Merchant Prince and Freight Pricing

[PsiTraveller]

I am getting a little confused by the 1st edition pricing of Freight shipping.
Core Book: page 160
FREIGHT
Characters not wishing to risk speculative trade can go for the safer option of shipping freight. Freight shipments pay Cr. 1,000 per ton for shipping a ton for one parsec, +200 Cr. per additional parsec.

So 1200 Cr for 2 Parsecs, 1400 for 3 and 1600 for 4

Merchant Prince has page 66
"Standard freight shipments pay a base of 500 credits per ton for shipping a ton for one parsec, plus a bonus 20% per additional parsec. Cargo is paid for upon delivery, assuming it is delivered on time. This is the default fee a crew can charge to haul freight."

But on page 67 in the chart that discusses modifying the fee based on a negotiation
Negotiation Check Effect Adjusted Hauling Fee
-5 or less 200Cr/ton/parsec
-3 – -4 300Cr/ton/parsec
-1 – -2 400Cr/ton/parsec
0 500Cr/ton/parsec
1 – 2 600Cr/ton/parsec
3 – 4 750Cr/ton/parsec
5 or more 1,000Cr/ton/parsec

So the fee on a 0 Effect roll is 500/ ton / parsec, which is a lot better than a 20% increase per parsec result.

A J4 would be 2000 Credits and not 800 or 864 of you add 20 percent of the previous 20 percent of your calculation.

Which is the proper freight per ton per parsec rate? Has that been asked before?

 

[DickTurpin]

Merchant Prince had several rules the both increased the complexity of starship trading and reduced the amount of money a crew can make.

If you wish to use those rules, then the negotiated price freight price is for the first parsec only, thereafter the +20% rule applies as normal. If you roll poorly on the negotiation test and have to haul the freight a long distance, you could possibly end up making little more than the cost of the fuel needed to haul that cargo. If you need to travel that way for another reason it might still be worth it to lug the freight with you rather than deadhead all the way though.

I generally haul freight (and passengers) mostly to generate an investment fund for speculative trade. If you do not have a good broker in your crew, don't hesitate to use starport brokers for your speculative trading. Usually you can generate enough cash to fill your cargo hold within a few months and never have to without worrying about freight again.

 

[PsiTraveller]

I am trying to figure out income/cost difference for hauling something an extended distance. This is something the regular rules ignore. The trips are rolled up as a single Jump scenario. To em that seems like trying to ship something from Los Angeles to Cairo by shipping it to New York and then hoping it gets to Cairo. Hiring a ship to make several Jumps from one system to a distant system can provide a ship with income for several months, as long as the income per Jump covers the cost to ship the material.

Merchant Prince does this on page 66 and 67 in the negotiations over time table and the fee reductions for late delivery. (Unless you have been hired for a single Jump 2 and then just do not deliver the goods for 5 weeks which is possible but not terribly likely).

Most of the ships do not break even shipping freight, even at the 1st ed. Core price of 1000 per Ton.
Free Trader Type A costs 36.5 MCr, Mortgage will be 150 000 Cr per month, 25 000 Credits for Maint and life support and 21 000 Cr for staff and your monthly cost is around 225 000 Credits.
You can ship 88 tons a Jump times 2 Jumps a month and you earn 176 000 Credits per month. So you have to cover the difference with passengers.

Or you look at the cost of shipping and say 176 Tons a month costs 1128 Credits per month to break even.

This is why they upped the prices in 2nd edition but the breakeven for the 2nd Edition free trader is almost 1400 credits per ton, so you really need passengers.