Forum Surfing: T2 Manufacturing Questions

I was surfing the forums and came upon this post

OP on EVE Forums 

So, naturally I gave some input, well mostly introspective questions for the OP to ask of himself.  The OP was wondering how people make ISK doing T2 production.  It can be highly profitable if done correctly.  I make a large amount of ISK just on T2 modules.  I also have a full set of T2 component blueprint originals (Thanks Keto!).  It might take a little longer to build your own components, but in the end the ISK / hour might be lower but the end profits are much higher.  In my response to the OP, I gave him a few questions that he needs to ask himself before he can make any ISK in T2 manufacturing.

T2 production is profitable. Actually, it is highly profitable, but you must take a few things into consideration. If you haven't yet downloaded EVE ISK per Hour by Zifrian, do so immediately. It will save you time, ISK and headaches.

You can download it here: EVE IPH Forum Page

I also wrote a few blogs about using it that you can check out here

EVE IPH Part 1

EVE IPH Part 2

What you need to consider is this

*are you going to buy or build T2 construction components?

*if you buy them, are you going to be patient and put up buy orders or are you going to buy at sell order price?

*if you build them are you going to place buy orders for raw materials or pay sell order price?

*are you planning on building hulls or modules?

If you think all of these steps through, do some market research and plan ahead, you can make a decent living.

I stick with modules, but I have a surplus of ship bpc's that I am going to start building. Ships sell slower, but if done right, you can make some good ISK for a little input/effort.

Hopefully this info helps the OP and you, the reader.  That's what I am here for.

Space Trucking for Profit

Space trucking is a hybrid of station trading and hauling.  It can be pretty profitable if you are market-savy and have a few junk alts hanging around.  I did a great deal of space trucking.  I had pretty good results, but it takes a special person to move goods from stations to trade hubs, trade hubs to stations and/or trade hubs to trade hubs.  It can be boring as all hell, especially if you are doing it in a freighter.  

You don't have to have a huge stockpile of ISK to start, nor do you have to invest a lot into your logistics.  A T1 hauler with cargo expanders (and some tank modules) is plenty to move goods around.  If you are hauling massive amounts of goods, you might want to have a freighter or a max cargo fit T1 industrial.  If you want to specialist in some particular item type, you can pick an industrial with cargo holds specific to that item.  For example, if you are going to focus on planetary interaction goods, I would suggest getting an Epithal instead of a Mammoth due to the Epithal's planetary commodity bay.  Sometimes doing multiple trips in a industrial is more productive than doing one large trip in a freighter.  With freighters getting rigs very soon, you might find you are better off with a freighter.  

What I suggest is going from trade hub to trade hub (if you have a lot of time) or gathering goods at NPC mission hubs and returning the goods to the closest market hub.  An example is Auvergne to Dodixie (where Auvergne is the mission hub).  Auvergne is a Federation Intel level 4 mission hub.  Mission runners might not want to waste their time hauling goods to Dodixie and often just put up their goods in Auv. for less than what you can sell them to buy orders in Dodixie.  That is what we call a 'trade opportunity'.  

If you are planning to enter this profession, you will need every advantage you can possibly get.  This is why I suggest installing a few alts in the trade hubs.  You should have one alt in each of the stations you wish to trade to and from.  For example, I still have an alt in Dodixie, Amarr and Jita.  This way you can check for the current buy and sell price in both stations.  The worst thing you can do is trade on old/outdated information.  That is a gamble and very easy to lose.

The next thing you want to do is get your butt over to EVE Central.  You can install the Contributastic app and participate in helping gather market intelligence.  You then use the trade tools on the site to check out trade routes.  Once you know what items are being traded for a profit, you can then use your market alts to verify them BEFORE you buy the goods.  

EVE Central's Trade Route finder

You have to consider all the costs and deduct them form the item sale.  Don't forget to include tax and market fees or you could lose your margin or sell below cost.  Two things that will have a negative impact on your career and profits.  If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and as always, fly safe-ish.

Invitations

I am always looking for guest writers or full time contributors, so if you would like to throw your experiences in EVE Online, feel free to let me know.  I would be happy to work with you.  You can contact me though Google+ or by email @ toomuchbrew@gmail.com.  If you want to discuss PVP or PVE activities, or whatever floats your boat in EVE, I'm all for collaboration.  

Balanced Budgets

 EVE's economy mirrors our own real-life economy and as such, corporations really need to have a balanced budget with an eye on growth.  Having a good budget means that you, as a corp, can adjust to the changes and challenges of New Eden.   

Corps usually have a good mix of capsuleers who perform different activities.  PVE players (incursions, missions, etc) bring in taxes which are dumped off into the master wallet.  These taxes are generally used for things like office rental, skill book purchases and POS expenses.  Depending on the size of your corp, you may also use it towards a ship replacement program, new player assistance or loans.  

A fair share of corps (especially high sec industrial ones) make a fair share of ISK mining and manufacturing, so having a balanced budget (or at least some budgetary goals) is important.  If your corp is just a bunch of individuals, maybe doing some things together, but not having a real plan, budgets might not apply.  If you are getting your membership involved in projects, then a budget is a must.  It allows your members to see the goals of the corp, where the money is coming from and where it is going.  In MF, our industrial division is more of an open book.  I like to put out monthly reports and show people that yes, the money is being dumped back into the corp and not just lining the pockets of the leadership.  

Morale is a fickle beast.  If people think they are working for nothing, they lose heart and start looking elsewhere for a place where they can fit in and be valued.  This is just my take on things.  I'm working out a budget for MF right now, but I figured I would post it on my blog and maybe give some CEO's a jumping point.  Thanks for reading and as always, fly safe-ish.

EVE Droid - Android OS Character Monitor App.

EVEMon is simply the best skill monitory/training planner available..on PC, but what if you are mobile or at work?  Well there are mobile apps that allow you to check you training queues, read EVEmail and a whole slew of other things.  I have an android device.  I used to run EVE Aura, but I had to reset my phone and didn't reinstall it.  Aura is a great program (not even sure if it is still supported) and I used it all the time.  I was flicking through the app store yesterday and saw an app named EVE Droid.  To be honest, the icon popped out at me so I figured I would try it out.  I was very pleased.

EVE Droid is pretty awesome.  It was created by Alexander Hansen.  I had never heard of it and like I said, I wasn't really looking for anything, it just happened.

The API entry section is really easy and it links you to the correct pages and then installs the API easily.  Visually the app is very nice.  It is neat, cleaned and and organized. The layout is very nice.  All in all, this is one of the best character monitors I have seen.  The email part is awesome and it even tells you when your account subscription ends and how many hours played.  I am at 3225 hours..  It doesn't have all the buttons that Aura has, but I never really used them anyway.  You can do fittings and there is an item database.  I doesn't have a skill planner, but I don't remember if Aura did either.  

Anyway, check it out [get it on Google Play] and as always fly safe-ish.