The merchant princes

[Der Helm]

Till now I have only used the industrial skills to make my own ammo.

Since my income might increase during the next weeks (looking forward to that battleship, thanks Dwindlehop  :-D) I'd like to start building something bigger.

As far as I know, there are some people on this board who focus on the "crafting" side of EVE, I would be thankfull for any kind of advice.

My questions are as follows:

- Is there money to be made in the crafting of low value items like ammo/drones etc, I won't be able to afford any of the larger BPO's for some time I think ? What about buying BPC's from escrow ?

- Is mining for minerals necessary or is it possible to make a profit by buying minerals from full time miners and go from there ?

- What about research ? As far as I know, ME is the way to go. My science skills are rudimentary (science IV), again, what about buying pre-researched BPC from Escrow ?

Thats about it, this are my skills, what should I improve, which skills should I get, after I got my missile and BS related skills high enough ?

Industry / Rank 1 / SP: 8000 of 45255
Mass Production / Rank 2 / SP: 500 of 2829
Mining / Rank 1 / SP: 7040 of 8000
Refining / Rank 1 / SP: 4824 of 8000

Cybernetics / Rank 3 / SP: 750 of 4243
Science / Rank 1 / SP: 45255 of 256000

Trade / Rank 1 / SP: 1415 of 8000

[Furiously]

Get Production Efficiency I believe.

[Der Helm]

Get Production Efficiency I believe.

Description sounds usefull, thanks.

[Reg]

- Is there money to be made in the crafting of low value items like ammo/drones etc, I won't be able to afford any of the larger BPO's for some time I think ? What about buying BPC's from escrow ?

Yes there is. The key is to find a good system to sell in. Look for a popular agent runner system outside of the main market hub regions (ie. not Essence or Heimatar etc.) Check your map and see if you can find one that has a population of 100+ during primetime. When agent runners are outfitting a ship they're almost always willing to pay a premium price just to avoid travelling to pick things up.

- Is mining for minerals necessary or is it possible to make a profit by buying minerals from full time miners and go from there ?

Nope. Mining isn't necessary. In fact, once you get going it's pretty much impossible to mine everything you need yourself.

- What about research ? As far as I know, ME is the way to go. My science skills are rudimentary (science IV), again, what about buying pre-researched BPC from Escrow ?

Yes. ME is definitely the way to go. For a small BPO like ammo you can research it as high as it needs to be in a few hours. The trick is finding a free lab which isn't easy in empire space.

You'll want to get your trade skills up high enough so that you can have all the buy and sell orders that you need going. If you get into it seriously you can pick up the other skills that reduce taxes and broker charges. Margin Trading is also nice because it lets you put up big buy orders and not have the money taken until they're actually filled.

[Comstar]

I'm selling stuff in 1V- that wasn't avilable before: Passive shield reisters, and Minmater haulers and Frigates, and ammo.

The medium ammo and heavy missles arn't making much, but there is DEFINATLY money to be made in large ammo for battleships. I'm only selling large Fusion projectile, which is the angel ammo for battleship ratting. Try selling it in JLO or PAX.

I get enough mins from ratting and melting down stuff, but you may need to mine for Zydrine and nox, but thats only used for ship building.

There's a market for Frigs, haulers, and cruisers, and the BPO's don't cost much for them. There's a market for BC's and larger, but those BPO's cost a lot. I myself have 15 runs of Cyclones I havn't been able to get enough mins for...if I mined enough ore I could sell them for 20-25mil each.

[Der Helm]

I myself have 15 runs of Cyclones I havn't been able to get enough mins for...if I mined enough ore I could sell them for 20-25mil each.

Hm. Just wondering. How much mining would be involved in getting the minerals for a cyclone ? Lets say with a scythe cruiser (I have min cruiser 4)

Hours ? Days ? Weeks ?

[JoeTF]

Geez, just buy the dman minerals and afk-ferry them to your production facilities.
You fly a little, locate places with cheap ores/minerals, set up really cheap buy orders (they will fill out, eventually). When you get minerals spread through entire galaxy you just set autopilot in windowed EVE, while spamming f13. It's not a fast way to make cash, but time requirements are minimal.

[Comstar]

Solo mining in -V- space? My guess is a couple of hours or a week or so solo.

Do it in a group, probably about 2-5 hours?

[Yoru]

Geez, just buy the dman minerals and afk-ferry them to your production facilities.
You fly a little, locate places with cheap ores/minerals, set up really cheap buy orders (they will fill out, eventually). When you get minerals spread through entire galaxy you just set autopilot in windowed EVE, while spamming f13. It's not a fast way to make cash, but time requirements are minimal.

That's an easy way to lose a lot of money if you're running through 0.0 or have empire wars.

[dwindlehop]

I'm doing a bit of buying low and selling high. The selling high part hasn't actually panned out yet, but I have faith. I need to get out of Metropolis/Scalding Pass and into someplace where I can really flex my Margin Trading/Marketing muscles.

If there's more supply than demand you need researched BPOs and maxed production efficiency to reduce your marginal costs. If there's not competition, you can get by with BPCs and very little production efficiency.

Buy orders for minerals at multiple stations or with a range greater than station net you minerals at a much cheaper rate. If you're trying to make money do not look at the sell orders, because they'll eat into your profits horribly. A reasonable alternative to afk min hauling is BPC hauling, which can be much easier and less risky.

IANAM, but you'd need to be in highsec to afk up mins. Your time as a non-afk miner is best spent mining the most expensive ore you can get, then buying the mins you are short of from the market.

I tried a similar thing with Target Painters which are not available in Arzi/Neesher. Just wasn't enough volume. You can move ships and make some decent isk at a relatively low margin, but it takes upfront investment and some work to get the mins into place. You can make mods with very good margin but it's tough to sell enough to make decent isk. Location is everything.

[dwindlehop]

If you're trying to make money do not look at the sell orders, because they'll eat into your profits horribly.

You need more trade skills.

[JoeTF]

Geez, just buy the dman minerals and afk-ferry them to your production facilities.
You fly a little, locate places with cheap ores/minerals, set up really cheap buy orders (they will fill out, eventually). When you get minerals spread through entire galaxy you just set autopilot in windowed EVE, while spamming f13. It's not a fast way to make cash, but time requirements are minimal.

That's an easy way to lose a lot of money if you're running through 0.0 or have empire wars.

Uhm, you didn't seriously considered geting low-ends in 0.0 space?
0.0 is for hi-end minerals and those can be transported even in a shuttle.
Same goes for empire wars. You don't afk in space when you have one.
Just get an alt in noob corp(it's just a few days) and your only problem are pirates.