Most valueable cargos per ton.

[jason taylor]

A Free Trader must make every inch of cargo space count. Therefore some thought might be taken about his best cargoes.


What are some of the priciest cargos.

1. Luxuries. Variable, because demand depends on fashion as much as on taste and doesn't depend at all on necessity. Surviving here requires a lot of
"feel".

2. Munitions. Small arms are always in demand somewhere. Some arms, esp some hunting and dueling equipment for nobles are highly customised and class under category 1. Cutting edge arms are of course highly demanded but a typical free trader won't be trusted with them and might think carrying them is imprudent anyway. Of course what is normal on one planet is a Devilish Death Machine on another. Heavy stuff is kind of well, heavy, and is also noticeable. A free trader's best bet in this line may be small arms unless he has a very special contract.

3. Electronics Equipment. This is small and in high demand. Software might simply ship by X-boat as mail. Not all of it will though. Hardware is in high demand and takes up little space.

4. Medical Supplies. Medicinal Drugs are in this category(Narcotics are in category 1). As are basic equipment.

5. Survival Equipment. On some frontier worlds these can be in high demand. Naturally one cannot bring the wrong equipment. Do not bring heavy clothing to a jungle. Fortunatly in the above example technology has improved to the point where there is clothing that depends on artificial tempature settings.

Boots, camp stoves, canteens(with adjustable temperature settings perhaps), all should go well.

6. Extreme Climate Equipment. Equipment for living on planets normally uninhabitable to sophants(High radiation worlds, high temp, unbreathable atmo, etc). This is a special category of survival equipment . One can count on high demand as long as there is such a world being settled.

7. "Oops, those silly line traders missed" cargos. Unfortunately this is only good for a few runs. Still, if you hear there is a famine on planet x before someone else does you can have a few runs of quite profitable bulk. Route traders are not able to shift as quickly as you are and that is a free trader's advantage.

Any others?

[Six_Gun_Sam]

Power Armor. Fusion Rifles. Gemstones. Radioactives.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Six_Gun_Sam

Power Armor. Fusion Rifles. Gemstones. Radioactives.

The first two are arms the third luxuries, never thought about the fourth.

Would radioactives need someone who specializes in them?

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

The first two are arms the third luxuries, never thought about the fourth.

Would radioactives need someone who specializes in them?

Once they are in their shipping containers, I wouldn't think so. Realistically they won't be all that profitable though, they're essentially raw materials commodities. Stuff that costs a lot per unit weight is largely stuff that takes a lot of labor (including design labor) or specialized facilities to produce - the distilled work and capital costs it contains adds to the value without adding weight. Precision engineered machine parts, or complex organic chemicals that take dedicated plants and lots and lots of reaction steps to make for example. The downside for a free trader is these mostly are things that have highly specific markets, and they already have regular supply arrangements.

[jim.maclean]

The best cargo is not the most valuable per ton, but the one with the biggest price difference between origin and destination. So if gold is 1MCr/ton on both the origin and destination, you've wasted your time regardless of the value of the cargo. But if frozen fish is 10KCr/ton at origin and 20KCr/ton at destination then that's a huge opportunity. That's +10KCr/ton you just made.

[Six_Gun_Sam]

Originally Posted by malloyd

Realistically they won't be all that profitable though, they're essentially raw materials commodities.

Ha! Take a laugh point. There is a distinct difference between say Uranium ore and refined Uranium. Just ask the Iranians.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Six_Gun_Sam

Ha! Take a laugh point. There is a distinct difference between say Uranium ore and refined Uranium. Just ask the Iranians.

That would be arms. Very noticeable arms. And someone is likly to be mad at you afterwords. So you better get paid well for the job. Can't you just hear it: "My Pa always said, 'never take gov'ment cargo 'lessin you get paid right and proper for it. Usually aint worth the fuss.'"

[Eltharon]

Something illegal immediately springs to mind. Drugs, slaves, illegal arms, etc.

The overwhelming problem with all this is if you ship in bulk, it's hard to conceal, which means that at some point, you and the iron fist of Imperial Law will meet, and the Free Trader will come out on the losing side.

[jason taylor]

Probably a Free Trader is best to keep a low profile and slaves just aren't a low profile. Besides, slaving doesn't just run you afoul of the Imperium, plus a number of other governments, plus anyone who happens to have High Status reliatives or similar Connections or Claims to Hospitality. Or simply any Connection that can find a formidable Ally(remember Burn Notice, "Comrades" anyone?). It also necessarily requires you to deal with pirates and organized crime. CoH aside, it is a dangerous line of work and while it might be profitable it also attracts attention and little sympathy(I bet Swordies LOVE the irony of someone who dealt in Corsair captives being sentanced to Chains-And-Gallows for instance).

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

Probably a Free Trader is best to keep a low profile and slaves just aren't a low profile. Besides, slaving doesn't just run you afoul of the Imperium, plus a number of other governments, plus anyone who happens to have High Status reliatives or similar Connections or Claims to Hospitality. Or simply any Connection that can find a formidable Ally(remember Burn Notice, "Comrades" anyone?). It also necessarily requires you to deal with pirates and organized crime. CoH aside, it is a dangerous line of work and while it might be profitable it also attractss attention and little sympathy(I bet Swordies LOVE the irony of someone who dealt in Corsair captives being sentanced to Chains-And-Gallows for instance).

On the other hand if you are a specialist in "the dark side" it might work. Slaving might be more likly on Frontier worlds especially those with low TL or those in which imported tech is more expensive then Sophant labor.