RawCode

Well until I figure out exactly what I want to study next, I have taken the time to play more EVE. Lately my focus has been more on the economics/trade side of the game. Some people call it EVE: accounting in spaaaaace! Which can be true if you like playing with numbers. Money can be made anywhere in the constant cycle of destruction in EVE:Online. Mining -> Distribution -> Production -> Distribution -> Sales -> Ship Destruction.

This type of trading can be done by anyone with a decent amount of isk and a little amount of time. I personally started with around 2M, and just placed small buy orders here and there and resold for 10% profit. I kept adding my ratting isk to the pile and kept making trades here and there to my money is busy trying to make more money. Eventually I placed buy orders for a rather large amount (500k@ 10isk) of minerals in a system that I know is very popular with mining groups. Within a couple days, I already have a decent portion of my order filled. So, I check back a few days later and I noticed my purchases of the mineral have stopped completely. I know people are still mining like madmen, so I someone must have placed a buy order at a higher price per unit. (Which was 40K @ 10.01isk, bastard)

This is a typical cycle of market dynamics in EVE. I know that I can sell them at a certian price per unit (15 isk) as long as I am patient and I know where to sell. As long as I stay below that threshhold, I can still make somewhat of a profit so I quickly move my market order up to 11.5 isk per unit and the minerals start pouring in again.

Yes I could have gone to 10.02isk/unit, but that only perpetuates the cycle. So instead, I try to price them out of the market, due to how much I know i can sell the minerals for in a different location of space. If they repeat the .01 isk jump, I again raise the price to say 12.5. So in a few moves, I have effectively priced my oppisition out of the market if I am lucky. At the very least I have cost him some of his profit, and I cancel my order and move on to another one of the systems I know of.

A question you may ask is, Why don’t the miners sell at 15isk themselves? Well, there is a few different reasons. They may like mining but not hauling, as it is two totally different skillsets in the game and caters to two different types of people. Also I am offering them isk right there on the spot. An instant return on their hard work in the same system they mine in. They don’t have to wait for minerals to sell, they don’t even have to haul them anywhere. If they like mining, they can keep mining and not worry about where the minerals are going. That’s my job.

It is just watching the markets, and learning where people mine, where people build and connecting the two. It also helps to have experience mining and production as you will know what will cater to both groups and where they operate. If you know how much the market will pay for your assets you obtain, you will be able to manage your money effectively to make a profit.

Filed by RawCode at 5:49 am under EVE:Online
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