Introduction

Welcome to Calypso's Traders, a blog about trading in Entropia Universe.  In this blog, I'd would explore the mechanics of trading, how to trade profitably and the particular idiosyncrasies of the market that a successful trader must know.

If you are looking to play Entropia Universe profitably, but have been unsuccessful in hunting, mining or crafting, then perhaps trading might just do the trick for you.  Unlike the other professions in which luck plays a significant part in your success or failure, and a global or a HOF using a certain hunting strategy on one day might turn out to be a dead loss on another day, trading is all about your skill with luck playing only a small role.

So, once you have learnt to trade profitably, you can be quite sure of consistent profits each month so long as you apply the same strategy.

This blog is arranged more like a website than a blog, with a navigation bar at the bottom of every page.  You can navigate page by page by clicking "Previous" and "Next", or jump to main sections and pages by clicking the links under "Jump to:"

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Should You Start Trading in Entropia Universe?

It has been said that Entropia Universe is what you make it out to be. It can be your business, your playground or your social platform. There are those who met in this virtual world, and then became fast friends in real life. There is even a couple, Karen and Jetze, who met online in 2011, and actually got married in real life, even though they were living on different continents.

And then there is Jon “Neverdie” Jacobs, an actor cum entrepreneur, who mortgaged his home and bought a virtual asteroid for US$100,000 in 2005, and sold it 5 years later for US$635,000.

There is, of course, the rest of us, who play Entropia Universe for all of the above. We socialize a little, have some fun shooting mobs and curse at MA for the poor loots while secretly hoping to hit the big one some day.

If you are reading this, I daresay that while you are having fun playing, you are also looking at Entropia as a business opportunity. You are considering a business as a trader here in Entropia. You may or may not have done any kind of trading before, but are lured by the promise of some easy cash or the prospect of earning a consistent income.

Well, I have been a trader here for a few years. While I am not raking in the big bucks, I am generating a small but consistent income that can support my play and still have some PED left for a little savings and the occasional withdrawal.

So, what can I tell you about being a trader here in this universe?

Let me start by stating that trading is simply not buying at a low price and selling at a higher price. While this might be true of trading at its most basic level, actual trading is a lot more than this and if you expect to simply buy low and sell high the whole day long, you will either be out of business soon or not performing well at all.

Profits as a trader is also not as good as other players might think. I would usually buy ores and enMatters at 1% - 2% lower than the lowest buyout at the auction and sell at 0% - 4% higher than the lowest buyout. My percentage profit would be an average of 3.5%, which is rather poor by everyday standards. But once you take into account the auction commission, I would make only about 1% - 2% profit on each trade.

In other words, if I were to buy a resource for 300 PED, I would probably make only about 3 - 6 PED on the trade.

An aptitude for maths helps too. For example, if you are buying sweat and Force Nexus, making Mind Essence and selling it at the auction, you are going to have to do the following:

• Buy sweat at x PED per thousand bottles of Vibrant Sweat.
• Buy Force Nexus at y% markup.
• Refine Force Nexus and Vibrant Sweat into Mind Essence using a refiner, taking into account the cost of refining in terms of the decay of the refiner.
• Take into account the variable auction commission to determine the price you need to sell your Mind Essence at the auction to get your desired profit.

Once you have determined the various costs you would probably want to put it together into a spreadsheet so that you can easily manipulate the quantities as needed. As such, knowing your way around an Excel spreadsheet would also be a useful skill.

As you can see, being a trader in Entropia Universe is not just about buying and selling. You are going to have to do some work, and use a little ingenuity and take a little time to figure out how things work before you can start making some money. You are probably not going to make a lot of money but you should be able to fund your play in Entropia Universe or supplement your real time income.

If this sounds like it's right down your alley, or if you would at least like to give it a try, let's begin. If you would like something simpler and easier on the brain, you could try clicking ads and completing surveys.  If you are more ambitious, you might like to start a simple online business.

But, whatever you choose, if you are here to make some money, make sure you take action. You may not succeed the first time, or even the second or third time, but you would be the wiser for it and be better equipped for success.

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The Entropia Universe Auction - The Auction Commission

The Auctioneer at Calypso

Before we get into the actual buying and selling, it is important to know the mediums through which you buy and sell, the avenues through which you can communicate with the buyers and sellers and the channels through which you can source for new buyers and sellers.

This chapter deals with the Entropia Universe auction, one of the main mediums of buying and selling in Entropia. It is accessed through numerous avatars and terminals stationed at city centers, outposts, teleporters and other locations with a lot of traffic.

The Auction Commission

The very first thing you need to know is the commission for listing your items at the auction.  You are charged this commission whether or not your item is sold, so be sure to list at prices that are meant to sell.

Note that the commission is charged only for the seller.  If you are buying at the auction, you do not need to pay any commission.

The auction commission is as follows:

Auction Commission = 0.5 PED + (99.5 X MU) / (1990 + MU)

where MU is in PEDs

In other words, there is a minimum commission of 0.5 PED, if you sell your item without markup.  If you sell with markup, you pay an additional variable commission of at most 5% of the amount of the markup, with the 5% getting lesser as the amount of the markup gets larger.

For example, let's say you want to sell a Quad-Wing Interceptor with a TT value of 42 PED at 130 PED.  That will be a markup of (130 – 42) PED or 88 PED.  You will pay 0.5 PED fixed commission plus a variable commission of (99.5 X 88) / (1990 + 88) PED or 4.21 PED.  That works out to a variable commission percentage of 4.79% of the markup.

So, in total, you will pay a commission of 0.5 + 4.21 PED or 4.71 PED.

To give you a better idea, I have tabulated the commission charged with various values of markup from 1 PED to 5000 PED.

Markup (PED)	Fixed Commission (PED)	Variable Commission (PED)	Variable Commission Percentage (%)	Total Commission (PED)
1	0.50	0.05	5.00	0.55
5	0.50	0.25	4.99	0.75
10	0.50	0.50	4.98	1.00
50	0.50	2.44	4.88	2.94
100	0.50	4.76	4.76	5.26
500	0.50	19.98	4.00	20.48
1000	0.50	33.28	3.33	33.78
5000	0.50	71.17	1.42	71.67

As you can see, a fixed commission of 0.5 PED is paid whatever the markup value, with the variable commission percentage varying from 5% to 1.42% depending on the value of the markup.

Always make sure you know the value of the auction commission as I have seen sellers on the auction selling their stuff at TT + 0.5 PED.  If you consider the auction commission, they are actually better off if they had just sold their stuff at TT to the TT machine.

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The Entropia Universe Auction - The Auction Window

The Auction Window

You will be able to find an auctioneer at most major cities, teleporters and outposts.  Double clicking on the auctioneer will open the auction window through which you can access the auction.

Navigating the auction window should prove quite intuitive, so I'd just briefly mention the main features and highlight the bits that you, as a trader, would be interested in.


Left Menu

On the left of the auction window are the item categories.  You can select the item that you are interested in through the item's category and sub-category. Don't worry if you get lost in the beginning or can't find the item you are looking for as there are a lot of categories.

To help you out, I have listed some common items and their categories.

Item	Category
Animal Oils – Animal Eye Oil, Animal Muscle Oil, Animal Thyroid Oil, etc	Items – Materials – Animal Oils
Combat Token	Items – Currencies
Deeds - Calypso Land Deed, Arkadia Underground Deed and Compet Deed	Estates
Diluted Sweat	Items – Materials – Natural Materials
EnMatter – Alicenies Gel, Garcen Lubricant, Melchi Crystal, Oil, Typonolic Gas	Items – Refined Resources – EnMatter Elements
Fruit – Bombardo, Caroot, Haimoros and Papplon	Items – Food
Hides – Animal Hide, Soft Hide, Fine Hide, etc	Items – Materials – Natural Materials
Laser Sights and Scopes	Items – Weapons – Weapon Attachments
Mind Essence	Items – Mindforce – Mind Essence
Mining – Excavators, Finders, Refiners	Items – Tools - Mining
Ores – Belkar Ingot, Cumbriz Ingot, Gazzurdite Ingot, Iron Ingot,Narcanisum Ingot, Zinc Ingot	Items – Refined Resources – Metal Ingots
Paint Cans	Items – Materials – Paint Cans
Skins – Snablesnot Skin, Combibo Skin, etc	Items – Materials – Natural Materials
Space Thruster (L)	Items – Engineering Devices
Stones – Brukite, Kaldon, Nissit and Sopur	Items – Materials – Natural Materials
Unrefined EnMatter – Crude Oil, Force Nexus, Growth Molecules, Lytairian Dust, Sweetstuff, etc	Items – Resources – Raw Energy Matters
Unrefined Ores – Alferix Stone, Caldorite Stone, Hansidian Rock, Kanerium Ore, Zanderium Ore, etc	Items – Resources – Mineral Ore
Vehicle RK-5 (L)	Items – Tools – Misc Tools
Weapons – Knifes, Blades, etc	Items – Weapons – Melee
Weapons – Rifles, Pistols, Machine Guns, etc	Items – Weapons – Ranged
Wools – Thin Wool, Wool, Fine Wool, Daikiba Wool, etc	Items – Materials – Natural Materials

Offers and Orders Menu

The Offers and Orders Menu give you access to the offers and orders on the auction.  The offers are individual auctions listed by the players.  Each player has a limit of 30 auctions for each planet or sector.  The orders are requests to buy items by players and can be submitted by any player for a small fee.

The Offers and Orders Menu can be found right at the top of the auction window.  The Offers and Orders buttons are used to select the respective menus.  They are described below:


The Offers Menu

The Offers Menu

Selecting the Offers button will display the Browse, Won, My Orders and My Bids buttons.  They have functions as follows:

Offers - Browse Button - This is used to browse the offers on auction. You can browse using various selection criteria to be explained below, and you can also select the category to browse using the category selection on the left menu.

Offers - Won Button - Selecting this button will display all the auctions that have been won by you.

Offers - My Orders Button - This button displays all the offers that you have on auction. As a trader, you might want to note that every player has a limit of 30 auctions per planet or sector at any one time.

Offers - My Bids Button - This will list all the auctions that you have bidden for but have not won. It will also include all the unexpired auctions in which you have been outbid.


The Orders Menu

The Orders Menu

When you select the Orders button, the Browse, Available and My Offers button will display.  Their functions are as follows:

Orders - Browse Button - You can browse all the offers listed when you press this button.

Orders - Available - You get a list of all the items that you can place orders on.

Orders - My Orders - Selecting this button will list all your open orders.

The Filter Menu

The Filter Menu is immediately below the Offers and Orders Menu.  In this menu, you can specify your filter criteria for display.  There are a few ways you can filter your search, as described below:

The Filter Menu

Search Box - You can manually input the search string here.

Buyout -  You specify whether to view all auctions or only auction with a buyout price.

Gender - You can select to display all items, items for males only or items for females only.

Limited and Unlimited - You can choose to display all items, limited items only or unlimited items only.

Auction Sector - This is for you to select which planet's or sector's auction you want to view.  As of this writing, the following sectors are available:

• Global Auction
• Asteroid
• Calypso
• Crystal Palace
• Thule
• Monria
• Planet Cyrene
• The Hub
• Rocktropia
• Hell
• Next Island
• Ancient Greece
• Secret Island
• Planet Arkadia
• Planet Arkadia Underground
• Hunt The THING
• Planet Toulan

The Global Auction is generally for items auctioned off by MindArk like Quad-Wing Equus and Compet Deeds.

Most of the auctions in their respective sectors are deserted with only the auctions on Calypso, Planet Arkadia and Rocktropia being quite active.

Please note that if you are intending to deal in the auctions of a sector in which you are not located, there are some limitations:

• Viewing Auctions.  You can view the auctions of your own sector as well as that of other sectors without limitations.
• Starting Auctions.  You are, of course, allowed to start auctions in your own sector.  However, you cannot start an auction in another sector.
• Bidding on Auctions.  You are allowed to bid on the auction of your own sector as well as that of another sector.  There are no additional fees for doing this.  However, if you win another sector's auction, the item will not be automatically transferred to where you are.  You will have a few options when you win the auction:
• Have the item transferred to you immediately, which will incur a minimum charge of 6 PED, depending on the weight of the item.
• Have the item transferred to you within 12 hours, which will incur a minimum charge of 2 PED, depending on the weight of the item.
• Leave the item at the sector's auction or storage for collection by you at a later date.  Please note that there are risks if you intend to transport items through interplanetary space.  My post about The Auctions of Different Planets, Interplanetary Space and Pirates for relevant information.

The Sort Menu

The Sort Menu is used to determine the order that auctions or orders display.

Sort Menu when Offers Menu is active

When the Offers Menu is active, the following fields can be sorted:

• Quantity
• Value
• Bid
• Markup
• Buyout
• Bids
• Time Left
• Created

When the Orders Menu is active, the following fields can be sorted:

• Quantity
• Max Markup
• Time Left
• Created

The Bottom Menu

Right at the bottom of the auction window is a menu consisting of 5 buttons.  The buttons are the Sell, Order, View, Remove and Refresh buttons.  The Retrieve Button appears in place of the Sell Button when the Offers - Won Menu is selected.  They perform functions as follows:

Sell Button - Click on this button when you want to place an item on auction.  This button will bring up the Sell Item Window.

Drag in the item you want to sell, set the auction price, the buyout price (if any), and the number of days that you want the auction to run.

Click the Accept Button once you are done.  Note that the auction commission will be deducted immediately and will not be refunded even if the auction does not sell.

Retrieve Button - Retrieves the item that you have won.  You can also double click on the auction to perform the same function.

 
Order Button - The Order Button can only be clicked when the Orders - Available Menu is selected and an item on the list displayed is selected.

When the button is clicked, the Create Order Window is displayed as shown below:

Create Order Window

In this window, you can input the details of the order that you want to create like the markup at which you want to buy, the quantity and the number of days that you want the order to remain in effect.  Do note that the funds required for the order will be reserved once you confirm the order and will not be available to you.

View Button - The View Button is used to view the details of an auction.  Clicking on the button will open the View/Place Bid on Item Window with the auction's details.

View/Place Bid on Item Window

If you are the seller of the auction, you can only view the detail and are not allowed to place a bid.

If you are not the seller of the auction, there will be a section on the bottom right of the window where you can place your bid.  Bid prices are in steps of 1 PED and no decimal points are allowed.

In other words, you can bid 10 PED or 11 PED, but not 10.5 PED.


Remove Button - This button can be used to remove any of your auctions that you have listed.  Note that you are allowed to remove an auction only if nobody has bidden on it yet.  The auction commission that you have already paid will not be refunded.

Refresh Button - This button refreshes the auction window.

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The Chat and Messaging System

The chat system within Entropia Universe is also another good medium through which to buy and sell your wares, and to get in touch with your customers.  In the earlier days, it was just a chat window with separate colors for normal chat and trade chat.

In recent years, the chat has been upgraded with many features, and a messaging system similar to email has been added.

Many of the features of the chat system is not relevant to traders, so I would just highlight the features of interest:

Create a Custom Channel - Anyone can create a custom channel and get players to join that channel.  Marketed properly, this can become your main avenue to trading in Entropia, and make your trading both effortless and profitable.

Help - This will list all the commands available and a short description of each of them.

List All Channels - This command will give you a list of all the channels available, with the number of members subscribed to the channel.

List All Members of a Channel - You can see the names of everyone who has subscribed to the channel.  But please use the information responsibly and don't spam.

Whisper - You can use this function to send a private message to an avatar.

For your reference, I have reproduced below all the available functions of the chat interface:

• /afk : Sets the privacy status.
• /create : Create a new custom channel.  Channel names must start with a number sign (#) followed by one or more alphanumeric words separated by dash (-) or underscore (_) characters.  Examples: #fussball, #happy_family, #food-lovers.
• /custom : Change the current input channel to a custom channel.
• /deop : Remove moderator status.
• /dnd : Sets the privacy status.
• /emote : Makes your avatar perform the specified emote. Try /emote ? for a list of available emotes.
• /help : Use without parameter to list all commands or type /help <command name> to view information about a specific command.
• /ignore : Ignores an avatar. No chat communication from an ignored avatar is allowed.
• /invisible : Sets the privacy status.
• /invite : Invite someone to a private custom channel.
• /join : Join a public custom channel.
• /kick : Kick someone from a private custom channel.
• /leave : Leave a custom channel.
• /listchannels : Lists public custom channels whose names contain the given filter text.
• /listignored : Lists all ignored avatars.
• /listmembers : Lists all members of a channel.
• /listmuted : Lists all muted members of a private custom channel.
• /local : Change the current input channel.
• /mute : Mutes someone in a private custom channel.
• /officers : Change the current input channel.
• /online : Sets the privacy status.
• /op : Make someone a custom channel moderator.
• /pos : Create a position link with the current position in the input field.
• /return : Reply to a private whisper from someone.
• /rookie : Change the current input channel.
• /set : Sets a channels privacy status.
• /society : Change the current input channel.
• /team : Change the current input channel.
• /trade : Change the current input channel.
• /unignore : Removes the ignore status from an avatar.
• /unmute : Un-mutes a muted member of a private custom channel.
• /unmuteall : Un-mutes all muted members of a private custom channel.
• /whisper : Send a private whisper to someone.

Simply type "/help" into chat to view the above list.


Using the Chat System

The chat system is accessed through a chat window that is typically on the bottom left of the screen when you are running the Entropia Universe client or software.

Looking at the chat window, observe that there are several tabs at the top.  These tabs allow you to select the chat box that you want to view.

Each chat box can be configured to display only the channels that you want to view.  For example, you can have a chat box to view the bids and offers on the general marketplace, another chat box to communicate with your buyers interested in your offers, and so on.

To configure your chat box, right-click on the tab of the chat box.  A menu will appear showing all the available channels, all the channels that you have joined and also an option to create new tab or chat box.  Just select all the channels that you want to view in the chat box and you are done.

Each chat window can support up to 10 chat boxes but you can drag out a chat box to form a new chat window.  What's cool about this feature is that your new chat window can also support up to 10 chat boxes so you should not have any issues with insufficient chat boxes.

To post to a chat box, simply press enter or click your mouse on the box.  The cursor will appear for text entry but before you type, make sure that the channel name on the left of the cursor is correct.  If not, click of the channel name, and a list of available channels will appear.  Select the correct channel, type in your text and press enter.  Your entry would have been posted to the channel that you have chosen.

One last thing about the chat system is that the chat messages can be logged.  So, if you missed a message, or can't stay glued to the computer screen the whole day, just enable chat logging and you can browse the messages at your leisure later.  Remember that you have to be online for the chat messages to be saved.

To enable chat logging, just go to Main Options Menu - Options and select HUD.  You should be able to find a tickbox to enable public and private chat logging.  The chat files will be stored in text format somewhere on your computer.  For me, the chat files are stored in the "..\Documents\Entropia Universe\" directory.  The filenames for the public and private chat are chat.log and private_chat.log respectively.


The Message Center

The message center caters to various messages including messages between avatars.  The messages can be sent regardless of whether the avatar is online.  The avatar will be alerted of unread messages when he next logs on.  The messages are stored and the recipient can reply to your message to create a conversation thread.

For your convenience, you are allowed to send the same message to a maximum of 10 recipients,

This is just a scaled down version of an online email inbox.  You can send messages to other avatars and receive messages from other avatars, whether or not they are online.  However, the features are rather limited, and the messages do get deleted after a while, so the messaging system should be seen as merely an extension to the chat system and not a full-fledged email client.

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Your Trading Capital

Before we start getting into the actual buying and selling, the last thing you will need to consider is your trading capital. If you have too much capital, you might tend to be over zealous and take risks when you shouldn't but too little capital would also be detrimental and limit your growth and profit potential. How much capital would provide a good balance between the two?

There is no right answer for everybody but let me consider it from the point of view of a trader who is just starting out. For that trader, I would say that a starting capital of 500 PED would be a good starting point. With this capital, you would be able to place some bids at the auction, buy a few batches of resources and items and still have some PEDS leftover.

A starting capital of 500 PED or USD 50.00 might seem a lot to invest into a game but if you are serious about making some money, it is a small price to pay to jump start your trading career and get a feel of the market so that you have a good idea if this is for you and its profit potential.

If you really can't or won't invest 500 PED, might I suggest at least 100 PED? Of course you can earn your trading capital in the game by sweating, but it's boring, takes up a lot of time and frankly, a pure waste of time. Your time is better spent understanding the market in Entropia, and looking for profit opportunities, whether in Entropia or elsewhere.

As they say, time is money. Your small investment either shortens the time it takes for you to get started or, if this is not for you, allows you to fail faster, so that you will not waste time here and move on.

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Trading in Entropia Universe - Trading at the Auction

The market in Entropia, although dealing solely with virtual goods, still operates like a market, with its own particular idiosyncrasies, just like markets in real life. The key to profitable trading, to be able to buy and sell at a good price, would be a familiarity with the market's behavior, items and resources, so as to have a good idea of the market's future movement.

So, going straight to the point, the sections below will focus on specific characteristics of the market or media. Knowing these characteristics will help you to establish the fair price of an item, and aid you in buying or selling faster or more profitably.



Trading at the Auction

The auction is probably the most popular way of selling in Entropia. As such, if you are doing any kind of buying and selling, familiarity with the auction is a must. Do also remember to take note of the auction commission when you are selling.


Auction Buyout

Entropians are an impatient bunch. When they bid in the auction, they want their auction item or resource not 1 day later, or even 1 hour later, but they want it there and then. And they are willing to pay a little extra for it.

So, if you are selling at the auction, always include a buyout price. And if you are buying, a strategy would be to bid at a slightly lower price than the lowest buyout price for that item. There is a good chance that you will not be outbid as the bidders will buy at a higher buyout price to get their item or resource immediately.


Auction Bids are in Whole Numbers

In other words, you can bid at 10 PEDs or 11 PEDs but not at 10.5 PEDs or 10.2 PEDs. This actually opens up a good opportunity for you to buy small quantities of resources at a highly discounted price.

Take a look at the auction listing below:

Auction Bids are in Whole Numbers

The item is Animal Muscle Oil and lowest buyout at the auction is 104.61%. The first auction in the listing has a TT value of 4.92 PED. Someone has already bid 5 PED, which is 101.63%. Since bids can only be in whole numbers, the next highest bid is 6 PED, which is 121.95%!

It is quite obvious that the guy who bid 5 PED would probably win the auction at the discounted price. So, do be mindful of this possibility when buying or selling so that you might just buy at a great price or not have your item sell at a heavy discount.

Larger Quantities Sell at Lower Markups at the Auction

Select a commonly traded ore or enMatter on the auction and sort the listing by “buyout” with the lowest buyout at the top of the listing. An example of such a listing is shown below:

Larger Quantities Sell at Lower Markups

In the auction listing above, the lowest buyout for oil is at a markup of 101.06% for a quantity of 18652 units. If you are looking for a lower quantity of, say, 2204 units, you will have to pay a higher markup of 104.38%.

This creates an opportunity in which you can simply buy a large quantity for a low buyout, and split it up into several batches to sell at a higher buyout.

Note that this should generally be true for the more commonly traded resources in Planet Calypso's auction. Please do your homework as this might not be always true, especially for the less commonly traded resources, and for auctions not based on Planet Calypso.


Flooding the Auction...Don't

Know the item or resource that you are trading, and know also their typical volumes. There are many reasons that you might want to sell your item fast, but flooding the auction market, even if you are selling at a great price, usually does not help the item sell faster. Many buyers are users and not traders, so they will simply buy what they need but not much more.

In fact, many a time I have seen auctions expire with no buyers when crafters just fill the auction listings with their crafts, with no regard for the market demand.  Or, another avatar can simply list at a slightly better price, leaving the "auction flooder" twiddling his thumbs as he watches his competitor sell while his own auctions remain open.

If you want to sell items fast and you know that the auction does not have the demand for it, your best bet is to find a buyer through the Chat or Messaging System.

If you really want to try to sell through the auction, start by just listing just a few auctions, and wait for those to sell before starting a few more. Rinse and repeat. That way, you can be sure that you will not be stuck with tons of auctions with no buyers.


Lower TT Values of Unlimited Items sell for Higher Markup

I can tell you from experience that unlimited items with lower TT values sell for higher markup. For example, take Alekz Precision Scope. The full TT value is 34.00 PED and the weekly auction markup is +3.20 PED. A scope with a TT of 5 PED might be able to fetch up to TT + 5.00 PED while you you be lucky to sell a full TT scope at TT + 3.00 PED.

I think the reason for this is that the buyer would have more PED left after buying the lower TT value scope and so have more to spend on other items, so she doesn't mind getting less value for her PED.

Another reason could be that she can't afford the full TT scope and so is willing to pay a higher premium for the lower TT scope.

Note that this happens only for unlimited items and limited items would usually sell at their fair value.


Unrefined Ores and EnMatters

Most trades for ores and enMatters are for the refined version. As such, unrefined ores and enMatters tend to go for a lower price than their refined versions, even after taking into account the refining cost. And many listings of unrefined ores and enMatters tend to have low TT values, possibly allowing you the chance to win the auction at a heavily discounted price, as described in the section above.

Tip: If you are regularly refining ores and enMatters, it is advisable to get a top of the line refiner. They cost a little more than the TT or lower end refiners, but they do pay for themselves over the long run.

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Trading in Entropia Universe - The Chat and Messaging System

The Messaging System in Entropia opens up a whole new dimension to your trading business. It is here that you can talk directly to your buyers and sellers, set up custom channels so that your message goes out only the the intended recipients and tap on channels already existing for particular buyers and sellers.


Existing Chat Channels

There are already existing chat channels that you can use for your trading activities. A search of all chat channels that contain the keyword “trade” yielded more than 10 channels. Filtering out the channels with few members, you get the following channels:

• #arktrade - 3140 Members
• #calytrade - 3830 Members
• #cyrene-trade - 563 Members
• #cyrenetrade - 762 Members
• #rookietrade - 422 Members
• #trade - 3972 Members

You can join the channels and have ready buyers and sellers for your trades.

You can also search the channels with keywords specific to your trade strategy and you might just find a channel with a highly targeted audience for your needs.

Local and Trade Chats

The local and trade chats are channels that are visible to everybody in the immediate vicinity. The local chat is used for general chatting while the trade messages should be restricted to the trade chat.

The trade chat is very useful in places where traders gather. For trades of anything under the sun, Twin Peaks is the place to be. For sweat and sweat related stuff, you can try Nea's Place, Boreas and Port Atlantis. Those places are also good for selling gear for beginners.

Custom Chat Channels

You can actually create a custom chat channel. This is very useful especially if you have a lots of stuff to buy and sell and don't want to clutter up the general trade channels with your messages.

I would suggest setting up custom channels for the following purposes:

• Trades of highly specific groups of items like enhancers, socket components and paint cans.
• Discussions of a specific service that you provide.
• Any other type of chats that has high traffic and does not really belong to the general chat and trade channels.

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Conclusion

Entropia Universe is a computer game.  But, as games go, Entropia Universe is probably among the more complicated ones.  In the previous pages, I have simply touched on the basics, enough to get you started and making money right off the bat.

Where you go from here, and how much money you can really make, is now up to you.  I would suggest exploring the following possibilities:

Understand the Game

Take the trouble to understand as much of the game as you can.  In this way, you might just have an edge in knowing when a resource will be in demand, or when an oversupply will happen.  And, with a little ingenuity, you might even be able to create demand for an item or resource.

Be social and make friends

I prefer to buy from or sell to a friend rather than a stranger, especially if I get the same prices with that friend, or even if I get slightly worse prices occasionally.  Furthermore, when making deals or collaborating, it's much easier with a friend as there is trust already built up.  And when you are friends with someone, you have access to their friends too, extending your network of buyers, sellers and potential partners.

So, go ahead and make as many friends as you want.  They are fun to be with, and can help to expand your trading business in Entropia.

Solve a problem

You can look for a problem that Entropians face, find a way to solve it, and you might just be able to profit by by offering a service to solve the problem or by being able to buy or sell more or at a better price.

A problem that comes to mind is when Entropians tier their gear.  They need the specific resources in specific quantities, and will probably end up buying more than they need from the auction and end up TTing the remainder.  Perhaps offering a service to sell just the quantity needed for tiering would be profitable?


The Pareto Principle

In Entropia, just like in the rest of the world, the 80/20 rule or the Pareto principle holds true.  In others words, approximately 20% of Entropia's traders will earn 80% of the trading profits.  So, if you are doing what most of the traders are doing, chances are that you are in the majority or the 80% and enjoy merely 20% of the profits.

To break out and be among the top 20%, you need to be ingenious and think out of the box.  This actually ties in with the first 3 points above.

You will need to take the time to experiment and understand the game since so much of the game is based on "hidden" algorithms and formulas which are not made public.  Understanding the game will let you see and predict trends, appreciate why the prices of some resources behave the way that they do, and perhaps be able to think of simpler or more productive ways of doing things.  Friends who are playing Entropia would also be a good sounding board for new ideas, and maybe good partners for testing those ideas.

Once you have done all that, you are probably already among the top 20% in terms of efforts.  It's should now be just a matter of packaging your idea or service into a marketable form, and launch.

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How to Sell Your Sweat at 2 PED/k

Are you trying to sell your sweat at 1.3 or 1.4 PED/k over global chat or the trade channel and you get accused of crashing the sweat market by selling so low?  They tell you not to sell your sweat at such a low price when you can easily get 2 PED/k for it, and call you many rude names.

You get told that there are multiple uses of sweat other than for the manufacture of Mind Essence.  Sweat is required in the manufacture of some items, some of which would require 100k of sweat per click or attempt.  So, the only reason that sweat is as low as it is is due to the ignorance of folks like you, who crashes the market by selling sweat at such an ungodly price.

But it is not that you haven't tried.  You have been trying to sell at the recommended 2 PED/k over the global trade channels for days without even a nibble. You tried cooling your heels at Twin Peaks for hours but the local trade chat there is just as dead to your asking price of 2 PED/k.

So, can you really sell your sweat at 2 PED/k?

Yes, you can but you have got to remember a few things.  The current price of sweat is lower than 2 PED/k.  I don't know what the current price is but for the purposes of this post, let's assume that it is 1.4 PED/k.  So, the bulk of sweat will change hands at about 1.4 PED/k.  While you might be able to sell sweat at 2 PED/k, you are probably not going to be able to sell all your sweat at this price.

One thing that I have seen players do is to advertise their price of 2 PED/k over the local and global trade channels, which I feel is very ineffective.  Think about it. The trade channels are full of people selling at 1.3 PED/k and 1.4 PED/k and buyers who are looking for the best deal.  Do you think that your 2 PED/k would result in a sale?

Selling your sweat at 2 PED/k would require a little more finesse than just advertising your price over the relevant channels.  The following are a few suggestions that could work:

• If you find a player telling you that sweat can be easily sold at 2 PED/k, that player may have an inside line to a player or players who buy sweat at this price.  You could try sending a private message to that player offering a quick profit.  Tell him that you will sell him your sweat at 1.8 PED/k and he can make a quick profit of 0.2 PED for each k that you sell him.
  
  It would be better not to make such a proposal over public chat since that player may have made a big deal about never selling sweat below 2 PED/k and he would be violating his own principles by buying sweat from you at a lower price.


• Always have a few k of sweat with you when you are sweating. Keep your eyes peeled on the local trade chat for bids of 2 PED/k or above.  Once you see the price that you want, right-click on the avatar or the avatar's name in chat, and select “Avatar – Private Trade”.  The idea is to be the first to trade the avatar – you can ask how much sweat the avatar wants to buy after the trade request is accepted.
  
  Even if an avatar announces the intention to buy sweat without stating the price, you could take the chance and trade him quickly.  If the price is not what you wanted, you can always decline the trade.  And anyway, after a while, you will know which avatar buys low and which ones buy high.


• If you know a player is buying sweat at 2 PED/k, and even if you did not manage the sale, you can send a message and ask if you can be his regular supplier.
  
  I would be careful with this approach as different people would react differently. Keep in mind that that avatar probably knows that 2 PED/k is higher than the current sweat price and tailor your approach so as not to appear to be taking advantage of the situation.  And, above all, if the answer is no, keep a record of the avatar's name and never ask again.


• Big Industries have a Sweating Support Initiative (SSI) that buys 1k of sweat from 10 avatars every day.  Every Monday through Friday at 21:00 and 15:00 on Saturdays and Sundays, a BIG representative will purchase sweat at 2.5 PED/k at the OLA42 teleport (290,587).  However, your agility do have to be 40 or below.

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Related posts: The Fair Price of Sweat in Entropia Universe - A way to estimate the fair price of sweat through the market price of Mind Essence. Is the Fair Price of Sweat Really 2 PED/k? - If you want to be fairly compensated for your time and effort in gathering sweat, what should the price of sweat be? Sweat Tool - Sell Your Sweat at the Best Price - This tool will tell you the most profitable way to sell your sweat.

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The Fair Price of Sweat in Entropia Universe

Introduction

If you have just started your adventure in Entropia Universe, your mentor or the other players would probably have encouraged you to gather Vibrant Sweat from creatures to make some PED for hunting or mining.

You dutifully equip your VSE Mk 1, your trusty and extremely robust sweat extractor, and run around Port Atlantis or Boreas gathering sweat.  You get killed a lot, but the other players tell you that it's good for you, so you suck it up and take it like a man.

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, you finally managed to get 25,000 bottles of Vibrant Sweat, enough for a gun, a full set of armor and some ammo.  It's pay back time!  Gonna look up every single mob that chased you around and show them who's boss.

But, as you are trying to sell the sweat, you face another problem.  On one side, you have the other sweat sellers, telling you to never sell sweat below 2 PED/k.  On the other side, you have the buyers, bidding at 1.3 PED/k for sweat.  You tried selling for 1 hour at Twin Peaks at the recommended price of 2 PED/k, but didn't even get a nibble.

You are thinking of selling to the buyers at 1.3 PED/k, but don't know if you are getting cheated at that price.

So, before you sell, you decided to find out the fair value of sweat, and that's why you are here.

The tables below might take a little getting used to.  I have created another simpler sweat tool that you might find easier to use.

How the Fair Price of Sweat Can be Determined

Vibrant sweat cannot be traded at the auction, so there is no chart or record of the present price of sweat traded.  There is also no way to know the price or quantity of sweat that changes hands between players in face-to-face trades.

However, sweat is a component in the manufacture of Mind Essence or ME, and ME is traded on the auction and its price is available.

So, one way of determining the fair price of sweat is to work backwards from the price of ME.  The weekly sales of ME at the auction stands at 6,500 PED, a relatively large quantity, so the price of ME should be a good guideline for the fair value of sweat.

Determining the Fair Price of Sweat Based on the Current Price of Mind Essence, Force Nexus and the Decay of the Refiner Used

The following section will detail how I arrive at a fair value of sweat based on the price of ME, the price of Force Nexus and the decay of the refiner used.  If you like, you can skip to the end for charts that you can use to determine the fair value of sweat.

To manufacture 1001 X ME, 10 X Force Nexus is combined with 10 X Vibrant Sweat in a refiner.

The TT values of Mind Essence and Force Nexus are as follows:

• 1 X Force Nexus = 0.01 PED
• 100 X Mind Essence = 0.01 PED

There are many refiners in the market, with differing decay values.  The decay does contribute to the cost of manufacture of ME, and thus does affect the calculation of the fair price of sweat.  In the following example, let's use the basic Genesis Star Basic Refiner, with 0.031 PEC per unit decay.  For the refining of ME, 100 X ME refined is equivalent to 1 unit decay or 0.031 PEC decay in the Genesis Star Basic Refiner.

In our example, let's assume the following MU values:

• Force Nexus = 101.50%
• Mind Essence = 124.88%

And let's use 2000 X Force Nexus and 2000 X Vibrant Sweat to make 200200 X Mind Essence.

The refined Mind Essence is worth: 20.02 PED X 1.2488 = 25.00 PED

Subtracting the cost of the Force Nexus and the decay cost will give us the value of 2000 sweat:

Price of Vibrant Sweat = Worth of ME - Worth of Force Nexus - Decay
                    = 25.00 - 20 PED X 1.015 - (200200/100)*0.00031
                    = 25.00 - 20.3 - 0.62
                    = 4.08 PED/2k
                    = 2.04 PED/k

Not a bad value for sweat.  But if a buyer of sweat were to make ME and sell it at the auction, the auction fee, which comes to 0.74 PED, would have to be taken into account:

Price of Vibrant Sweat = Worth of ME - Worth of Force Nexus - Decay - Auction Fee

                    = 25.00 - 20.3 - 0.62 - 0.74

                    = 3.34 PED/2k
                    = 1.67 PED/k

There is still the small matter of a profit for the sweat buyer, but let's not consider it here.

So, given the above prices, for a buyer of sweat to just breakeven, he'd have to buy sweat at no more than 1.67 PED/k.

Note that the buyer can squeeze a little more profit by using a better refiner and by selling bigger stacks at the auction.

Sweat Tables (Price of ME and Nexus to Fair Price of Sweat)

The following are held constant for the tables below:

• ME Quantity Sold at Auction: 200200
• Auction Commission: 0.74 PED (at 124.88% MU for ME)

You can use the tables below to determine your breakeven sweat price if you are buying sweat, making ME and selling at the auction.  You can also use it to determine how much profit your seller actually has at the price that he buys from you.  Main assumption here is that the sweat will be sold at the auction.

Price of Sweat in PED/k

• Refiner used: Chikara Refiner Adjusted - 0.015 PEC decay
• Buyer Profit per 1k of sweat: 0 PED

Nexus(%)/ME(%)	120	121	122	123	124	125	126	127	128	129	130
100	1.49	1.59	1.69	1.79	1.89	1.99	2.09	2.19	2.29	2.39	2.49
100.5	1.44	1.54	1.64	1.74	1.84	1.94	2.04	2.14	2.24	2.34	2.44
101	1.39	1.49	1.59	1.69	1.79	1.89	1.99	2.09	2.19	2.29	2.39
101.5	1.34	1.44	1.54	1.64	1.74	1.84	1.94	2.04	2.14	2.24	2.34
102	1.29	1.39	1.49	1.59	1.69	1.79	1.89	1.99	2.09	2.19	2.29
102.5	1.24	1.34	1.44	1.54	1.64	1.74	1.84	1.94	2.04	2.14	2.24
103	1.19	1.29	1.39	1.49	1.59	1.69	1.79	1.89	1.99	2.09	2.19
103.5	1.14	1.24	1.34	1.44	1.54	1.64	1.74	1.84	1.94	2.04	2.14
104	1.09	1.19	1.29	1.39	1.49	1.59	1.69	1.79	1.89	1.99	2.09
104.5	1.04	1.14	1.24	1.34	1.44	1.54	1.64	1.74	1.84	1.94	2.04
105	0.99	1.09	1.19	1.29	1.39	1.49	1.59	1.69	1.79	1.89	1.99

Price of Sweat in PED/k

• Refiner used: Transformer T-105 - 0.021 PEC decay
• Buyer Profit per 1k of sweat: 0 PED

Nexus(%)/ME(%)	120	121	122	123	124	125	126	127	128	129	130
100	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03	2.13	2.23	2.33	2.43
100.5	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98	2.08	2.18	2.28	2.38
101	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03	2.13	2.23	2.33
101.5	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98	2.08	2.18	2.28
102	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03	2.13	2.23
102.5	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98	2.08	2.18
103	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03	2.13
103.5	1.08	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98	2.08
104	1.03	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03
104.5	0.98	1.08	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98
105	0.93	1.03	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93

Price of Sweat in PED/k

• Refiner used: Genesis Star Basic Refiner - 0.031 PEC decay
• Buyer Profit per 1k of sweat: 0 PED

Nexus(%)/ME(%)	120	121	122	123	124	125	126	127	128	129	130
100	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03	2.13	2.23	2.33
100.5	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98	2.08	2.18	2.28
101	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03	2.13	2.23
101.5	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98	2.08	2.18
102	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03	2.13
102.5	1.08	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98	2.08
103	1.03	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03
103.5	0.98	1.08	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98
104	0.93	1.03	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93
104.5	0.88	0.98	1.08	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88
105	0.83	0.93	1.03	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83

Price of Sweat in PED/k

• Refiner used: Chikara Refiner Adjusted - 0.015 PEC decay
• Buyer Profit per 1k of sweat: 0.1 PED

Nexus(%)/ME(%)	120	121	122	123	124	125	126	127	128	129	130
100	1.39	1.49	1.59	1.69	1.79	1.89	1.99	2.09	2.19	2.29	2.39
100.5	1.34	1.44	1.54	1.64	1.74	1.84	1.94	2.04	2.14	2.24	2.34
101	1.29	1.39	1.49	1.59	1.69	1.79	1.89	1.99	2.09	2.19	2.29
101.5	1.24	1.34	1.44	1.54	1.64	1.74	1.84	1.94	2.04	2.14	2.24
102	1.19	1.29	1.39	1.49	1.59	1.69	1.79	1.89	1.99	2.09	2.19
102.5	1.14	1.24	1.34	1.44	1.54	1.64	1.74	1.84	1.94	2.04	2.14
103	1.09	1.19	1.29	1.39	1.49	1.59	1.69	1.79	1.89	1.99	2.09
103.5	1.04	1.14	1.24	1.34	1.44	1.54	1.64	1.74	1.84	1.94	2.04
104	0.99	1.09	1.19	1.29	1.39	1.49	1.59	1.69	1.79	1.89	1.99
104.5	0.94	1.04	1.14	1.24	1.34	1.44	1.54	1.64	1.74	1.84	1.94
105	0.89	0.99	1.09	1.19	1.29	1.39	1.49	1.59	1.69	1.79	1.89

Price of Sweat in PED/k

• Refiner used: Transformer T-105 - 0.021 PEC decay
• Buyer Profit per 1k of sweat: 0.1 PED

Nexus(%)/ME(%)	120	121	122	123	124	125	126	127	128	129	130
100	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03	2.13	2.23	2.33
100.5	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98	2.08	2.18	2.28
101	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03	2.13	2.23
101.5	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98	2.08	2.18
102	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03	2.13
102.5	1.08	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98	2.08
103	1.03	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03
103.5	0.98	1.08	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98
104	0.93	1.03	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93
104.5	0.88	0.98	1.08	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88
105	0.83	0.93	1.03	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83

Price of Sweat in PED/k

• Refiner used: Genesis Star Basic Refiner - 0.031 PEC decay
• Buyer Profit per 1k of sweat: 0.1 PED

Nexus(%)/ME(%)	120	121	122	123	124	125	126	127	128	129	130
100	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03	2.13	2.23
100.5	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98	2.08	2.18
101	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03	2.13
101.5	1.08	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98	2.08
102	1.03	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93	2.03
102.5	0.98	1.08	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88	1.98
103	0.93	1.03	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83	1.93
103.5	0.88	0.98	1.08	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78	1.88
104	0.83	0.93	1.03	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73	1.83
104.5	0.78	0.88	0.98	1.08	1.18	1.28	1.38	1.48	1.58	1.68	1.78
105	0.73	0.83	0.93	1.03	1.13	1.23	1.33	1.43	1.53	1.63	1.73

Conclusion

If you are selling sweat, I would suggest using the last chart as a guide as to the price at which you can easily sell your sweat.  This chart assumes your buyer has a standard refiner (the higher end refiners have MUs exceeding 100 PED), and assures your buyer of a small profit.

Of course, there are always buyers willing to buy at a higher price.  If you are trying to sell at a higher price:

• Don't Expect a Quick Sale.  The higher your price, the rarer the buyers will be.  And the longer you are going to have to wait for them.  And they might just want a few k of sweat.
• Be Prepared.  Always have a few k with you and not in the storage.  Keep your eyes peeled for any buyer on local chat advertising to buy.  If it is the price that you want, or if they don't advertise a price, just right-click on the avatar or avatar's name and select "Avatar - Private Trade"  The idea is to be the first to trade the avatar but I would suggest to have at least 1k with you before doing that.
• Don't Sell Ice to the Eskimos.  And don't sell sweat at the sweating areas.  At least, I think it's useless to try to do that at higher prices.  Twin Peaks would be a much better place.

Want to start a simple Internet business based on the ClixSense PTC website? This ebook can help!

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Related posts: How to Sell Your Sweat at 2 PED/k - With a little strategy and patience, you might be able to get a good price for your sweat. Is the Fair Price of Sweat Really 2 PED/k? - If you want to be fairly compensated for your time and effort in gathering sweat, what should the price of sweat be? Sweat Tool - Sell Your Sweat at the Best price - This tool will tell you the most profitable way to sell your sweat.

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