EVE New Citizens Q&A

The things you might be looking for here are t2 transports (deep space transports and blockade runners), or freighters.

Deep space transports haul a bit more than their t1 counterparts, but the primary benefit is that they can be tanked really, really hard. If you fit a DST properly (you don't even need to sacrifice cargo capacity; just a DCU and some shield extenders usually works) it is not profitable to suicide gank unless you are carrying stupidly expensive cargo. Beware, though - they're very, very slow, and take a long time to travel.

Blockade runners are what you need if you plan on flying around lowsec/0.0. Not really good for hisec travel unless you're at war due to their poor cargo capacity, they're amazing if you ever plan on flying around lowsec/0.0. Beware, there's other things you need if you plan on flying in lowsec/0.0 (insta-undock BMs at stations you use frequently, knowledge of cloak+MWD trick, etc...)

Freighters are only useful if you are moving absolutely absurd volumes (like large numbers of ships). These are generally used by corps to move around, but are sometimes used by traders.




This isn't intrinsic to trading but yes, you can totally do this. Standings also help reduce the refining tax.



Social skills help, but ultimately you need to run missions to really get the standing up. Fortunately, you don't actually need to do combat missions - couriers get your standing up just as fast, if not faster. There are also people who offer standings services - you fleet with them and AFK in station while they run missions for a corp, boosting your standings. This only works for specific corps, however.




Other than what you listed, it really depends. Trading is a diverse field. If you plan on moving around a lot, basic fitting/navigation skills will help getting around. In general, though, trading is not a SP-heavy profession. Aside from the trade skills and what you listed, there's not all that much SP will do for you.

This should be in any trading FAQ, at the top, and in bold letters. This is the beauty of trading and what makes it one of the most awesome professions (most of us consider that word filthy wow-slang) in EVE. I have several trading characters with no major skillpoints outside of trade, almost no standings to speak of, and one of them doesn't even have an industrial ship at all.

Here's the essential meat and potatoes skill-plan that I use to start all my trade alts: I tailored it for amarr since you mentioned a bestower.

Cybernetics I - Get some cheap implants and shave a day or two off your training time.
Trade I
Social I
Contracting I
Trade II
Broker Relations I
Retail I
Marketing I
Contracting II
Broker Relations II
Retail II
Marketing II
Procurement I
Procurement II
Trade III
Contracting III
Amarr Frigate III
Amarr Industrial I
Broker Relations III
Retail III
Marketing III
Procurement III
Trade IV
Daytrading I
Accounting I
Daytrading II
Accounting II
Daytrading III
Accounting III
Contracting IV
Daytrading IV
Broker Relations IV
Retail IV
Accounting IV
Margin Trading I
Margin Trading II
Margin Trading III
Margin Trading IV
Marketing IV
Procurement IV
Visibility I
Visibility II
Visibility III
Visibility IV

It isn't complete and I recommend Accounting and Broker Relations V along with a few other skills for your final product, but that in a nutshell is about 25 days to a 95% efficient new trader. In eve-time, that's absolutely nothing. I spend more than 25 days on a single skill with most of my other alts these days. That is 25 days with no implants or remap required. If you manage to get your hands on a couple implants and remap appropriately, that time drops to less than 20.

PS; Social I is a pre-req of contracting, and that's the only reason it's in there.

You are quite welcome. Feel free to mail me here on evegate if you have any other trade related questions. I'll be glad to help you with the basics, although I don't do loans or give out my investing secrets. =)