User blog:GhettoLeafy/Trading in SB2: Actually making Money!

Making good Trades (The Core Concepts of a Good Trade: Profit)
At this point in the blog, I'm going to assume you have something to start trading with (an aura, a legendary item, an accessory, etc). If you do, you're almost ready to start trading towards your goal. However, it's extremely important that you understand the Three Core Concepts of a Good Trade: Value, Timing, and Negotiation. With these three factors properly accounted for, any trade can be made into a good trade. There's a lot to know about these things, so let's use this post to get started on the first: profit.

Profit, by definition, is a financial gain, specifically between the investment and its yield. Basically, the idea is, if you invest in something, and earn more than you spent from it, you made a profit. Take, for example, a trade in Swordburst. Two players want to make a trade, Player A and Player B. Player A offer his Maxed Spirit of Suma for Player B's Maxed Shizen Katana. Player B agrees, and the trade is done. Since a Maxed Spirit of Suma is worth 5k, and a Maxed Shizen Katana is worth 11k, We can say Player A invested 5k into a trade and received 11k from it. Therefore, Player A gained 6k in value and thus made a profit.

This is how profit generally works. A player invests vel (or something worth vel) in a trade, and the player receives more value (in vel or items) from that trade, then what they invested. These kinds of trades are trades most newer players should try to look for. In this sense, a trade that gives you profit, whether it be 1 vel or 100 million vel, is USUALLY a good trade. However, I say usually, because a trade that gives you profit in vel is not ALWAYS a good trade, it is USUALLY a good trade.

You see, there are 2 other factors that are important to consider when making a trade, as these factors can make any good trade a bad one, even if you get vel from it. These factors are known as Rarity and Sentiment. Both of these can directly affect the value of an item worth vel, so it is important that you understand that the market prices and direct values of items are not always going to be the same for each person because of these factors.

Rarity, in my opinion, is by far the most important factor to account for in a trade (in terms of profit). When I say rarity, I don't mean the spectrum of item rarities (Common - Legendary), I mean how common the item really is. Let's be fair, the mindset that an Item's given rarity is equal to its value is a horrible mindset to have, considering the value of the only legendary aura in the game only comes to a tenth of the value of a certain rare aura in the game, and an uncommon armor from the first floor is worth more than a legendary armor from the ninth floor.

To understand rarity, all you need to do is ask yourself this: Will this item be less or more valuable in the future? Let's go further in-depth with an example. Say Player A trades their Maxed Oblivion for a Festive Cape from Player B, during the release of Floor 9. Back then, a Maxed Oblivion was easily worth 100m, while a Festive Cape was only worth 25m at most. Player A just lost 75m in profits with one trade. However, Player A knew this and intentionally made the trade anyways. This is where Rarity really comes into play.

Right now, a Maxed Oblivion goes for around 250m in the market, which is over double its value from Floor 9's release. Good for Player B, right? They've made 150m in profits. Well, it's even better for Player A, because the Festive Cape can now be very easily sold for upwards of 500 Million Vel. And it's in MASSIVE demand too, meaning players are much more likely to pay way more than it's value to get it. Player A's just made upwards of 400m in profits from 1 trade, effectively making their losses ZERO. On the other hand, Including Player B's profits from the Max Oblivion, they've lost over 300 million from that trade, putting them at a huge loss.

Over time, an item's value will change, and it will either be more or less valuable. Weapons will generally become less valuable over time, as they become weaker compared to stronger weapons from higher floors, while auras and accessories become more valuable over time, as more people will want to have them (therefore, they will be in higher demand). Because of difficult it has recently been to get your hands on an F10 Legendary (as well as many other factors), the oblivion has actually risen, but not for long. Player B can expect to lose even more if they don't trade their oblivion off now. However, since you can only trade to get the Festive Cape (it is an unobtainable item), the Festive Cape will only continue to become rarer, and Player A will only continue to gain profits.

For this reason, Rarity is extremely important to consider in trades, and it is how I've made billions. By filling my inventory up with unobtainable items, I've made countless millions by simply waiting for their prices to continually rise. Rarity plays a huge part in good trades, but so does SENTIMENT. The value of an item can change, depending on the player as well. If someone thinks the Cataclysm looks cool (they aren't wrong), it's going to be more valuable to them, and therefore, it's going to be harder and more costly to get from them. However, if someone thinks the Cataclysm looks ugly, it's going to be a lot easier and less costly to get from them, since they won't like it as much. For these reasons, it's better to avoid trying to get an item from someone who actually likes that item. It doesn't carry as strong of an impact as Rarity or Value, but it can affect your trades, and potentially make them good or bad ones, so keep Sentiment in mind when trading.

These three factors are what can make a trade good or bad. You can take advantage of these factors, and if utilized properly, you can get huge profits from them. That's all I've got to say on Profits. Next up is going to be Timing, which is the planning and use of events, floor releases, and time-based factors in making good trades. It sounds complicated, but it's really not, trust me. By now, all you'll need to remember to make profiting trades is this question: how much are these items worth, and will they become more or less valuable in the future?