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EVE New Citizens Q&A

 
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Courier contract profit
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Pyramus Romanus
University of Caille
Gallente Federation
#1 - 2012-06-08 08:52:41 UTC
Admission - I'm pretty new round here, but I couldn't find a previous post which answered this question.

I've taken a look at some courier contracts available to me in the region, and all of them seem to call for massive collateral with tiny per-jump profit ... is this standard? I was wondering whether it was just a time-of-day or lack of skills thing, but I was slightly unsure why people would take ~100,000 ISK profit for 5-10 jumps and have to lay out a multi million ISK collateral? Should I be looking elsewhere for my contracts, or is the business just pretty low-profit?
Velicitia
XS Tech
#2 - 2012-06-08 09:21:43 UTC
usually the good ones are snatched up pretty quickly ... the small ones with a huge collateral are possibly people moving BPOs ... or scams.

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Peri Simone
Federal Navy Academy
Gallente Federation
#3 - 2012-06-08 09:25:12 UTC
This is pretty standard. Large hauling corps like Red Frog Freight make good use of these because they have the initial outlay, stack up multiple contracts and can use jump freighters, but it's not a terribly profitable business for the new guy in an Iteron.

If you're looking to haul with less cash up front you might try looking at NPC consumer goods and taking advantage of the difference in region prices, or go straight into region trading (arbitrage) in the player market.
Steve Ronuken
Fuzzwork Enterprises
Vote Steve Ronuken for CSM
#4 - 2012-06-08 09:42:27 UTC
Large collateral is there to stop people stealing your stuff. (Collateral should at least match market value)

Low payouts are there to not add huge amounts to the prices of what's being moved.

Woo! CSM XI!

Fuzzwork Enterprises

Twitter: @fuzzysteve on Twitter
Pyramus Romanus
University of Caille
Gallente Federation
#5 - 2012-06-08 11:09:17 UTC
Thanks all for the replies, so basically looks like unless you have some high-speed hauling capability, or the ability to pick up considerable amounts of cargo, the profits available are pretty low! Cheers for the input.
Abdiel Kavash
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#6 - 2012-06-08 12:36:39 UTC
You shouldn't be looking at contracts, you should be looking at price differences of items in different regions and trade hubs. If you can buy something cheap and sell it for more in another place, that's your trade. If you happen to see a courier contract that would take you a similar route, consider it bonus money.
Steve Ronuken
Fuzzwork Enterprises
Vote Steve Ronuken for CSM
#7 - 2012-06-08 15:13:22 UTC
Pyramus Romanus wrote:
Thanks all for the replies, so basically looks like unless you have some high-speed hauling capability, or the ability to pick up considerable amounts of cargo, the profits available are pretty low! Cheers for the input.



The problem is, you're competing with a whole bunch of other people.

Including Meta Corps, like Red Frog. (The actual freighter pilots aren't in corp. just contract alts).

People /like/ being able to throw it at a service, which they have a better chance of trusting (more reputation loss), fixed prices, and the knowledge that people will try and complete it quickly

Woo! CSM XI!

Fuzzwork Enterprises

Twitter: @fuzzysteve on Twitter
Iria Ahrens
Space Perverts and Forum Pirates
#8 - 2012-06-09 11:09:53 UTC  |  Edited by: Iria Ahrens
I mainly use contracts when I'm moving my hauler without a full cargo. If I've got space and there is a contract along the route I'll be taking anyway, then I'll grab it. Since I fly indies not freighters, it cuts out a lot of opportunity.

Actually, I started doing courier contracts to build up my cash. Found them better than level 1 and 2 missions. Found it faster than missions. People obsess over profit per jump, but what really matters is profit/hour. One contract might not pay so great, but if you have several packages along the same route, it can work out the same to one big payout.

My choice of pronouns is based on your avatar. Even if I know what is behind the avatar.
Nerath Naaris
Pink Winged Unicorns for Peace Love and Anarchy
#9 - 2012-06-09 11:22:00 UTC
I have found 1% profit of the collateral is normal. Less if it is a small contract (say a cruiser can do it) or if the destination is close. Also less if it is around or between trade hubs where there is more competition.

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Singulis Pacifica
Pator Tech School
Minmatar Republic
#10 - 2012-06-10 02:13:12 UTC  |  Edited by: Singulis Pacifica
Hey Pyramus,

As a courier shipper myself, I have to say that it's a challenging market, but one that does allow you to get better at over time.

I don't necessarily mean skils, although it does provide more safety if you can learn better defensive skills, get a bigger cargohold etc. What I really mean is plain and simple: If you really want to focus on this particular area, you need financial resources to back up the collaterals. Yes, 1 billion ISK for 3-4 million ISK reward is normal. The profits are a lot smaller if you haul within a region. Heck I remember that the first one I ever did was only for 1,000 ISK reward with a collateral of 10k. But suppose you decide to cover several constellations on your way to a trading hub in that region. That could be quite profitable if you unload all of them at once.

Nowadays I've made contact with the frequent corps and individuals that put contracts on the market regularly and I'm even the sole-shipper of a few. This trust is what you need. All you ever end up doing is hauling goods from A to B. Have a big wallet and you're hauling multiple goods from A to B. End result. Reward of 10 million ISK per run or so.

Sure sure. Level 4's and whatnot is a lot more profitable, but it's a separate market couriers operate in. We depend on the players for our income, which is different from the many mission-runners out there.

Good luck if you're going to stick with it. I always love it when someone else is really happy I shipped stuff for him. To me, that reward is even more valuable than a million ISK.
Pyramus Romanus
University of Caille
Gallente Federation
#11 - 2012-06-11 21:25:19 UTC
Excellent - thanks for the subsequent posts -

@Singulis - thanks for that additional post, and to Iria for her input on the filling extra parts of cargo/multi contracting - much appreciated.