Trading For Dummies

source

A comprehensive guide.

By Squill

Are the markets a mystery to you? Are you left in the dark while your neighbors have that new skylight in their keep? Do you know how they managed to afford such a luxury? Read on and you will be enlightened.

They played the market; wised up to the ways of Illy trade and sold their soles. Now it your time to turn in a profit and walk the Silk Road. Follow your feet as you follow this guide.

"Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy; profit from folly rather than participate in it."

Warren Buffett

Buildings:

The first thing that you should upgrade/build to start earning a profit is a Market Place, and then followed by a Common Ground, and a Paddock. Upgrade these buildings (not at the expense of upgrading other buildings) continuously, the higher you upgrade the faster you produce the more profit. Certain research requires that you have certain building already built. All these buildings can be found under the City Research Tab.

Most Profitable Resources To Sell (In descending order):

Chainmail - Blacksmith

Cows - Common Ground

Swords - Blacksmith (You can only build one type of product at a time in a Blacksmith)

Books - Book Binder (Horses replace Books in this spot during Tournaments)

Horses - Paddock

Plate Amour - Forge

Bows - Fletcher

Beer - Brewery

Spears - Spear Maker

This list was created by the examining the cost of basic resources; advanced resources, and gold required to produce an individual product. Also note that while Saddles are the most expensive resources on the market they require two cows to produce; this in turn lowers their profitability. Another important observation is the producing siege block and selling them on the market is operating on a loss; so I would not suggest building a siege workshop at all as you can just buy siege blocks for much less.

Research:

Most research under City is required in order to build Advanced Resource producing buildings. Additionally, research under Trading is also important as this allows you to have more caravans in your town; also enabling you to increase the carrying capacity.

Research required produce:

Chainmail - Smiting

Cows - None

Swords - Smiting

Books - Bookbinding

Horses - None

Plate Amour -Forging

Bows - Fletching

Beer - Brewing (under Quest)

Spears - Spearmaking

More Caravans - Haggling, Bartering, Trading, Mercantilism, Cartels... (under Trade)

Higher Carrying Capacity - Improved Loading, Reinforced Cartwheels... (under Trade)

The Market:

The market place is where everything comes together. This is where you are able to buy and sell resources. The market is fickle and largely dependent on what is going on around you.

  • The price of advanced resources such as spears, saddles, swords, bows, horses, chainmail, plate amour, and leather amour are all used in large quantities when producing troops. So in times of war, and tournaments: when players produce more troops, these Advanced Resources become more expensive.
  • Cows and books are not directly used in war, so there prices remain relatively steady. Cows however are used indirectly in the production of troops because they are used to produce leather amour and saddles; the prices of cows remain relatively calm because people tend to produce Advanced Resources regardless of war. This is of course a profitable exercise so I suggest you do the same.
  • The price of Basic Resources will continue to rise because as new players enter Illy they mostly require basic resources; so their demand will increase and thus their prices.
  • Selling Advanced Resources that you have produced continuously is the only method that can bring you a large amount of wealth; taxing your cities is relatively insignificant until you have a huge population.

Buy and Sell

Buying and Selling is a simple process; if you desire a product you can accept a sell order or place a buy order. If you want to make a profit sell: Resources by placing a sell order. Buy orders only require one caravan to carry the gold, sell orders require as many caravans as the goods can fit into.

  • Always remember to place your buy order or sell order with a relatively reasonable price; insure that the price you place it at; is the price that will see that your order is at the top of the list. If it is not there when you place it then it is unlikely that your order will be fulfilled.
  • I also believe in buy orders to get a much better price for goods: you should place buy orders instead of accepting sell orders. This might mean that you wait for a while; but in a relatively short period time, your buy order will be accepted for a much better price.
  • Do not place large sell orders for advanced resources (over 500 products), this requires you to wait longer for you product to be sold because some people do not need that many Advanced Resources, or they do not have the funds for it.

Other wealth gaining tips:

  • Sovereign plots require a lot of Basic Resources and gold. The bonuses they provide do not amount to the price of the goods they require. So do not build them; especially if you are new to Illy.
  • Set your tax to 0 percent when starting out as this provides you with more Basic Resources; this is far more valuable then gold at smaller populations.
  • Do not produce troops when you are new to Illy; rather sell the resources that you require to build those troops. A rune is much better protection at younger stages.

That concludes this guide, further editions and alterations may be made later on to keep up with current trends.