Trading

Introduction

This guide will teach you how to trade in Star Citizen, i.e. moving cargo from one port to another with the intention of selling it. It will not showcase the best spot to sell cargo, as that depends on several variables on each server. Before you can trade, you have to make sure that the ship you want to use, is able to be spawned from the port. 

 

SCU

Standard Cargo Unit (SCU), is the universal measure for cargo storage and transport measurements. 1 SCU is the standard box, the size of which all other boxes are measured. 1 SCU can hold 100 units before it's full. Since 1 SCU is the smallest sized storage container, this means buying 1 unit of beans or 100 units of beans, the same 1 SCU of Beans will be delivered into the cargo hold. The 101st unit of Beans that is purchased means that beans are now occupying 2 SCU in the cargo hold. It's also worth noting that players cannot mix commodities in the same SCU Crate. 

 

Trading & Shipping Console

The Trading & Shipping Console is where you buy and sell cargo. A picture of one is under 'Buying Cargo'. These are located at every port, some outposts, and every city. There are also consoles that are connected to criminality, such as consoles that sell Widow, a drug. The list of things a console sells depends on where you buy. For example, Port Olisar will not sell Widow because it's a criminal drug.

 

Buying cargo

Interact with the console to start.

Once on this screen, if you wish to buy, select a ship to trade with.

Once the ship has been selected, the console will show what you can buy from this port. Select the cargo you wish to trade with, scale how much you want of it with the slider on the bottom right side, and purchase cargo.

You will get this box to make sure you want to buy it, if you don't, click 'NO THANKS'. 

Your cargo will shortly appear in the ship, once the transaction is complete. You are now ready to take-off and sell it somewhere else.

 

Selling cargo

Once you've made it to a place that you want to sell your commodities to, and they wish to buy it, make your way to the console again. Interact with it, but click 'SELL' on the top instead. Select the ship with the cargo.

You can see how much cargo there is currently being used, as well as by what, on the left side. In the middle, it shows what the console accepts. It also shows the price per unit of it. 

Once again, you can use the slider on the bottom right to sell how much you want of a specific commodity. 

When you got the right amount, you need to confirm it.

Once confirmed, you'll get a message saying your transaction has succeeded. If there is more than one type of commodity in your cargo space, you need to repeat the process for the other cargo.