Da Fei returned to the exchange, surrounded by merchants cursing up a storm.
Psh, are you guys done with your righteous indignation? Are you sure you are the victims just now? Say, you must have been paid by that idiot to smear me, right? Fine, Blood Sea Wave, from today on I'll respectfully call you the Director of Poverty Alleviation! Just wait, I'll also make sure you're recognized as one of the Top Ten Youths in the country! And have you become the chairman of the Red Cross!
Da Fei nonchalantly began his first trade with the NPCs of the exchange.
— System Prompt: You sold 80 units of fruit wine at the price of 38 Gold Coins per batch, earning a total of 3040 Gold Coins.
— Newbie Tip: Since your selling price is lower than the purchase price on the bill of lading, you will not gain Experience from this trade.
It couldn't be helped, after all, fruit wine is a product of this city, and the fact that they are willing to buy it at half price was already decent enough. If it were not necessary to clear the stock for ship repairs, of course, I wouldn't be willing to sell at a loss.
— System Prompt: You sold 125 units of fragrance nuts at the price of 65 Gold Coins per batch, earning a total of 8125 Gold Coins, and you made a profit of 1825 Gold Coins from this trade, gaining +182 Experience.
— System Prompt: You sold 40 units of Lavender at the price of 200 Gold Coins per batch, earning a total of 8000 Gold Coins, and you made a profit of 1500 Gold Coins from this trade, gaining +150 Experience.
— System Prompt: You sold 300 units of Morning Light Wheat at the price of 45 Gold Coins per batch, earning a total of 13500 Gold Coins, and you made a profit of 1700 Gold Coins from this trade, gaining +170 Experience.
The trade was completed, earning a total of 32665 Gold Coins, which could be considered a substantial fortune in the hands of current players.
As the saying goes, one can't get rich without some windfall. Honestly, I didn't want to rake in so much money; I just wanted to clear my red name. Alas, sometimes you just can't stop the God of Wealth from knocking on your door, wahahaha!
When it comes to business dealings, one must mention the experience in commerce and city specialties.
Normally, the Experience gained from trading is only 10% of the profit, but this is also the fundamental difference between high-level merchants and ordinary low-level peddlers and trainers.
Trading is very skillful, and the market prices are always changing. There are several scenarios that can give merchants bonus Experience. The most common one is the city's urgent need.
For example, if a trader mutters to himself, "Oh dear, the city urgently needs fragrance nuts!" then merchants immediately transport a batch of fragrance nuts from the port and sell them back in the city, and Experience is directly doubled, meaning Experience = Profit, plus a reputation reward, and sometimes the trader is so happy that they directly reward an equipment or even a low-grade treasure. In the case of urgent city needs, the profits are quite high, essentially harvesting Gold Coins, Experience, and Reputation.
Then there are disasters; if a city experiences diseases, famine, and other negative states, merchants who transport medicine, food, etc., can also get a 100% bonus. Then there are festivals; when a city celebrates a festival, merchants who transport alcohol, sweets, flowers, etc., to sell also get their Experience doubled by 100%.
Even so, even if a city simultaneously experiences these three boosted states, giving a 300% bonus, the Experience earned by merchants still pales in comparison to that of those players who fight monsters. After all, peddling takes time, and at the same time, beginner merchants have small ships and trade in smaller quantities.
Then comes the real bombshell, cross-country trade, especially the transport of special products!
Goods transported from the Elf Kingdom to the Human Kingdom can make a profit of 8-10 times, and the reason for this exorbitant profit is that these goods are not just any goods, but "specialties" certified by the Alliance! Special products get a 100% bonus in Experience.
Take Da Fei's current situation as an example, if you spend 30,000 Gold Coins to buy all the "Goddess Oak Statues," the special product of this city, and then spend a month in the game, which is 3 days in real life, to transport it to the Human Kingdom to sell, then you could earn up to 300,000 Gold Coins, meaning you'd get 300,000 Experience!
Is 300,000 too little?
The purchase price for the Goddess Oak Statue is 100 Gold Coins per batch, and with 30,000 Gold Coins, you could only buy 300 batches, which isn't enough to fill up the cargo hold, indeed lackluster. So, what if you have a capital of 100,000 Gold Coins, fully loaded with 1000 batches, and then go see? 1 million Experience!
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Earning 1 million experience in 3 days of real time, who would complain about that? Well, players level 60 and above probably would. But turning 100,000 gold coins into 1 million in 3 days — now, that's not something to sneeze at, right?
With 1 million gold coins, what can you do? Angels go for 5,000 gold coins each, so that's enough to buy 200 of them! If you have enough reputation, you can even build a small city in the New World.
Of course, whether it's angels, large ships with cargo holds over a thousand, specialties, or city building, those are things for the distant future and not something current players should worry about. Especially the specialties; they have extremely high requirements for player reputation within the city, Alliance Reputation, and the level of the Sea Voyages Certificate. What's even more frustrating is that specialties are allocated based on the player's investment share in the city.
What does distribution by investment share mean? A city has a so-called prosperity level; players invest gold coins to increase it, which enhances the production and quality of goods and specialties in the city. When the quality hits its peak, new specialties might even be developed. Of course, it also boosts your own reputation. For example, a player whose personal investment accounts for 20% of the total city investment can only purchase 20% of the specialty products. Therefore, during open beta, large guilds with deep pockets engaged in commercial warfare, investing like crazy to monopolize ports and squeeze out the investment shares of other individual players. It was as brutal as forcibly taking over someone's territory through warfare, and those who lost ended up broke and disheartened.
In short, getting specialties is no easy feat. Ordinary players should rather focus on high-quality luxury goods; even trading them internationally can yield a profit margin of 2 to 5 times.
At this point, Da Fei, holding 30,000 gold coins in hand, silently sighed amidst the curses of "don't trade with him" from the surrounding merchants, lamenting that there's nowhere to spend his gold coins. If he'd followed the original plan, he'd be shouting "Buying goods at high prices!" and would have had crowds of merchant players coming forward to trade, and his cargo holds would be stuffed full by now. Even if they weren't specialties, just selling them across borders would bring in heaps of experience, reputation, and gold coins. His money would be rolling in like a snowball!
Alas, he incurred public wrath. Even without that, surely someone would've been unable to tolerate his big ship. Life is like the waves upon the sea, life is like floating through the rivers and lakes; it's time to repair the ship and prepare for long-distance missions. What an underutilization of talent.
Wait a minute! Specialties? I have one!
Da Fei quickly checked the items in his bag.
——Golden Spearfish Eggs: Seafood. Can be cultivated in fishing grounds of coastal territories. Golden Spearfish are delicious large sea fish, difficult to catch and very popular in the market.
According to the official website's introduction on how contributing new products works, whether or not this item will be certified by the Alliance as a specialty, just offering it to a city is like adding an industry to it. My reputation will instantly be validated and not only that, but I'll also secure at least a 10% exclusive supply quota of this produce. This at least 10% quota is specially reserved for me, no shopping limits based on the level of Sea Voyages Certificate. Other merchants can't buy it even with money, and can't be squeezed out through commercial warfare!
That means, by that time, I'll be too lazy to go to sea, just head straight to the exchange and buy out my stocks of Golden Spearfish, then nonchalantly announce, "Selling fish at high prices! Big bosses, come and buy!"
Although my original intention was to hold onto it and sell when the market was right, the current situation can't wait. Business opportunities are about being one step ahead; especially now when I'm at a disadvantage, losing my edge, I must break the deadlock with a big move! Of course, the most important thing is to get this off my chest! It's about showing off! If I don't show off, people will think they've got me cornered to death, then they'll pile on even more, and my ears won't get any peace, will they?
Therefore, Da Fei made a quick decision and approached the NPC in charge at the exchange: "I want to contribute seafood."
The attendant looked at it and responded with great surprise, "Thank you for supporting our city's development. We're a coastal city and it's perfect to develop this kind of seafood! You will make a significant contribution to our city's development! Here is my letter of recommendation, please go to the City Hall to receive your reward from Mayor Auseliman."
So that's how it is! A direct meeting with the mayor, what does that mean? Classmates, do you know what kind of level it takes to meet the mayor directly?
Amidst the incessant curses of the merchants, Da Fei laughed heartily as he walked out the door, unknown to others as if he brought lychees.
......
——Elorin City Broadcast: Congratulations! Da Fei has contributed a new product to Elorin City and has made a significant contribution. Mayor Auseliman has awarded the player Da Fei the title of "Honorary Citizen of Elorin City." The reputation of player Da Fei in Elorin City has become "Respected"!
Suddenly, all the players in the city were shocked, then the city's rage exploded, "What the heck! Is there no justice in the world?"
(Please vote in every way possible)
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