also remember to have spoken with the leader or the spokesperson of the faction before you make the trade, as many factions consider someone giving them a ship a donation than a trade. And if they do not know you meant for it to be a trade, problems arise.
Even so, there are some factions that you should avoid selling ships to. Just like individual thieves, there are factions that focus on making what belongs to you theirs. The perhaps best known faction of thievery are the Eidola Pirates. If you ever receive an offer from that faction (not an individual where you can request a middle, but the faction), you should politely deny it. But if there is no way around having to sell to them, then make sure that you receive the money first before you send the ship to them.
When and how can you be stolen from?
It is surprisingly easy to be stolen from in the game, and it most happens due to greed or haste. Or, if you're new. Here's a list of when you can be stolen from.
- When trading
- When 'lending' an entity
- When leaving items in the open
- When docking your vehicle or ship into another entity
- When going into an entity with NPCs and leaving without them, for whatever the reason
And here is a list of how you can be stolen from. The following list goes hand in hand with the above list.
- By making over an entity to someone
- By taking your credits without any compensation
- By trusting a middleman who is not reputable
- By the other party letting you dock your vehicle or ship into their entity but not letting you undock
- By not letting you access your items or NPCs so you can pick them up again
And for the third list, here is explained how you avoid these things.
- When trading, always stay calm. Even if the other person says he is running out of time, that may just be a bluff. If it is not, he can wait until he has time again, and so can you. Stay patient, do not make fast moves like making over an entity before have received the other share if you are the seller, or rely on a reputable middleman if you are the buyer.
- If you are a new player, use a reputable middleman for every trade. It may be a pain for the middleman, but if you explain your situation, they will understand. If one reputable middleman turns you down, don't give up, just look for another. Never go without a reputable middleman if you feel unsure about the trade or the person you are trading with.
- never dock inside any entity that is not yours or your faction's.
- Always keep your NPCs either in the open or in a secure place, like your own or your faction's entity.
- Never leave your items in the open where anyone or everyone can see them.
Follow those rules, and you will never fall victim to thievery.
Negotiating/Scamming
Not every price you see has to be final. Let us assume you want this YT-1300, which is listed at 600k. However, you only have 570k, 30k less. Now, take a look at the listing. Sometimes (not always), you will see something like 'price is negotiable'. If that is the case, then usually the seller does not really care how much he sells the entity for, as long as it is somewhere around the asked price. You may be able to deal the price down to 5-20% off the original asking price, depending on what type entity you want. If the seller is eager enough to get rid of the entity, he'll agree to sell you his item for the new price.
Of course, you can also try to negotiate the price down even if you have enough money to buy the item at the original asking price. You can make quite some money in the long run if you use this method.
But bear in mind that there might be one or two requirements that the seller will give you before you finish the deal. If any of those requirements are for you to send the money first, wherein before a middle would have been fine, do not take him upon the offer.
When you are the seller, it is similar, however, since you are now the seller, you should not budge and stick to your price, unless it is like less than 5% difference. After all, you have been taught patience, so you'll use that patience. And if you want to sell your YT-1300 for 600k and not less, then make sure to note in the listing that the price is not negotiable.
Now, in terms of traders, there are also trades that go into the category of scams. A scammer is not a thief, even if they may be just as bad. Right now it is hard to explain, so I'll use two examples.
Example 1: Someone tricks you into buying a CR-90 Assassin Corvette for 15 million credits. That would be a major scam, as you can get them for around 10 million credits.
Example 2: You want to buy an office that generates around 40k credits per month, and you trade with someone that assures you that the office makes at least that much money. So you buy it, and the officer ends up making maybe 5k credits.
The two upper examples showed that there was no thievery involved. However, the buyer still suffered a major less. There was no official foul play, the seller just lied a bit to his advantage.
When buying entities, always make sure you know what you are doing. Before you buy an entity that costs a large amount of credits, make sure you know the average price of it.
And when buying facilities, make sure you get proof of the income the facility makes before you buy it (If you are interested in income).
Other Notes
This area is basically just for a few small notes that don't fit anywhere in particular and are too small so then I can make a huge aspect out of it.
- Auctions: Not really much to explain here. A seller auctions off his entity, and the person with the highest bid in the end wins. If you end up being the winner of the bid, make sure to remember the above mentioned steps. It may just be an auction, but it may also be a theft attempt. A note about auctions: If you have something you want to sell, and there is absolutely no way of checking beforehand what the average price of your entity is, you can always auction it off. Usually the end price will be somewhere near the average selling price. So the next time you have the same item, you can put it for sale for somewhere around the area it went for in the auction last time. Areas you can find auctions are in galactic markets and in the Auction House in the RPG Center of the Combine's forum.
- Raffles: This method used to be a great way to make money on the side, but now it isn't anymore. Anyway, this is basically your average lottery ticket. There is a big prize, and you buy tickets that can be differently priced, depending on the prize(s) available to win. The more tickets you buy, the higher your chances, but that does not always mean you will win. You can even not be chosen if you have 80% of all the tickets, after all.
- Traders list: There are numerous lists and hints out there that point out who is a good trader, who has stolen in trades before, and who is a recommendable middle. You can find one of those lists for instance in the Trader's Lounge, or here in the Mandalore Sales Office.
And if you have read all of this, then you now have the knowledge of a professional trader. Have fun making deals all over the galaxy!
