Markets and prices

A market buys goods. Every town of 50,000 inhabitants or more is one, 194 in all. Beside the towns there are harbors, airports and industry markets, which follow rules of their own.

The stock of a town

A town holds a stock of each good it buys, and its people use it up at a steady pace. A town of 50,000 inhabitants eats 50 t of grain per day and stores 150 t.

The fuller the stock, the lower the price:

• an empty town pays 160% of the base price,
• a half full town pays the base price,
• a full town pays 40% of it.

Every sale of every company fills the same stock. When someone sells grain in your town, your price falls too. The town then eats its way back up.

Stock of the town

Your load

Price before

Price after

You are paid

Stays on the vehicle

A town of 50,000 inhabitants that buys grain. The filled area is your sale: you are paid the price at the halfway point of your delivery.

What a sale pays

Each kg you sell moves the price a little, so a load is not paid the price before the sale. It is paid the price at the halfway point of its delivery. A small load barely moves the market, a large load pays itself down.

Load	Town before	Price before	Price after	Paid	Stays on the vehicle
2.0 t of grain	20% full	€0.163/kg	€0.161/kg	€324	0 kg
20 t of grain	20% full	€0.163/kg	€0.144/kg	€3,072	0 kg
20 t of grain	90% full	€0.062/kg	€0.048/kg	€828	5,000 kg

The last row shows a full market: it takes what fits and leaves the rest on the vehicle. The price card of a market shows its stock before you send a vehicle there.

The game writes a price per kg with three decimals, because kg is what you load and sell.

What towns buy

Every town buys the same goods, in amounts that grow with its inhabitants.

Good	Per 1,000 inhabitants and day	A town stores
Grain	1,000 kg	3 days of it
Flour	500 kg	3 days of it
Planks	400 kg	3 days of it
Bread	300 kg	1 day of it
Milk	600 kg	1 day of it
Wine	100 kg	3 days of it
Gravel	2,000 kg	3 days of it
Machine parts	20 kg	3 days of it
Furniture	100 kg	3 days of it
Coffee	15 kg	3 days of it
Electronics	4 kg	3 days of it
Fuel	400 kg	3 days of it
Chocolate	25 kg	3 days of it
Beer	250 kg	3 days of it
Cheese	70 kg	3 days of it

A town above 500,000 inhabitants buys like a town of 500,000, so no market is too large to move.

A good that a town stores for one day, such as milk or bread, fills fast and empties fast. Sell it in small loads, often, in several towns.

Busy regions buy more

The towns of a region use 10% more for every company of that region that played in the last three days, up to twice as much. A region with many companies does not run out of demand, and a quiet region does not freeze.

The region average

Once a day the game computes, for each good, the average price the towns of a region paid on the day before. This is the region average.

• Every price line carries a badge with its difference to the region average, as in "+12%". It tells you at a glance whether a town pays well today.
• Harbors and airports pay a factor of it.
• Lots between players must be priced near it.

Only town sales count for it. A region where little was sold drifts back toward the base price.

A floor for new companies

In your first 7 days a town pays you at least 80% of the base price for the first 30 t you sell per day, whatever its stock. The price card shows the price of the board, which is the same for everyone. The start panel and the route editor show your floor.

Reading a market

1. Open the price card of a town to see its stock, its price and the badge against the region average.
2. Compare a few towns in the route editor. It shows what each pays you now and how far it is.
3. Send large loads to large or empty towns, and spread small loads.
4. When every town near you is full, export at a harbor or take a supply contract.

What you cannot do

• You cannot buy from a town market. Towns only buy.
• You cannot push a price below 40% of the base price, and a full market refuses the rest.
• You cannot block or damage another company. Price is the only way companies touch each other.