Selling conditions - favourable vs unfavourable

Bateman1982 · Post by **Bateman1982** » Jun 18 2008

Trying to get my head around the game and also some basic economics.

I'm making a surplus of consumer goods and selling conditions are "favourable". I'm getting $20M a day from these so thinking of expanding production.

I'm importing industrial goods from the world market as I'm not producing enough to meet my needs at this stage. Am also considering expanding production to become self sufficient. I'm hesitant to do this though, as the market buying conditions are favourable, also selling conditions are unfavourable so any surplus presumably couldn't be sold for much profit.

Am I right in thinking its better to just build more consumer goods factories and leave the industrial goods alone?

Thinking about it, I suppose its always better to be self sufficient if you're producing the goods for cheaper than the world market price.

I think I've just answered my own question there.

Joemurder · Post by **Joemurder** » Jun 18 2008

This is all part of the game. Deciding on which commodities to purchase or produce is dependent on multiple factors. Are you at war? Are you planning a war anytime soon? Self sufficiency is helpful in wartime. Remember, produced goods require raw materials. Building more consumer goods factories will increase demand for these commodities, including industry goods. Which in turn could cause price increases. Expand too quick and you could have $$ problems and inflation as well. Fun times.

Bateman1982 · Post by **Bateman1982** » Jun 19 2008

I'm not likely to go to war anytime soon, at least I hope not as my armed forces are pitiful.

War has an effect on getting goods from the world market? is this because of embargos?

I didn't think embargos were in the game any more as can't see an option on not selling goods to a particular country.

Joemurder · Post by **Joemurder** » Jun 19 2008

Well, if your going to war you'll need vast amounts of supplies. Oil, industry goods, military goods. If your not self sufficient you'll be at the mercy of the market for these goods. It's not that bad when prices are reasonable. But war has a tendency to spread, and with it the world demand for war materials. This drives prices up, especially oil. Not to mention the fact that your enemies allies won't like you either, making trade difficult.
In my game of shattered world the price of oil has skyrocketed to over $300 a barrel. This can have a devastating effect on your economy, if not self sufficient.

Bateman1982 · Post by **Bateman1982** » Jun 19 2008

$300 a barrel?
scary.
Also scary that it doesn't seem so ridiculous anymore either

sirveri · Post by **sirveri** » Jun 19 2008

Bateman1982 wrote:$300 a barrel?
scary.
Also scary that it doesn't seem so ridiculous anymore either

In SR2010 I was able to sell oil for 1000$/bbl

It helped that Europe was at war with everyone but me and would pay just about any price to keep their armor rolling. India got added to that list eventually as well.

tkobo · Post by **tkobo** » Jun 19 2008

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b217/ ... lsale4.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b217/ ... lsale5.jpg

Hhehehheheheheheheh.Things you could do in sr2010.

Ive put some effort into seeing if you still can do this kind of thing in sr2020.So far no luck, which is a good thing.

Bateman1982 · Post by **Bateman1982** » Jun 20 2008

Muhahaa, 5 hundred kajillion dollars per day.

That's good that it can't be done in 2020. I think I recall reading the AI has been programmed not to buy a certain amount above typical market price.

On a slight aside, when negotiating in the diplomacy screen the, "value" of the goods is presumably based on the market value of that product.

Graymane · Post by **Graymane** » Jun 20 2008

You know, I haven't really looked, but does the AI buy over market in 2020?