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[Ticky]

I'm new to the game and I'm having problems trading. I sold a merchant my bronze sword and shield in hopes of using the money to buy a new sword. He gave me 236 and then I tried buying an iron short sword for that much and he says if I throw in some more goods we may have a deal. Is it really that expensive or am I doing something wrong? Please help!

[TheZoomZoll]

Have you even put the coins for trading?If so,what is said iron sword value/rarity?Maybe they want something else than money that is more rare.
If the sword has some engravings on it or something like that it might have more value than it says.

[Ticky]

I figured out the problem. But what are normal prices for Iron short swords? no engravings or anything, just well-crafted?

[TheZoomZoll]

Uhm...depends.Im more of a "stab-take" guy anyway.And I also prefer gold daggers so I dont know.Maybe around 500 UristBucks.

[Garn]

I wouldn't expect the prices of items in different world, or even towns in DF to be the same throughout, but what I can reliably tell you is that it should be worth 20 regular copper shortswords

[EnigmaticHat]

Merchants sell you objects for more than their price and buy them for less, plus iron is more valuable than bronze.  And your starting gear isn't well crafted.  So you're probably down by a decent amount of coins.

If you have any way of doing so, killing and butchering a wild animal can give you a lot of meat to sell.  You could also try looting the sewers or a dungeon such as the tomb of a historical figure, although that would be quite risky without weapons, or recruiting a companion and hoping they can do your early fighting for you.  You could also take items from a warehouse, castle, house, or shop (I'm not sure about that last one though), as I don't think people get mad at you for theft currently.  Its a bit of an exploit, but whatever.

[Broken]

Step 1: Search for a house with a food bag. Maybe there is one in the next door or even in the same house.
Step 2: Change the berries for what you need
Step 3: Profit!!

I once bought all the gems of several gem shops (700 gems) selling just stolen berries.

[Pirate Bob]

(1)Merchants sell you objects for more than their price and buy them for less, plus iron is more valuable than bronze.  And your starting gear isn't well crafted.  So you're probably down by a decent amount of coins.
...
(2)You could also take items from a warehouse, castle, house, or shop (I'm not sure about that last one though), as I don't think people get mad at you for theft currently. 

(1) While that is certainly true in dwarf mode, last I knew merchants sold items for their exact value in adventure mode (did this change for DF2012 and I didn't notice?).  The value of an iron short sword with base quality should be 60 (assuming I did the math right).  I vaguely recall this being about the value too - I'm pretty sure 238 should be more than enough to buy one.  You can pay the merchant the minimum value by offering them 1 coin, and then trying to trade - they will counteroffer with the minimum value they are willing to take.  Similarly you can ask for 9000 when you sell, and they will counter with the actual value.

One thing which confuses this is that merchants will not give you face value for coins that are not used locally.  In other words, if you get "lala happy elf silver coins" (not a real name - I can't remember any actual DF coin names) from merchant X in on city, they won't be worth as much if you try to buy from mechant Y in a different city that uses different coins, you won't get the full value for them (I think you get 1/50th the metal value, according to the wiki).  However, you should definitely get full value if you try to buy something with coins you got from the same merchant (again, assuming this hasn't changed recently).

(2) DO NOT STEAL FROM SHOPS!!!  You can take all you want from castles, warehouses, etc.  However, items in shops will show up as $iron short sword$ etc.  If you take anything with $$ around the name out of a shop (i.e. things you haven't paid for) you will become an enemy of the civilization, you won't be able to fast travel until you get out of the city, and everyone will attack you.  Also, the stuff in shops tends to be inferior to what you can find for free in castles anyway, and shops won't have armor and several other necessities due to bugs in this version.

[McFeel]

You can trade directly with items, you don't need coins. Just select your bronze sword and shield, and the trader iron sword. If the trader wants more, you can sell your socks, or something not useful.