Quick tips
- Most planets make one good cheaply and crave another. Buy where it's made, sell where it's wanted.
- Rich systems pay more for everything: Jadul pays ×1.38, Enlie only ×0.80.
- Tech goods (chronographs to droids) are worth up to double in low-tech systems. Buy them where tech is high, sell where it's low.
- Every sale knocks the city's demand down a little, so spread a big load across a few cities.
- Markets recover while you're away, one step at a time.
- The trade center has two doors: walk in at the top left, or drive the pod straight in at the bottom right.
What each planet makes and wants
Most planets have a speciality: one good that's always fully stocked and that nobody there wants. Many also have one good in full demand that nobody has. These are the same in every game:
| System | Planet | Makes (buy here) | Wants (sell here) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jondd | Jondd | — | — |
| Jondd | Heavy | antimatter | nullgravs |
| Ferr | Ferr | — | radioactives |
| Ferr | Ferrwerk | rare earths | droids |
| Ferr | Snowball | furs/silks | fruits/vegs |
| Enlie | Enliah | — | — |
| Hepa | Hepah | — | sunsuns |
| Shoot | Shoot | stock embryos | organics |
| KalManDaa | Kala | — | meats |
| Glory | Glory I | pharmaceutical | art objects |
| Glory | Glory II | meats | nullgravs |
| Glory | Glory III | grains/cereals | seeds/sprouts |
| Sosai | Vahevela | silichips | cadcams |
| Lafser | Tcana | woods/fibers | clothing |
| Woremed | W'orrad | hand weapons | gold |
| New Shoot | Hell | radioactives | pharmaceutical |
| New Shoot | New Shoot | — | grains/cereals |
| Jadul | Krakorum | cadcams | stimulants |
How prices move
Demand and supply
Every city tracks a demand and a supply level from 0 to 7 for each good. High demand and low supply nearly doubles the price; the other way round nearly halves it. This matters more than anything else.
Selling and buying
Each sale drops that city's demand by 0–2 steps, and each purchase drops its supply the same way. Levels creep back up to the planet's limits while you're away. The first time you visit a city, its levels are rolled at random.
Wealth, tech and quality
Wealth scales every price. Tech goods (chronographs, silichips, biochips, cadcams, synthesizers, sunsuns, comgear, nullgravs, droids) also sell higher where tech is low. The quality of the load counts too, and each planet's main city prices a little differently from the rest.
A real run: antimatter
A load of quality G antimatter was offered 19,000 Cr at Sheshco. Running the price rules predicted about 25,700 Cr at Lagosal on Glory I, and the real offer there was 25,500 Cr. Heavy, which makes antimatter, would have paid only about 7,000–8,500.
How it works
A price starts from the good's base value (on the Items page; antimatter is 243) and goes through a chain of steps. Each step compares two numbers a and b: if a ≥ b it multiplies by (8 + (a − b)) ÷ 8, otherwise by 8 ÷ (8 + (b − a)).
| Step | a vs b | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Demand and supply | demand vs supply | ×0.53 to ×1.875 |
| Wealth | wealth ÷ 2 vs 4 | ×0.67 to ×1.375 |
| Quality | the load's quality value (0–7) vs 6 letter mapping open | ×0.57 to ×1.125 |
| Tech goods only | 9 vs tech | ×0.57 to ×2 |
| Main city | 8 vs 7 or 7 vs 8 which way round is open | ×1.125 or ×0.89 |
| Dealer's cut | — | −5% on sales |
A sale credits about price × 50 Cr. Levels climb back by 1 for every 7 time units you're away. The limits per planet come from an 18-entry table on the disk, shuffled between planets each game.