The Bread and Butter of The Trade of Trading.
So, first off all. Hello. How are you doing fellow Settlers? Today I am here to share some interesting tips about trading.
- Why should you read this?
Well since you are here it means you are trying to expand your horizons regarding trading.
So you made the first step. Why not stick to your guns? *Always finish what you start*
- Why should I listen to you and apply your advice?
Well, I've played the past 12 years a ton of video games that require a lot of trading and grinding, one of those being Lineage II, with a lot of success. Now working my way up on The Settlers Online. This game has caught my interest. You don't have to apply my advice. Food for thought is always good. Keeps the brain active and sharp.
- Okay, so you decided to stay with me. Now what?
First things first. Before mastering a trade you need to get familiar with the tools of the trade. On The Settlers Online you are able to make trades through the Trade Office. In order to use it there are a few requirements. You need to be level 12. You will obviously ask why? Well, at level 12 you unlock the building "Trade Office" :
In order to build it you have to click on your Intermediate Building tab, in the construction menu (Arrow), and click on the Trade Office building, 1st row of buildings 5th column. The construction cost is highlighted with a rectangle.
The trade office building functions in a different way than the other buildings. What it basically does is enable the "Trade Office Menu", which can be found on the bottom of your screen next to the star menu. It's a scale like icon.
So, after you click on that icon the magic begins. A screen dialog box appears to you with a few options and settings you can choose from.
This is what it looks like.
Numbers 1 through 3 are the Trade Office tabs.
- 1. Buying
Buying tab is basically where you check out offers posted by other people.
- 4. Offer
This column shows the kind of resource someone is trying to trade and the amount of units he is offering.
- 5. Cost
This column shows the kind of resources someone is requesting in order to trade what is liste on the Offer column.
- 6. User
This column gives you the nickname of the person that is offering the trade deal on the Trade Office.
- 7. Ends
This column informs the players when this offer trade will be expire, in a 24 hour format. (Note : This is not server time, it's your local time)
- 8. Filter check list
There are different types of resources. You can check which type of resources will be included on the trade deals you'll be able to view. Note : Make sure you click on the deals "I can'nt afford" if you want to show every kind of deal, even those that you can't afford yet.
- 9. Search
You can search trades by two ways. First one is by resource name. Second is by user name. All you have to do is type in the keyword you wish to search for
and then click on the magnifier icon next to the search box!
- 10. Refresh Button
Trade office offers are not live. This means that if you don't refresh often, you might find yourself in the dissapointing situation where you find a favorable trade, but it has already been taken. The result would be this system message : Trade Failed. Also, you need to refresh when you first log in as the server doesn't load the offers in the Trade Office. This is probably to reduces the loading time of the game. Also, remember there is a 30 second cool down on the refresh button. Use it wisely.
- 11. Page Arrows
Sometimes there are more offers than the amount of offers that can fit into one page. Use the arrows to navigate.- 2. Selling
On this tab you can view the offers you have submitted.
- 4. Slot
This column basically tells you how much you payed to reserve the spot to put a trade offer on the Trader Office. There first one is free, and every next one can be bought with coins or gems. As for the coins you pay 3 more coins than the cost of the previous reserved slot. Not that the slots bought are temporary and you have to pay again for every new slot you buy to put up more than 1 trade.
- 5. Offer
This column informs you about the type of the item you are willing to trade on the Trade Office and the amount of units you are offering.
Not that the amount of the resource /building you are offering is removed from your storage the moment you post the trade and is returned if the trade is cancelled or expired.
- 6. Lot
This column tells you how many Lots of a trade you would like to put up for trade. Now there are a few things we should note here. One person can buy only 1 lot for each trade offer you post on the Trade Office. Which means if you post 5 fish for 10 wheat x 4 Lots and I buy 1 Lot there will be 3 available lots to trade but I won't be able to buy any of these. The total amount of offered resources has to be equal or less to the amount you have stored in your wharehouse/storehouse. But, you can request up to 4 lots for each trade you post even if the sum of the total items bought exceeds the amount your storages can hold. Previous creteria must be met though. This is possible because any excess amount of resources the games rewards you with, or are traded to you, are stored in your Star Menu.
- 7. Requested
The requested item and amount.
- 8. Ends
Twenty four hour format time expiration of your posted trade.
- 9. X mark
You can remove the trade offer you posted. Not that gems or coins used to reserve that Slot are not refunded.
There are two ways to pay for Trade slots.
- 10. Place offer (Gems)
Click on the Place offer( Gem Icon) to use your Gems to buy trade slots. (Not recommended. You should hoard these and use them wisely.)
- 11. Place offer(Coins)
Click on the Place offer(Coin Icon) button to use your coins to buy an extra Trade Slot.
- 3. History
History is the last, but not least tab. This is where you see the latest 20 Trade Office activities (expired trade offer, buying a trader offer, or selling a trade offer). It is recommended that if you are going to commit to trading you keep yours logs seperately each time you buy or sell resources for statistical process. (Find out which people buy your stuff, potential regular buyer, etc.
- 4. Status
Can either be Expired, Sold, Bought. Expired if the trade offer you posted expired, Sold if you sold a trade you posted and Bought if you bought an item that was posted by another player.
- 5. Date and Time
The date and Time (24 hour format) the event took place.
- 6. Offer
Offer that was posted to TO from the buyer or seller
- 7. Lot
How many lots were bought/sold. Not sure why there is a colum of lots there since you can only buy or sell once a specific posted trade.
- 8. Requested
Item/Amount requested to complete the trade!
- 9. Bought/Sold
The nickname of the buyer or seller.
- 10. X mark
Remove an event from your History.
- WOW, this wasn't that hard! Well, I found A trade offer I like! What must I do now?
Well let's say we liked the following trade (Green Arrow) :
First step is to left click(Windows computer) on the trade offer. Then, (after you highlighted the trade, the background color becomes lighter compared to the other trades) you need to click on the "Tick" on the bottom left side of the dialogue ( Red arrow points where you need to click). If you were quick enough and noone else picked to do the transaction before you, you will presented with the following dialogue :
And your history should change. Sometimes it takes a while before the history is updated. Don't let this alarm you.
** Note : If you storage is full or Current Storage Amount + Bought Amount > Storage Capacity the following amount will be added to your star menu : Current Storage Amount + Bought Amount - Storage Capacity
This is how the system would store excessive resources acquired in the resource tab of the "Star Menu":
Left clicking on one of those items and then clicking on your Mayor house would add those resources to your storage.
- I'm starting to see light in the tunnel!!! But, I still don't know how to post a Trade!!!
Well, first step is to go to the Trade Office and click on the button Place Offer (Red Arrow) :
Now here is where things get interesting. The following dialogue appears :
- Red Arrow
Click on the Select button pointed by the red arrow to select the resource and the amount you desire to trade. The following comes up.
- 1. Select
There are square spaces with the resource icon in the middle you can select from to choose the resource you want to trade away.
- 2. Resource Amount
You can either type in the value in the box or use the scroll bar below the box to determine the amount of resources you wish to trade away.
- 3. Filter
This filter works like the search box in the Buying tab of the Trade office. You can search by keyword (type the keyboard in the box and click on the magnifier) or by checking the types of resources you wish to view and select from.
- 4. Green Tick
Check the resource and amount you wish to trade.
- 5. Red Sign
Tell the system you don't approve the resource and amount and you would like to go to the previous page.
- Green Arrow
Click on the Select button pointed by the green arrow to select the resource and the amount you desire to acquire for your resources.
The interface is exactly the same except the fact you can only ask for as many resources as your storage needs to be filled.
Maximum Storage - Current Storage = Amount of Resources that Can Be Requested.
**Note : there is a work around here. If the amount you of resources you are giving up is less than your maximum capacity, you could request more Lots therefore cheating your maximum storage capacity and storing more in your star Menu Resource tab.
Example follows :
My storage capacity is at 36,000 units. I currently have ~34,000 units of wheat. I'll offer to trade 6,000 units of wheat for
30,000 units of bread.
Now the trick follows :
So, I chose to trade for 4 Lots, which means 4 x 6,000 = 24,000 units of wheat which is lower than my current trading capacity. So, I'm good.
Here, you could increase that to 5 lots by buying an extra Lot Spot with Gem. Still not recommended. Gems are a rather expensive resource. You should probably buy another trading slots with coins. The surprising fact here that if all your lots are sold you will end up with 120,000 units of bread which is more than what you can store at the moment. Now to post the trade all you have to do is press on the button below the button Add more Lots, if you hover over it, a message pops up "Place Offer"
- Yellow Arrow
Click on the return button to go back to the main Trade Office Menu.- Hey X guy added me as a friend, he said he wants to direct trade! OH MY GOD! Is this a scammer Alert Sir Scientist ?!
Fear not fellow Settler! Direct trade is not as fearful as it seems! To be honest I'm glad this actually exists. It makes life so easier and it adds a few aspects to trading that are pretty interesting. Okay so here are some facts about direct trading.
- 24 Hour Rule
You need 24 hours before you can direct trade with a person on your friend list. Also, when you join a guild those members are considered your friends, even though they are not added to your friend list. (You will have to add them on your friend list if you want them to be on there after you leave your guild). This means you also need to wait 24 hours before you directly trade
Mail is used as a mean of transport for the direct trades. When you send an offer through mail you basically send a mail with a proposal to the other person. Sort of like a friend request. The other person has to accept. If this happens a mail is sent back to you and you have to accept it in order to receive the requested resources/buildings/items. *Note : You need to be aware of two facts. First one is that if no response is giving your resources will be sent back to you in the form of an email after of 8 hours. Also, if the trade is declined your resources are sent back directly to you. Make sure you accept the resources that are sent back to you.
Direct Trading can be initiated in two different ways. First one is to click on your names friend on the chat and then select trade :
Second one is through your friend list. Click on the friend you wish to trade with, and select "Trade".
Just some friendly advice. Make sure you know who you are direct trading with. But, again it's just a game. High risk, high reward. Take the gamble and see how it goes!
- Okay Mr Scientist... How do you define trading?
First of all, trading is a social interaction. You require two people in order to make a transaction. What does this mean? Like
every other social interaction there is usually what people like to call "etiquette". Now here is where things get complicated. Every person is different and has a different approach to how they should treat people. That's what makes this world interesting. So, from my research here is what I have concluded to be the trading etiquette for me.
- Trust
You need to develop an aura of trust on the chat in order to be able to attract people. Safety is important for people and it is appreciated whenever they can get it. Being able to trust and be trusted is your #1 priority.
- Consistency
Consistency. Why? People have no time to be messing around. When you say you got 150k wheat to sell you better have that ready. You need to be advertising facts and not rumors. That is if you want to build strong trading relationships with people and be able to get dedicated customers.
- Respect
Everyone has their own personality and way of interacting with other people. One thing is apparent though, when you are approaching someone to trade you need to respect their opinions and converse in a well mannered way. There is nothing to be gained when you go on scoffing at them for their approach, prices, trades they are willing to do. Besides, everyone values everything according to what they need.
- No greed
Greed is not always bad but there are boundaries, after all it's nice to push yourself to your limits and find out what is the most profit you can make out of a single trade. Being greedy with new people is a no no. I've seen a fair amount of people trying to benefit from new players. This is wrong in many ways and it makes no sense. If you are open minded enough you will see that this guy/girl is the potential provider for your empire, your potential friend, your potential antagonism in the future. Nurture and help that new talent to rise and shine. Teach him and be tought. Be the mentor you wish you had when you started trading/started the game. Remember being alone in this game is not fun.
- Patience
Last but not least, patience. Don't let slow pace get the best out of you. Trading is not a kid's game, but doesn't mean it can't be, remember to have fun. You will need nerves of steel and patience. At first you start slow, then you start going big. Be prepared to face internet service disruptions, slow response times, small profit depending on how many traders are on the market at the time you are logged in etc. Stick to your guns and you will be rewarded.- But, I don't get how I should pricing when I sell or buy stuff!
Now now, don't be hasty there. Take it slow and enjoy the ride. So, what type of trades do we currently have?
Well, trade types aren't defined by the game. That is up to our imagination and logic. So here are a few categories I stumbled upon while trading :
- Fair Trades
This is generally what you would define as a no loss for either side trade. In this kind of trade the value of goods traded by both sides is equal.
- Good Trades
A good trade is one that brings a fair amount of profit to your side. Now, profit is relative. As I stated earlier goods are vallued differently by different people. What you consider a good trade for you, might be fair for someone else. Example :
Sell price of wheat is 25 coins per 1000 wheat.
Trader A trades 20,000 units of Wheat to Trader B for 21 coins of value per 1000 Wheat.
Trader B thinks that he made a good trade for him, but Trader A has a storage of 400,000 units of Wheat that is full and wants to make some extra quick coins to buy copper. So, this is a good trade for both sides.
- Bad Trades
These type of trades are not recommended and are usually a disaster for your economy and reputation. You should not do them unless you feel like helping the other person or are really in need of a resource. Usually, you end up getting very little value for the goods you are trying to trade. If you are unsure about the trade you are trying to make then you should probably reconsider and do some research. Ask your friends, research.
- Bulk Trades
So, when you trade you can either trade in small quantities or big quantities. Most people refer to "bulk trades" when a trade includes as part of the deal 100,000 units of a resource or more.
For example :
Trader A : 125,000 units of Wheat.
Trader B : 1 Improved Storehouse.
Most of the times trading in bulk means that you might be selling a bit cheaper as courtesy to the buyer who is helping you "get rid" of a large amout of resources that you would otherwise put much more effort to trade away. On the other hard you could say that you trading a large amount of a resource to another person, is you doing the "dirty" job for them of finding the sum of resources the other person is looking, therefore not selling in a lower price would be an option. In the end of the day it's all about what both sides come to agree. There is no fair or bad trade. If both sides are satisfied after the trade has been completed everything else doesn't matter.- Okay, that's good for now. But, to trade I need to know the market prices!
Well, this is a hard one to answer. Before we go into how to price let's check out what factors form the value of a resource.
- Supply
Well, let's say you have 3 suppliers of Bread and the price of bread is at 40 coins per 1000 units. When another supplier of bread enters the market and provides it with let's say 500,000 more units of bread everyday, it is only normal that the prices will drop since the consumers can now choose from where to buy bread and the producers are trying to sell a larger amount of bread than the one that the market can absorb.
- Demand
It's only natural that when the market demands something a lot, the people offering it will try to make a buck. This is the result of the consumers willing to give up a higher amount of value for the demanded resource. This is where what we call oppurtunity is created. Keep an open eye on resources/buildings that might interest the market in the future. Yet again, this is intiutive and you can't know what will be in high demand in the future. Something you should know is that Events shake up the market. Make sure you are cautious when trading before, during and after event periods!
- Scarsity
One thing you have to understand from the start is that how scarse a resource is shapes partly the price of a resource. If it's 4 am in the morning and there are no copper offers on the market expect to pay high for copper at that time.
- Inflation
Well, inflation is an economic term. In order to define it, we first have to define what currency TSO economy uses. People here chose to use coins since it resembles the real world currency. It could have been granite, copper or any other resource. So what happens when we have inflation in the market? Inflation happened in the TSO market during christmas. What basically happened during christmas of 2013 is Gold Towers were introduced. People that were logging in everyday during christmas and high lvl players got access to Gold Towers. Now, Gold Towers are the bad guys here. They flooded the market with extra currency (coins) what basically happens in the real world when the International Monetary Fund IMF of each organization or country decides to cut extra money. What was the result of this? Prices of most commodities went up relative to the currency "Coins". Also, the player base increased that period so that can account too, since more players means more coins coming into the market due to the Production chains of coins (Gold Mines -> Gold Smelters -> Coinage -> Coins). I wouldn't really pay too much attention to this factor. People usually use it to make a higher profit for their goods. In my opinion this is mostly included in the Supply, Demand. Since this is a game and coins are a resource of it.
**Note :
Originally Posted by Draconus2004
- Conclusion
Pricing is mostly intiutive and it comes from experience. But, people that trade can give you an outline the price of which you should buy for and sell for each resource. People usually provide the following links when asked about the prices of each resouce depending on the server they are playing on :
The Settlers Online - European English - Newfoundland [Realm 1]
The Settlers Online - European English - Northisle [Realm 2]
The Settlers Online - European English - Sandycove [Realm 3]
The Settlers Online - USA - Zeus [Realm 1]
The Settlers Online - USA - Ares [Realm 2]- Okay, can I now please be taught how to do pricing in a simple way???
Since you got a general idea, now comes the part where you kick in. Yes, you get to finally use your brain and apply what you read! Everyday you might get different prices on different resources, buy or sell. To determine that all you have to do is check the market and check the average price of the resource you are willing to Trade. Here is an example :
We want to sell iron. We have to research. We got the guide of prices given on top, we got the market. So here is how XxJackxX from my guild approaches the pricing :
- Good so far. But y r people talking 1337 on trade chat. Can't understand their gibberish!
Every online chat channel, community, game, group has its own "slang" with abbreviations and terms. Likewise, we traders like to use special terms created by our devious minds to make life harder for you "scrubs" and use a few formats when trying to advertise our stash. Now let's scrub off your n00bness :
- Abbreviations
- k = Usually used after a number like 10k and it means thousands so 10k would be 10*1,000 = 10,000 units.
- @ = at
- TO = Trade Office, here is where you post all your transactions.
- WTT = Willing To Trade, used when trying to trade something for another resource or building.
- WTS = Willing To Sell, used when trying to trade something for coins.
- WTB = Willing To Buy, used when trying to buy something for coins.
- LS = Loot Spot, term used by traders that sell their additional loot spots in adventures they run.
- FF = Fast Finish, used for loot spots.
- RTF = Ready to finish, used for loot spots.
- Other Abbreviations, link of the guide posted by CL_Greek_Spartan
- Trade advertising
Well, most people use the following formats :
WTT 10k copper for 10k wheat @TO
Selling 10k wheat for 20c @TO
Sell 10k Wheat @20c @TO
Trade wheat, copper, granite. Whisper me.
- "Special Trading" Loot Spots/LS What is this??
Well, other people took the time to explain exactly how this whole trading/swapping loot spots thing works. Here is the guide that Iolanthe wrote :
Guide Lootspots and Lootspot Etiquette
- Trading Strategies
Coming Soon**
- By passing the 24 hour friend trade limit
Coming Soon**
- Gem buying/Selling
Coming Soon**
- Basket Selling/Buying (Buff Services)
Coming Soon**
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