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General Overview
Trading Posts are stations which both offer to sell and buy randomized cargo trading goods at randomized prices. These stations can be useful for finding needed goods when no manufacturing infrastructure is available. Randomized goods to buy and sell at trading posts remain specific to that station. They are the main in-game source for diamonds, and those that do sell them are best to be marked with a note for later use in industrial production of jewelry. Since Trading Posts consume the same goods they sell their supply of diamonds is NOT shown on the galaxy map for the exceptional (and higher) market modules.
The lowest relation a player can access a faction's trading post is "Mistrustful".
Prices
Prices can depend on several factors, such as a player's relation to the faction, the current level of stock currently on the station, and the randomized price factor.
The given price can be calculated through the means of Product Price x Reputation Factor x Stock Factor x Base Price Factor (assumed to be a randomized factor).
Reputation Factor
The influence by reputation is more significant with bad relations with the faction.
When selling, the player gets an addition to the value, and a reduction to the value when buying at higher relations.
At reputation level -100,000, the sell-to-station price is reduced by 90%, which linearly increases to 0% at -10,000 reputation.
Similarly, the same linear increase can be seen from +80,000 reputation to +100,000 reputation, which respectively increases the sell-to-station price from 0% to 15% increase.
On the other hand, buying from the station increases price at bad reputation, and decreases at good reputation.
At lowest reputation level of -100,000, the player pays 200% of the value, and at -10,000 reputation, the price adjustment stops at 100% value.
For positive reputation levels, the player starts getting better buy-from-station prices from +30,000 having 100% value, to 80% price of the value at +90,000 reputation.
Stock Factor
The prices can fluctuate based on stock, in a typical market standpoint.
When the player buys from a station that is full on stock, the player pays 90% of the value. When the stock gets depleted, the price to buy increases to 110% of the value at minimum stock (one item left).
On the contrary, when the player sells to a station that is full on stock (one item from capacity), the player only gets back 90% of the value of the product. However, when the stock is fully empty, the price effectiveness is 110% that of the value of the item.
Example
Say a player is at max reputation, and is trying to sell 200 "Energy Cells" to a station that does not have any Energy Cells in stock.
From this, we know a few things: His Reputation is +100,000, the energy cell base price is 50 credits, and the player will get the full bonus selling to an empty stock.
So, the equation would result in this: Final Price = 50 x 1.1 x 1.15 x 1, which is 63 credits per energy cell, without the randomized factor.
Reputation Gain
Every time you sell or buy from a market, you gain reputation based on the credit value of the items traded.
Trivia
- Trading with a non-military ship grants 1.5x the amount of reputation. To qualify, the ship must have on at most 1 armed turret, for self-defense purposes.
- The comments for the sell-to-station price factor are incorrect. It lists that at max reputation, you get a bonus of 20% more value, when the actual script uses 15% more instead.