General What would general purpose freighters look like?

[Grav_Moped]

This data point was key in the design of my new J1 100DT freighter that can use collapsible fuel tanks for extra Jumps.

And through-shipping (gas-and-go, or carrying tankage for sequential jumps) doesn't waste quite as much time as the usual 14-day operations tempo. This can be a viable alternative to single-jump shipping.

You'd still have to wait a week at intermediate stops if your passengers weren't also booked through to the destination; you want full staterooms. Not a problem with your all-freight mini-trader though!

 

[Grav_Moped]

Back in the Dark ages I looked at that using a then current day example. Which were the Sony Walkmans being unloaded at a dock in NY. They were selling in NY for $100 each.

I had figured they were packed ~3 per liter. So ~40,000/Dton. If charged $1,000/Dton freight that is 40 cents charge to ship one. If $2,000 then 80 cents. The profit margin negates a problem even if 6 X 40 cents as long a no closer supplier to destination planet.

Anyway for what that is worth.

That's where the differential TL modifier comes in. If your world produces Walkmans and handheld electronic football games, your cargo is going to be very value-dense. If the product is Future Space Soybeans, not so much.

But you're going to have a hard time selling Walkmans and Coleco Electronic Football games over in the direction of someplace that makes iPads, though that's slightly outside of this discussion's scope. (Here I'm thinking of Collace/District 268 at TL13 competing with Glisten/Glisten at TL15 -- Glisten will own the tech-goods market in its own subsector, but Collace should be able to do well in most of District 268 and well into the Outrim Void.)

 

[Grav_Moped]

I'd have a go at selling graphic cards and gaming consoles.

There seems to be a thriving market in reselling PlayStation 5s right now.

Not that it bothers me much. And the Spouse Entity wants one for the holiday.<twitch> And scalpers demanding several times the retail price. <rage intensifies> Nope. <thinks approvingly about doxxing scalpers> Not a problem. <hits "Submit Reply" before he says anything rash>

 

[Proneutron]

That's where the differential TL modifier comes in. If your world produces Walkmans and handheld electronic football games, your cargo is going to be very value-dense. If the product is Future Space Soybeans, not so much.

Here's the thing. It wasn't a TL difference mod. It was a macro econ comparative advantage mod as it was Japan to USA. An enormous thing that the trade rules don't account for. But yes, in trav that rule is in play.

 

[Proneutron]

And through-shipping (gas-and-go, or carrying tankage for sequential jumps) doesn't waste quite as much time as the usual 14-day operations tempo. This can be a viable alternative to single-jump shipping.

Yes, that is also good for PCs in that they can cram more revenue into a shorter time period affording "adventure time" even if meeting a mortgage payment cycle on a monthly cycle. Also as it only carries corpcycles as passengers they don't know if they have been dropped off in time.