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Omnivore
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Gray Pennell
SOC-12
You are dealing with things that drive designers mad. I suggest you back away slowly before the people with white coats show up. The more detail and reality you put into a game the more simulation you have and less of a game.
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far-trader
SOC-14 10K
I've often said this myself (it's solely a metagame artifact) but the more I think about it the more I see it as the background of the setting as well. Backed up to a degree by the notes in Supp 7 Merchants about the breakdown of merchant activity it very much seems like a BIG BOYS club. With smaller traders really restricted by rules such that they can barely make it if operating legally and solely as traders. Rules imposed by the BIG BOYS to protect their business.
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CosmicGamer
SOC-14 1K
I know I don't totally understand the question but here is an analysis which may or may not be helpful.
1. Changing only the cost of the cargo.
A - Cargo A costs the trader 300,000cr and shipping costs from system Alpha to system Beta (including crew, fuel, ship maintenance, life support, trade tariffs, customs fees, docking fees, taxes and so on) are 50,000cr.
B - Cargo B costs the trader 50,000cr and shipping costs from system Alpha to system Beta (including crew, fuel, ship maintenance, life support, trade tariffs, customs fees, docking fees, taxes and so on) are 50,000cr.
If shipping costs are the same, the cost of getting the cargo to market varies based on the cost of cargo. Duh. If the cost of purchasing both cargos goes up by 35,000cr, the overall cost of cargo A to market goes up 10% while the overall cost of cargo B to market goes up 35%
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2. Changing only the cost of shipping.
A - Cargo A costs the trader 200,000cr and shipping costs from system Alpha to system Beta (including crew, fuel, ship maintenance, life support, trade tariffs, customs fees, docking fees, taxes and so on) are 20,000cr.
B - Cargo B costs the trader 200,000cr and shipping costs from system Alpha to system Beta (including crew, fuel, ship maintenance, life support, trade tariffs, customs fees, docking fees, taxes and so on) are 40,000cr.
If procurement costs of cargo is the same, the cost of cargo varies based on the cost of shipping. Again, Duh. But, of note, Even though the shipping costs for B are twice that as for A, the cost of the goods are not going to be doubled because shipping is just one part of the entire cost of getting the cargo to market.
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While time may be a factor in crew costs, total fuel needed, amount of maintenance costs, life support and other factors; take into consideration that a Traders shipping costs are partially offset by passengers and possibly other sources and that some shipping costs like trade tariffs, customs fees, docking fees, taxes, and other items are not varied based on time.
1. Changing only the cost of the cargo.
A - Cargo A costs the trader 300,000cr and shipping costs from system Alpha to system Beta (including crew, fuel, ship maintenance, life support, trade tariffs, customs fees, docking fees, taxes and so on) are 50,000cr.
B - Cargo B costs the trader 50,000cr and shipping costs from system Alpha to system Beta (including crew, fuel, ship maintenance, life support, trade tariffs, customs fees, docking fees, taxes and so on) are 50,000cr.
If shipping costs are the same, the cost of getting the cargo to market varies based on the cost of cargo. Duh. If the cost of purchasing both cargos goes up by 35,000cr, the overall cost of cargo A to market goes up 10% while the overall cost of cargo B to market goes up 35%
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2. Changing only the cost of shipping.
A - Cargo A costs the trader 200,000cr and shipping costs from system Alpha to system Beta (including crew, fuel, ship maintenance, life support, trade tariffs, customs fees, docking fees, taxes and so on) are 20,000cr.
B - Cargo B costs the trader 200,000cr and shipping costs from system Alpha to system Beta (including crew, fuel, ship maintenance, life support, trade tariffs, customs fees, docking fees, taxes and so on) are 40,000cr.
If procurement costs of cargo is the same, the cost of cargo varies based on the cost of shipping. Again, Duh. But, of note, Even though the shipping costs for B are twice that as for A, the cost of the goods are not going to be doubled because shipping is just one part of the entire cost of getting the cargo to market.
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While time may be a factor in crew costs, total fuel needed, amount of maintenance costs, life support and other factors; take into consideration that a Traders shipping costs are partially offset by passengers and possibly other sources and that some shipping costs like trade tariffs, customs fees, docking fees, taxes, and other items are not varied based on time.
DangerousThing
SOC-13
Heck, you're dealing with things that drive Economists mad!
Except that in your case, you're not worrying about price change, you're asking how different economic decisions at the start will change the game tables.
I wish you luck, because all the economics I've studies has talked about price change (in other words, there *was* a price A and now costs have changed so that the price is now B). In your ATU there never was a price A.
So feel free to set prices as you see fit.
However, there are some caveats.
If a planet has the ability to synthesize or make a product for less than the price of an imported version, why are they importing the product? Is the imported stuff better, or perceived better?
Good luck!
To figure your shipping costs, take your ship, find the cost per ton of cargo (counting ship financing, crew, etc) to ship it. Then multiply by 1.5 to 2. That's your expected cost to ship the goods. A high passage price is either 4.2 or 5 tons of cargo, plus the cost of LS for the Length of the trip, plus the share of the steward's salary, stateroom, and LS... with the non-cargo-tonnage-equivalent costs being multiplied by the same amount as before.
This gives you your break-even cost to ship.
If you use Bk2, T20, or similar goods tables, any good for which price x4 is below shipping cost is a loss. If more than, oh, about 1/4 of the table is at that point, it's worth revising the tables to reflect those items that would be shipped more, and deleting or subtabling those items that are non-profitable to ship. (CT's tables have none that can't make a profit at Cr1000 shipping.)
Keep in mind that some people will ship stuff that's not otherwise profitable for a variety of reasons, but those are not trade goods shipments. It's cheaper to abandon typical furniture than to move it between Alaska and, say, Texas; still, people routinely move furniture to/from Alaska when transferring to/from texas. Emotional attachment counts a lot.
So carried goods tables are likely to be very different than available goods tables.
This gives you your break-even cost to ship.
If you use Bk2, T20, or similar goods tables, any good for which price x4 is below shipping cost is a loss. If more than, oh, about 1/4 of the table is at that point, it's worth revising the tables to reflect those items that would be shipped more, and deleting or subtabling those items that are non-profitable to ship. (CT's tables have none that can't make a profit at Cr1000 shipping.)
Keep in mind that some people will ship stuff that's not otherwise profitable for a variety of reasons, but those are not trade goods shipments. It's cheaper to abandon typical furniture than to move it between Alaska and, say, Texas; still, people routinely move furniture to/from Alaska when transferring to/from texas. Emotional attachment counts a lot.
So carried goods tables are likely to be very different than available goods tables.
I played around with a Striker-designed Ground-to-Orbit grav truck at one point. Occurred to me that it was much easier to deliver cargo from orbit straight to whatever city - or even specific factory or warehouse - it was intended for rather than having it land somewhere and then have to make a second trip. Idea was to build something that could accept the average 20-ton (metric, not dTon) shipping container and take it directly from the high port to wherever it was wanted - or vice versa.
Anyway, my g-truck came in under a million credits. A lot up front, but the savings in fuel over the life of the thing was huge, it just drove out other forms of city-to-city transport. (It also incidentally drove out independent truckers, since the bigger corps were the only ones who could afford the up-front cost.) And, of course, nothing else is a real candidate for the GTO work. At any rate, it was delivering goods profitably at something like forty to fifty credits a metric ton. My standardized shipping container's modeled after modern custom and is coming in under 4 dtons, so that's roughly Cr800-1000 for a 4 dTon container. I haven't the foggiest idea what shipping charges run, so I don't know what kind of a burden that might be on trade, but it does not seem excessive - leastways, most things that can be profitably shipped interstellar at Cr1000 a dTon should be able to handle a Cr200 surcharge.
(It also left the interstate system in decay. Best I can figure, what would be left would be something akin to the old Route-66 type system.)
Anyway, my g-truck came in under a million credits. A lot up front, but the savings in fuel over the life of the thing was huge, it just drove out other forms of city-to-city transport. (It also incidentally drove out independent truckers, since the bigger corps were the only ones who could afford the up-front cost.) And, of course, nothing else is a real candidate for the GTO work. At any rate, it was delivering goods profitably at something like forty to fifty credits a metric ton. My standardized shipping container's modeled after modern custom and is coming in under 4 dtons, so that's roughly Cr800-1000 for a 4 dTon container. I haven't the foggiest idea what shipping charges run, so I don't know what kind of a burden that might be on trade, but it does not seem excessive - leastways, most things that can be profitably shipped interstellar at Cr1000 a dTon should be able to handle a Cr200 surcharge.
(It also left the interstate system in decay. Best I can figure, what would be left would be something akin to the old Route-66 type system.)
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Gray Pennell
SOC-12
I have studied economics and done supply chain analyses thats why the question scared me!
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