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[Naryar]

I did offer the latest caravan about 5000 dwarfbucks of benefit, and he still says no and leaves (he was miffled previously by only having 3000 db benefit). I know it's linked to broker skills and that was a weaponsmith (aka unskilled broker), but this is ridiculous.

And it's a constant thing even since 0.31. 

I have thoughts at the moment. Magma thoughts. nevermind that magma will ruin half that i want it solves everything I say ! EVERYTHING !

Well, I'm not very fond of killing dwarves, so i think a shower machine should maybe disturb them enough to break their wagons and flee...

[MobRules]

I think that profit percentage matters more than raw amount. What was the total trade amount that 5000 was being compared against?

[Naryar]

I honestly don't know. It was mostly iron trap components and a pot of prepared meals...

What I gave in total was around 20k-25k, I guess.

[Skorpion]

Yeah, they need at least a 50% margin, maybe more.

And, frankly, if you're not churning out masterwork finished goods for trading by the binload, you're probably doing it wrong.
Bone is probably your best bet, because it's renewable.

[Naryar]

Yeah, they need at least a 50% margin, maybe more.

And, frankly, if you're not churning out masterwork finished goods for trading by the binload, you're probably doing it wrong.
Bone is probably your best bet, because it's renewable.

You mean that large serrated iron discs at around 5k each are not good enough ?

[Staalo]

I have always wondered about this. For me it seems that no matter what skill levels the broker has, traders won't be happy with anything less than 50% of pure profit.

Of course a full-sized fortress will produce that much surplus for export in dirty worn out socks alone...

[steel jackal]

you need to give them a 50% profit margin
* means dwarfbucks since i cant be bothered to use the alt code to get the right simbol

if your taking 100* from them you need to give them 150*

if your taking 100000000* you need to give them 150000000*

i reccomend giving them a bunch of deals for things that cost under 100*
if you take 10* from them you need to give them 15*, just spam those tiny offers to make them happy, once they are really happy with the trading then you can give them stuff for 0 profit

i.e. if you take 1000* you need to give them 1000* of stuff



this is info from the wiki btw, ive just put it into my own words

[Immortal-D]

Also of note; you can trade multiple times in one sitting.  This helps manage your profit margins if you don't have much excess.

[Naryar]

so the caravans need 50% benefit on normal mood else they will not trade... hmm, ok. Didn't knew that.

[Deboche]

In my experience, their mood and the trader skill don't change anything. You always need to give them 50% profit.

If you have glass, you can make infinite glass trap components worth at least 1k each and a legendary glassmaker will churn them out very quickly, faster than 2 collect sand assignments on repeat.

If you have clay, you can make infinite clay crafts.

If you've got 1 or 2 good cooks, you can sell prepared food barrels that are worth 10k+ each.

If all you have is rock, rock crafts will do it for you. You also never run out of rock if you have water and magma.

[schlake]

I've noticed in the most recent version that if I have a lot of well made goods I can get away with much less than 50% profit.  Even without a good trader.

[greycat]

If you have glass and magma, you can make infinite glass trap components worth at least 1k each

Fixed.  Metal trap components are extremely good for trade value, too.  You can get 5 figures for a masterwork silver spiked ball.

[Niddhoger]

you need to give them a 50% profit margin
* means dwarfbucks since i cant be bothered to use the alt code to get the right simbol

if your taking 100* from them you need to give them 150*

if your taking 100000000* you need to give them 150000000*

i reccomend giving them a bunch of deals for things that cost under 100*
if you take 10* from them you need to give them 15*, just spam those tiny offers to make them happy, once they are really happy with the trading then you can give them stuff for 0 profit

i.e. if you take 1000* you need to give them 1000* of stuff



this is info from the wiki btw, ive just put it into my own words

I also do this. It's a bit tedious, but your broker gains some social experience for every trade. Thus I make my expedition leader a broker as well. The little trades help float his skills to stay ahead of the brats that just socialize all day. For the same reason I don't make him my bookkeeper, but I don't think manager takes up much time for the dorfs.
BTW, this definitely makes a difference. The 5* extra profit on all those small food trades will lower the price for those iron/steel items you want to smelt down. You'll notice the merchant's attitude plummet after swindling them like this.

Also, just dedicate a broker.  You need one to see wealth and what the merchant's mood is. The higher the mood, the less he'll accept. BTW, you don't have to accept counter-offers. You can cancel what the caravan adds and just offer the same trade again. Most of the time they'll still accept.

[blapnk]

Remember, the size of the caravan depends on how much profit they get. Be generous and next year's caravan will have even more useless metal tat to be melted down, and will probably bring extra migrants and !!fun!! with it too.

[Xazo-Tak]

That's weird, this thread indicates that traders need massive profit, but in 0.42.02 I think I once gave them zero profit for a large transaction, and even for the trades that were in the tens of thousands I would only give them a profit of less than 200. Not once was I denied.

Remember, the size of the caravan depends on how much profit they get. Be generous and next year's caravan will have even more useless metal tat to be melted down, and will probably bring extra migrants and !!fun!! with it too.

I never knew this.
So, if my trade goods are incredibly useless (Mussel shells + Legendary bone carver = I can buy anything I want), I should go for gigantic profit margins?
And will this encourage Elven caravans to bring their rare and special goods? I've noticed some things made of unique materials in Elven caravans (Liquid darkness, rotting fabric), that have incredibly high values. Only thing in their caravans I'm interested in.