Market Discussions

I've given station trading a try over the past 4-5 days to see what I could make ISK wise. I decided to start with 25 million ISK, that seemed like a pretty good amount. I don't think I've made more than 5 million total. I've read guides, forums, and watched youtube videos, and applied what they've taught, but can't seem to get the income they are talking about (which is like 5 million a day -- realistic?).

What advice would the MD offer?

Start with 250 millions instead of 25.

I think people read these forums and see the big money that can be made in trading and do not realize what goes into it. First, you started with 25m and made 5m. Which is a good margin. Trading in EvE is all about margins. The more ISK you trade with, the better chance you have of making more profit. Let's say you invested 500m ISK instead of the 25m. Now, you have invested more, so typically your margins will go down. Let's say you make 10% off this investment. Now you have made 50m ISK in the same amount of time by using (note I didn't say spending) more ISK to invest.

Eventually, you get to a point where investing more ISK doesn't really net you a lot more profit (again, the more you invest the overall profit margin generally goes down). However, if you are very diligent that number is into the 100s of billions. Anyway, hope this helps.

Kat

Right on the money. If you made 5M on a 25M investment, after just 4-5 days, then you are off to a great start. Most players make less or even lose money on their first market experiments. Basically, if you are making, not losing, ISK, you are probably not doing anything incorrectly, although you always might be able to do it better.

As you continue to experiment and spend more time watching the markets, you'll soon be able to recognize and exploit the opportunities which best fit your desired playing style. Some people prefer to sit at a single major hub, such as Jita. Other people prefer to move around, even hopping regions. Some players buy and sell items at the same station; others buy items at one station and sell them at another station - sometimes all within the same region, but sometimes in different regions, too. Some folks specialize in a few items; others invest in many items. Some players do nothing else in Eve but play the market; others setup a market alt and let it run orders while their main is focusing on PVP or running missions. Each style of play has its own pros and cons, but they all tend to generate more ISK as you become more proficient at increasing your margin.

While you are experimenting and learning, you'll also be building up your capital, either via your market experiments or by doing the activities suggested by Elise and Kirian - ie. mission running and/or looting/salvaging wrecks (I'd stay away from mining, though - booorrrring, lol). And, as Katareena noted, more ISK to invest means more chance to make more profit. All good advice.

As a next step and short cut, I'd suggest that you identify your preferred style of market play, and then try to join a corporation whose members tend to use the same style (you don't want to join a PVP corp, if your desire is to be a full-time market player). You'll be able to more easily get specific answers to specific questions from your fellow corp members, and be able to share ideas without overly worrying about someone stealing your thunder. They might even be willing to loan you startup capital.

Overall, it should not take long for you to get to 5M per day, and then to the magical 15M per day, at which point you can play Eve for free - ie. earning enough ISK to always afford to buy a PLEX each month. Some people refer to this as "winning at Eve"... lol.

I think it took me about 3 months to get to the 15M per day level, but I was on my own in a one-man corp, learning completely through trial-and-lots-of-error. Many, many players have done it faster. So, there is no reason why you could not do it faster, too, esp. with the help of a few experienced corp mates.

But, last piece of advice, whatever you do, don't let it turn into a grind. Eve is a game and it is supposed to be fun, not work!

Thanks for all the great replies!

I started with 5m and it took a while to get the momentum going.

Keep re-investing whatever you get back- and before you know it you'll be a billionaire :)