Elite Dangerous - How to Find a Profitable Trade Route

[@porozex3061]

frontier just needs to add an internet browser in one of the ship panels.

[@Idontneedahandle-u3o]

this.

[@AnZeLmItO1]

Haha. this is funny because its true.

[@redactedredacted320]

Lmao

[@elkikex]

But it needs to be synced to 1300 years in the past 😄.

[@franticuploader3668]

The in game trade tool is 99% useless, not because the interface is clunky, but because no data on SUPPLY is shown. You could see a good trade, go there, only to find out that there's 3 you can buy. See what I mean?

[@ToCoSo]

Yeah this really frustrates me I find a trade but there is no supply there.

[@supremecommander2398]

not only that. the ingame trade interface does nowhere tell you that the comodity may be illegal and requires a black market to be sold there, and a criminal owning faction to be offered.

[@MrWickedDigital]

In game trade tool isn't 99% useless at all. Sure it's a bit of a pain to use, but it's definitely a step forward. I like it.

[@RDR911]

Kieran Auld one step forward, two backwards, as is the FDev way.

[@starshipenterprises4356]

check my other comment regarding amounts and how they show in the trade icons. you can actually tell the amount of supply if you know what to look for.

[@Kaivalaginiviti]

It's well worth mentioning that eddb trade data is populated by players and relies on updates for accuracy. Players can update using a third party tool called ED Market Connector, which will automatically update eddb data for a particular market when docking to its station...Other data including faction states / influences, ship / module availability, planets and their materials etc are also updated in eddb on entering systems, scanning planets or docking etc...it's well worth using and the more that use it, the more up-to-date the data will be.

[@starshipenterprises4356]

just want to add that the BRIGHTNESS of the trade icon is an indicator of the AMOUNT of the commodity at the market. bright icons = high amounts faded icons = low amounts I found the trade tools on the galaxy map a little fuddly to begin with but with some practice they have become extremely useful and I am now a massive fan of them and actually prefer it to EDDB.

[@franticuploader3668]

Sorry, but that is still useless. You're going to tell me that you'll fly your T7 or Conda or whatever, based on a WAG on supply? Have fun wasting time. Now, if the icons were CLEARLY sized and corresponded to SPECIFIC supply levels, then that might be better. Still not what is needed...the number.

[@starshipenterprises4356]

I agree a number would be much better but the system does work as it exists now. not had any problems with it (after I got used to it)

[@cpnCaNuke]

Awesome I didn't know that. Thanks!

[@cpnCaNuke]

Frantic Uploader ... then just keep using your 3rd party tools. I doubt you would be happy with anything frontier does.

[@ClintThrust-e8r]

The community tools are all better, but hey, that’s not always a bad thing. Thanks to all you third party guys, for putting together all these great programs!

[@robw7381]

if ony the game wasn't completely stagnant

[@Roxfox]

One of my absolute favorite things about the new trading options is the "route to market" button you get while filtering for commodities on the galaxy map. Being able to plot a route to a specific station in my target system with just one button press, directly from the galaxy map, without having to load the system map, is probably the best thing since sliced space bread!

[@co1ossa1chris14]

Thank you! I have been several lost at understanding how to use the map. I just bought the game along with the odyssey expansion and am loving it. I was just having to go online and Google all the time and this information is Fantastic! From looking at your billions it seems you may enjoy this game as well

[@rela82me]

I think returning to some of the basic tutorials now that we're in version 3.xx+ would be helpful, mainly for those returning to be refreshed and learn some of the new functionality. Perhaps something like engineering would be helpful :)

[@tomriley5790]

Main weakness of the ingame trade tool is lack of information on supply - and bizarrely very cheap commodities can be in very short supply. Just to clarify something in your video when you select inport profit on your commodities market filter then it's showing the profit that would be made if you imported the commodity to where you are, so basically do export profit first to decide what to buy when going somewhere - it's easy to remember because the supply will be non-zero! Import profit can be used to look for a commodity that would be worth buying to bring back and complete a loop (although as mentioned make sure you have a few options as there may not be enough supply to fill with one commodity)

[@SledgeFox]

Just want to thank you for all your videos! So enjoyable! Thank you very much!

[@armedhyde1448]

This seems so much more convoluted, and less intuitive then eddb.

[@Hyperchaosbringer]

I do a good amount of mining this has been some what helpful in tandem with EDDB

[@DanielDrake]

@ObsidianAnt the issue is you cannot see the *amount* of commodities sold at the locations, so if you wanted to buy a lot of "stuff" of a particular type, the station might not have the amount you want, FDev have not implemented this feature to it's full potential.

[@robeyshuck1741]

The addition to in-game trade tools is extra helpful for those using an Oculus Rift or other VR headset...as you don't have to take the headset off to look up a trade on your desktop. Handy.

[@antmax]

1500cr seems to be pretty much the cap in profits. I typically just take someone elses goods since the profits of just trading are very low when a single 10ly transport mission regularly ranges from 1,500,000 - 4,000,000 for 180t and medium platforms. Sometimes as much as 7,500,000 one way trip. I keep hoping they will ramp up prices for certain things exponentially in Anarchy systems. Things that are necessities and in short supply because of all the piracy. Otherwise trading is only really useful early on when you make your first tentative steps in the game or as a top up for any left over cargo space after missions. Thanks for the video though, the tools are rudimentary but a vast improvement over what we had before :)

[@thendisnye7188]

It's ridiculous that you'd need to travel to a star system to be able to access trade data. I don't have to travel to New York to find out what the NSE is trading. I've heard tell there's a technology that I can use to check global commodity prices. I think it's called the internet?

[@yosharian]

Exactly, this is just yet another grind that's been put in front of players before they can access the game. And even if you were to visit every fucking star system, you'd still not get anywhere near the kind of profits that can be easily gotten by abusing the latest mission exploits.

[@Alen2147]

There is no Internet between systems. The signal is limited by the speed of light, so accessing the data from another system would take years. The only exception is the Galnet wich uses the quantum entanglement technology. But it's very expensive, so it's used primarily for galactic news broadcasting.

[@sirenia755]

3:28 what you don't expect is the the import station or outpost might be way down on the 3rd sun.

[@lithari1480]

Just so you know, i checked the eddb.io site and found a trade route that gives a nice profit just from the following being done in a Type 6 Transport with 96 cargo capacity and this is not possible for ships needing large landing pads, since one of the stations used has only small and medium landing pads, but no large landing pads. 1: Naunei System - Common Port = Buy 96xPalladium 2: Lusonnunga System - Edmondson Gateway = Sell 96xPalladium and Buy 96xMineral Extractors 3: Naunei System - Common Port = Sell 96xMineral Extractors Total Profit = 583,392cr The Systems are 85.87ly apart, but it will require a 328,476 ls trip in supercruise. Though i personally prefer doing the trading missions picked up from Ackerman Market to be delivered to GD 215, while the trip requires a 330,000ls journey, but being in a Type 6 Transporter, if you pick up enough small trade missions that funnily enough give 75k-175k each can net you more than 1-2mil credits, if you can stomach the 330,000ls journey that took me 10mins to travel.

[@madmags969]

Cheers OA. Agree with a lot of the comments about it being clunky and needing the supply and legality data also. I use a combo of eddb and this since the update. This for latest profit margins and eddb to get an idea of supply. Seems to work ok for me. Maybe I should just use eddb as all the tools are there to do that but I like to try and find routes not so obvious to other commanders. It doesn't always work but its part of how I role play the trader in game to keep it interesting for me so I am not feeling the perceived 'grind'.

[@yosharian]

Players should not have to check a fucking website to play the game efficiently. The fact that you think it's reasonable to have to put up a website just to access game mechanics effectively just shows how broken the trading mechanic really is. What about players in VR, for example? Are they supposed to take off their headsets, place them down, place down their controllers, pull up a chair, access the site, then put everything back on... _every time_ they want to make a trade run? This is fucking absurd.

[@madmags969]

Yeah but some of us just deal with what's there and don't feel the need to bitch about it. But you're right.. it isn't a good mechanic but its the one that is there. Not getting into a massive back and forth with you though. I am allowed to think its reasonable if I want to and its frankly none of your fucking business.

[@ABurghouts]

Thank you CMDR. Was waiting for a video like this..

[@celtshaun1427]

Just find two ports close together use the compare option in the market page between the two select buy or sell it does not matter and what you are looking for is commodities one high and one low for the return journey and then complete the runs between the two stations, You should be able to see some commodities giving 4k profit per tonne between the stations and if your lucky you can get a lot more dependent on circumstances between the systems also keep an eye on the supply and demand figures Best of luck Cmndr's

[@justinisabadass9442]

mate Love you clear calm voice in your videos, wish i could download you for my navman/tomtom haha

[@ndcouch]

so.... its like the 3rd party trading tools out there but not as good? the 40ly limit is pretty bad. i dont trade but if i do i'll still be using Thrudd's or some other more complete database

[@RevReese]

I have been looking for a video on exactly these tools since they arrived. I use them constantly and find them extremely helpful in finding trades. Took a while to figure it out on my own but now I am used to them. I play on xbox though so eddb not really an option anyway though it is useful.

[@RickProkosch]

How did you get this to work on the xbox? I'm trying hard to get it right but I just can't seem to get it to work. I posted over on reddit but not replies yet... I must be doing something wrong. Any tips? www.reddit.com/user/ididntgotoharvard/comments/88gtzf/xbox_one_galaxy_map_commodity_prices_wont_show/

[@g0lanu]

I'm almost disappointed they spent precious development time on a feature that is not an actual improvement, just a different spin on the same old recipe. Oh, well...

[@martindinner3621]

Thank you for making video on this. Sadly, this is still horribly lacking unless you are still in a Sidey trying to get started.

[@cpnCaNuke]

This new system has been a god send for me. I absolutely hated leaving the game to search for a route. To me it also felt like a cheating mechanic but unfortunately, up until this new addition, it was necessary. Now I don't have to leave the game, VR is much simpler, and I can just get lost in the game. I'd say I'm also starting to understand the economy in ED a lot better now too because I'm not letting some website to do the work for me. Now if you're just looking to make the most credits in the least amount of time for the never ending credit grind then 3rd party is your bet. I just disagree with that stance but all the power to you.

[@maynardL]

well market data can also be acquired by scanning the nav beacon without the need to dock

[@maynardL]

Correct. You can either scan the nav beacon or you need to dock somewhere. Using the discovery scanner doesn't help with market data.

[@MrMonkfiish]

excellent video as usual, very informative.

[@blackjack6259]

Great information as always Obsidian Ant. Thank you. :-)

[@iored]

I like this feature, aside from what others have said about supply, what I really don't like about it is the time it takes to search. There are like 50 drop downs you have to select to go through all trade options. If there is a better way without manually selecting every resource lmk please!

[@marcusw86]

Love your videos, they are pretty helpful.

[@theplutogames]

Aye! Thanks for this video! Helped a lot to a new player! :)

[@OxKing]

It's far from perfect but really a huge step in the right direction. I used it yesterday evening to find a 4000cr per ton worth one jump opportunity of bringing basic medicines in a outbreak system. Doing 3 million cr. per run in my T9.

[@ToCoSo]

Yeah it does sometimes send me to places that have none of the commodities, but I really like having the data in game, and even having to collect the data as you visit systems means that you build up a picture of your explored area. I wish the 40lyr boundary could be larger as often the good routes are further away in my region.

[@randobamarny]

More like a tiny step somewhere near the right direction :D

[@ToCoSo]

Yeah just spent 2 hours trying to find AX scanner and research limpet controller, no mention of searchable outfitting in game yet, I think the tech brokers should know where everything could be found.

[@yosharian]

@ToCoSo exactly, the game still lacks basic fucking search functionality just to find modules for outfitting. it's a fucking joke.

[@OxKing]

You have to factor in it's frontier we are talking about. For them it's a huge step. ;)

[@grandreefer]

O7 Ant!!! Another great video in the records.

[@RejectedTheOnes]

Any idea why the price shown on the galaxy map and the actual price when I dock is different? I've seen good prices for commodities on the map, then I get there, and the price is much lower, and I don't know why

[@koconnor1963]

I use rogueys site as it has all supply amount as well as last update so you can have a reasonable chance of getting the stuff you need. Example I am doing the CG now and getting 3 mill a run with a 450 ton cutter. Only two jumps. I have a rift and still don't like the galaxy map, I manage but the mouse method is still much better

[@axoliminator]

i'm so confused, i needed to deliver tobacco to a location so i searched the map with the commodities function, and found a place closeby that had an export price for tobacco. once there they didnt sell any, does the export price not mean that they actually sell it?

[@harag9]

Thanks for this, just started up again in Elite - not played since Horizons came out, looks much easier to find a route now - However, Question - To get the trade data added to your list do you HAVE to dock at a station (any?) or can you simply enter the system and jump back out ?

[@ObsidianAnt]

You need to either dock at the station, or scan the nav beacon in that system. Docking at one station (or scanning the beacon) will reveal trade data for *all* stations in that system.

[@harag9]

Excellent, thanks for the quick response. I basically stopped playing back when horizons came out, as It didn't have these comparing features, so found it difficult to find runs without using a 3rd party application, which is a pain to use when I only have one monitor.

[@harag9]

Sorry, but how do you scan a beacon - I'm in the starting sidewinder? I have a scanner with I think 500ls range, but I thought that was for planets etc.

[@Whooopsnobodybusinessactually]

Obsidianant, what is the icon on the map that looks like an orange canister? I have the same icon on my map and can not figure what it is or what it means to me. Please enlighten me if you know.

[@Whooopsnobodybusinessactually]

Anybody ???

[@ArchLordXarnor]

Does your Tobii Eye X give you any problems on your 21:9 monitor?

[@frostkillht]

Thank you this very helpful.

[@radoslavrachev6763]

Hi,i have a question i have reached a G5 on Elvira Martuuk,but cannot upgrade my Shield Generator past G3 is this some kind of bug or? ps4

[@Roxfox]

Different engineers provide different levels of upgrades for different modules. Elvira will get your FSD up to speed, but if you want the strongest shields, Lei Cheung is your guy.

[@MrRicoEX]

no its not a bug thats just the highest grade she can do. to get grade 5 you have to visit Lei Chrung

[@Ebbo]

Check the Inara website for all the info you need about the engineers

[@Will-jw5oc]

I wish my ship had you as voice assistant

[@Raven_Blackwood]

Very informative, thanks :)

[@TheGamersShow1]

Well done video Mr Ant, but sadly I have yet to find a trade route that can match the 5-10 million credits I can make every 15 minutes in my Python by running one hop missions to a mining outpost about 400ly from Sol. I have every ship in the game, yet my most profitable trader is not a T9 or Cutter, but my Python :-( Truly wish trading could compete.

[@-TOH-]

I accidentally unlinked my account on the frontier website. All my millions of credits and all of my ships have disappeared, even after re-linking it. I tried creating a ticket with frontier to no avail. Do you know if it’s possible t get my stuff back? I don’t think I will continue to play if I have to start from a sidewinder with a 1000credits. Have you ever heard of this happening?

[@simonknibbs5867]

Is trading really still a thing? I tend to just locate systems with a boom status and haul mission goods for payment. The problem with trading being, the system needs to be big or by trading you are constantly affecting the smaller systems. The trade run becomes less and less profitable. So, I think mission trading with a guaranteed value is more reliable. I like going for systems with a long inter-system route which pays much more. then I collect missions to that base over a period of about a day before hauling.

[@davecmdrdjsslugger8395]

Great video, thank you

[@charlesHC]

Thanks, this will help with... "trading" with other players. ;P

[@daviddaniel1928]

you can purchase trade data in the galaxy map

[@lazytube99]

Whilst I like the new trade tools, sadly I probably won't use them much as the data simply cannot be trusted. I will only use them as an additional source (along with EDDB) for finding commodities for CGs.

[@SoulImageProductions]

The consoles don't have some of the features seen here

[@jesushonda248]

"you have to dock to every system to get the trade data" um..thats kind of impossible unless you live your mom. This is why I havent reinastalled ED in two years

[@yosharian]

My thoughts exactly, I really want a space trading fix but this just isn't good enough

[@falkerhard]

Strong but true.

[@XxUndeadXTacoXx]

This tool seems useful for pirating too since you can see where/what other people are trading.

[@dinoworld112]

if they was a mode were I could trade peacefully with out pirates and just play it as a trade sim with my music in background I'd play this more but I get pulled over by pirates to often for what I want from the game I just wanna be left in peace so I stick to euro truck simulator.

[@ChrisBane]

It would be nice if this data was on it's own console tab instead of being forced into the galaxy map and commodity market.

[@mikehill2221]

Great vid!

[@killermantv69]

3,959,014,932 CR rly :D

[@Illindi]

There is a double arrow. It is to buy the trade data of that system. Hint bloody hint...

[@ObsidianAnt]

No, that is to buy the trending data - just as I explained in the video. :)

[@sirenia755]

outside trade tool are not reliable, they give wrong info and a long web page of trade info is unsuitable cos you need to close and open up you elite dangerous game just to see where your next trade should be, it would be nice if it can be transfer to a text file.

[@philipbannor3281]

As convenient as eddb.io is, in my experience the profit one actually earns by following trade routes suggested by it is FAR less than is promised. Eddb is a great tool for finding all sorts of information (for example, ships, modules, stations), but seems less useful for trading.

[@genapophis]

XD, line your Videos like always, but I can see you are not a Fan of trading ;-) But still very informing

[@JosephAnthonyJosefius]

Awesome!

[@bannermanmedia]

Always Ali-mini-um NEVER Aloo-min-um 😂

[@rollingkneebar3534]

I’m American and I say al-u-min-e-um instead of a-loo-min-um...🌚

[@StevenManser]

Eddb is my least favorite method as a VR user.

[@bh-2198]

The system is still to cumbersome to even bother with. Eddb.io is far more useful.

[@LongJohnSilver_PS5]

yup nice try FDev but computer says no.

[@semibiotic]

FD ingame information is actual insult for player. Intended gameplay is, actually, wasting hours only for collecting trade and service availability information.

[@doingmypart666]

you sound a bit like liam neeson

[@daddy1717]

Eddb.io guys

[@hcsvoicepacks]

Very good

[@OzGrant]

Trading is much like other areas of this game BROKEN, it is a waste of time if you have time to waste. there is no profit to be made, over the cost of the fuel to get to the system. It looks good, but it is wasted energy, FDEVS, add profit and users will use it.

[@alexandereugeensamdal5752]

Test¡

[@Jerakeen2826]

Utterly pointless. Only systems you have personally visited and a 40ly range. As usual Frontier add something that lots of people have been asking for but do it in a way that it isn't actually any use at all.

[@leapswithoutlooking]

Too complex. Clunky is right.

[@renovatiovr]

The data is not real time, is unreliable and worthless. For instance, it might show you the product that doesnt even exist in that system. This game is dying quickly.