As a space sim where you want to make money, the most important thing to start off with is the right ship. Though all classes can transport goods they are far from equal. Some classes such as the M5s (such as the Argon's Discoverer) can transport very little and has a long list of items it can not transport at all due to only having a medium level capacity (capable of holding medium sized items). It may be fast, but it isn't for transportation.

What you want for early game transportation is a TS class ship such as the Argon's Mercury (you start off with one if you are playing the story mode with the easiest setting). TS class ships have a storage capasity of XL, meaning they can transport anything that isn't a space station.

The Mercury that you start with an initial storage capacity of 3000 units, which is to say 3000 items which are S sized. This can be upgraded to be up to 4000 units at a trading station or an equipment dock. Be warned however: each unit upgrade costs more then the last, so it's a good idea to have a few hundread thousand credits at the ready before you upgrade if you are doing so in one shot, as to allow enough money for more goods to transport.

Though each race has its own transports, it's a good idea to use the starter as long as possible due to the returns on investment. If you can aford a larger transport such as the Mercury Super Freighter or MSF 2, then you don't need to keep it around, but it would be a good idea if you plan of getting a sector/galaxy trader eventually.

Equipment is key to this game. The difference between a well equiped transport and a poorly equiped one is the difference between smooth sailing and navigating a harsh storm.

Assuming you use the Mercury explained above, this is a list of items you must make sure you have from the equipment dock:

-SETA
-Trading system extention
-Trade command software Mk1
-Trade command software Mk2
-Navigation command software Mk 1
-Duplex and/or Triplex scanner

Optional but highly useful:

-Best buys locator
-Best sells locator
-Rudder opptomization
-Boost extention

Each of these times has their own function that range from critical to higly important for trade.

The SETA (Singularity Engine Time Accelerator) is a machine which costs next to nothing that allows for the passage of time to be accelerated when the ship is either in auto-pilot or is flying in a straight line (though it will stop should an object come to close). It has a default setting of making the game go 6 times faster, though this can be modified to be anywhere from 2 to 10 times.

The Trading system extention is important due to the fact that it tells you how much of what a station has and how much it is buying/selling it for. Without the system, all you would see is a gray bar on that only shows the proportion of the maximum capacity they have for the item in question.

The Trade command sorftware makes trading from long distances and on the stop eaiser by giving more options, including having your ship trade with stations without you being there. A good micromanager can use this to have a ship trade as usual while on the other side of the universe.

The Navigation command software is critical due to the need for the auto pilot.

Duplex and Triplex scanners are needed to increase the abisimal range of the radar for transports. As the names imply, Duplex scanners increase the range by a factor of two, while Triplex by a factor of three.

The Best buys locator and Best sells locator are important, though at the start of the game may be unwise to buy before a good trade run or two. How they work is by showing you either the lowest price of an item in the sector you are in, comparing it to the avarage price of the item and which station has it, or which station is buying what item for the highest price, and comparing it to the avarage. Note that it does this for all items that are being bought or sold in a sector.

An example of it at work is if I go into a sector to sell energy cells. Instead of using the Trading system extention to check every station manually for which would buy energy for the best price, it will instantly tell me which one will do so.

Rudder oppomization and the Boost extention are neither required nor critical, but it makes the job easier and faster. Unlike the other items listed here, they aren't a single item but extensions which add on. What they allow for is greater manuverability and greater speed/acceleration respectively. For the Mercury, having both at maximum allows for both to be doubled from the default. Note that the cost of both increases with each upgrade, so it is impossible to get both at maximum at the start of the game. However, if you do eventually buy both to the maximum level you will not regret it as a Mercury going 100m/s is much safter then one going 50m/s. More trade, more money, which leads us to...

Trade routes are the common term for lines between the start and end of production between stations. At the start of the default game you will be in Argon Prime, a sector which is the largest end of trade routes in the whole game. If you're trading in the Argon home sectors, all trade routes will lead to hear eventually, with Cloudbase South East being the only exception.

Argon Prime is a great start for the game due to its location and needs. It needs just about everything to keep running, and just about everything is within arms reach.

To start off, you'll want at least 20,000 credits in the bank. This is why you need to pick and choose upgrades carefully, as you don't want to buy too much and end up missing cash to actually use the equipment.

A good item to start with is energy cells. Selling for as low as 12 (though usually 13 or 14) credits and sell for at high as 18 or 19 credits (20 on very rare occasion), they are the universal energy storage that all stations need. The only ones which do not buy them are Ship Yards, Equipment Docks, Trading Stations (though barterers will sometimes be there looking to trade them) and solar power plants.

The first thing you'll want to do is go threw the East gate to The Wall. Here there are power plants which make the much needed energy cells that Argon Prime is in need of. This is one of the shortest cross sector trade routes, and is often used in early games. There is also even more solar power plants to be found 2 sectors north of Argon Prime in Power Circle, and to the East of Power Circle in Antigone Memorial.

Energy is easy to sell and works well in bulk, but has a fairly low rate of return even in optimal conditions. For greater rates of return we get to ore and silicon wafers.

Ore is basically unrefined rock and metal, and can be found directly north of Argon Prime in Herrons Nebula, in Power Circle and 2 sectors south in Ore Belt. Ore is a great resource to make quick money off of due to its rate of return. At a unit volume of 8 (each piece of ore takes up 8 storage units) the lowest possible cost is 50 credits per unite, and an average of 128 (note that avarage is used to determine what point an item is worth even looking at unless you are not looking to make a profit). The item will sell for as much as 206 credits, with most stations ending their production with the value at around 200. This means an optimal trade will bring back a 300% return on investment, compared to maximum of 67% return for energy cells.

Silicon wafers are also a much needed product for high tech industry, though they are needed in the sector Home of Light (directly south of Argon Prime) just as much as Argon Prime. They are used in all manor of high tech industry, and can be found in Herron's Nebula and Power Circle. With a volume of 18 units, they can cost as little as 232 credits per unit, average at 504 and can be as valued as 776 credits per unite. In an optimal trade the rate of return is 335%. Note that this item isn't consumed at the same rate as Ore is, nor is it produced as quickly, so it will probably not be a good trade option as often as Ore.

These are the most basic trade routes in the game, but there are countless ones to be found, and with the use of a jump drive the possibilities are endless (one of my favourate is to jump by an almost completly ignored Teladianium foundry on the southern side of Teladi space and then bring it to the Boron capital at a 447% rate of return).