I think I have something

[nolepaul]

All,

I think Ive found away to make a profit..nothing spectacular, but a profit indeed. Heres what Im doing.

1)I have all my top producers set at 1200 max 400 min..that has my prices pretty stable. I buy 7 bays (75 tons each) of each and sell those. When I 'buy' from my planet, I have the spreads set at 40%. After hauling out, I then stock my two or three biggest defs up to 0. I have the max stockpiles on those set to 20,000, so when the planet consumes the items, they do so at an inflated price.

2)After selling my goods, I set the spread back to 20 percent..and that seems to make the planet restock at a lesser price.

3)I helped another PO who had his stocks way high and was looking to haul out. As mentioned..while you wait for your surpluses to replenish, you can also act as a merchant by trading for a personal profit. Once you have enough in your personal treasury, you can transfer 1 mig min at a time..the only drawback is the tax..but still even with the tax, you are left with a good chunck of change.

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One experiment IM going to add is this. As my treasury grows with what I do, Im going to slowly expand my max stockpiles. That way, hopefully, with more to sell, my profits will be higher.

I also found that selling in sol can be very profitable..depending on the planet.

Just a few things...

[brookerf]

NP, I've been hauling to supplement my planet and I've been making about 20 megs a week. A third of that is lost to taxes, which stinks. I can't keep this up much longer, as my arms are just aching from all the typing! The POs that have their stockpiles high and set to a 6% spread have really helped out...and I can haul a majority of what I buy to my own planet. It helps my planet and I make a personal profit, too.

While I've followed Smitty's strategy with a lot of success, I do have a couple of my top producers set to 1200. I like to haul and want something to do to speed up my builds. I'll set the min. to 400 and see if that helps boost. I'll admit I haven't hauled out of my planet for several days, as hauling in seems to be working better...at least for me.

Thanks for sharing your experiment! I agree that selling in Sol can be profitable, and easiest to do when a lot of folks are asleep!

[zr]

min doesn't work that way

min dictates what is available to buy in the ex, the stock/restock levels aren't affected by that (I don't think, haven't tried but it shouldn't affect it any)

[nolepaul]

Brookeroff,

Those POs with high stockpiles and low spreads do come in handy. I have made some changes to my methods. I just have my highest producing commods set to 800 max 100 min. I ship only about half of those goods. I then ship in my biggest deficits and have the maxes set on those to 20000, so the planet absorbs the goods at an inflated price. I made like 20 mig last week doing that.