Trade is one of the main ways that humans can get everything they need in life. In RimWorld, trade is exactly what you need to use to survive.
With the help of trade, players can easily sell excess resources and get exactly what they need in return. But it all depends on who they are trading with.
Recommended Read: How to Harvest Organs in RimWorld
But, before we can consider those sides of a trade, we must first figure out how to trade in RimWorld. What do you actually have to do to trade?
Well, since this is a vital part of the game, here is how you can trade in RimWorld.
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How Trading Works in RimWorld
The first thing you should know about trade in RimWorld is that there is no “buying low and selling high.”
All items will have the same buying price and selling price, no matter who sells them. The only way you can influence trade is through storyteller difficulty and Social skill.
Otherwise, most trade goods that you will sell will be at around 60% market value, and everything you buy will be at around 140%.
The only people you can trade with are usually part of other factions and very rarely independent, though they usually don’t have that many resources.
How to Trade with Visitors in RimWorld
There will be many visitors and traders coming over to your colony. To trade with these visitors in RimWorld, all you need to do is select one of your pawns (that can talk) and then right-click the trader with a yellow question mark next to their head.
You can see exactly how that looks in the image at the top of the guide. Then, choose the “Trade with” option, and your colonist will head over to see what they have for sale and what they can sell.
When they talk, a trade screen will appear where you can see which items the traders have, which ones you own, and what they want to buy from you.
Items that you can sell will have the “>” sign that you can click to sell one of those items, with a “>>” that you can click to sell all.
Items that you can buy will have a “<” button that you can click to purchase one of that type. In the upper right part of the menu, you will see how much silver the trader has, and to the left, you will see how much silver either they will have to give you or you will have to give them.
Even further to the left, you should see how much silver you personally have in your colony. If the trader doesn’t have enough silver to buy what you want to sell, you can also buy some things from them to even the trade out.
All Types of Traders That Visit Your Colony in RimWorld
Not every trader will want to buy everything that you have in your colony. Depending on the type of trader that they are, you will either get to sell them food, weapons, animals, or even slaves.
If you wanted to sell something for a while and were excited that a trader came by, make sure to check what type of trader they are. Once you know their types, you won’t get excited about wasted trading opportunities anymore.
Here are all the trader types that can come and visit your settlement in RimWorld:
- Bulk Traders
- Combat Suppliers
- War Merchants
- Slavers
- Exotic Goods Traders
- Shaman Merchants
Usually, your favorite traders, when you want to sell something or when you need basic resources, will be the bulk goods traders.
These guys come with every basic good you can imagine, and they will usually buy almost anything you want to give them.
Both the combat supplier and the war merchant will provide the player with weapons and armor. The war merchant is a tribal version of the combat supplier and will only bring neolithic weapons and armor and also tame predatory animals.
Slavers will deal in people. They will also bring weapons, medicine, drugs, and body parts. They can be used to either sell prisoners and organs for a decent profit or recruit new colonists and/or slaves.
Exotic goods traders and shaman merchants trade in rare items and resources. You can expect to see them with artifacts, advanced components, skilltrainers, and even psychic weapons.
The shaman merchant is just a tribal version of the exotic goods trader that offers lower tech goods, but usually in the same categories.
How to Get the Most Out of Trade in RimWorld
To make sure that you get the most out of each trade in RimWorld, make sure to always use the pawn in your colony with the highest Social skill.
Social skill directly influences the prices of items in the game, both when buying and selling.
Every level in Social increases trade prices by 1.5% if the pawn doesn’t have any injuries that lower talking or hearing.
At level 20 Social skill, a pawn will increase trade prices by 30%, almost allowing your goods to be sold at market value.
Other ways you can increase the trade prices is by using your colony leader to trade and to actually go and trade at faction settlements. You will get better prices just by visiting other colonies rather than waiting for them to come.
How to Trade with Faction Settlements in RimWorld
If you don’t want to wait for a random trader to come over to visit your colony, then you can always come over to their settlements.
To trade with other factions in RimWorld, you can form a caravan and send your colonists over to their settlements.
Faction settlements offer a 2% discount on all of their goods and also buy your resources for better prices. They also have the largest stocks in the game, as they can sell almost anything you can imagine.
The best thing about trading with factions is that you can see what resources they will buy from you even before sending a caravan.
If you click a settlement, you will see an option in the lower half of the screen that says, “Show what will buy.” Push that button, and you will now see exactly what resources that settlement is willing to buy from you.
Faction settlements also have relatively high silver pools, so you can sell a lot of resources to them. This is why, when selecting where you want your colony, it can be important to position yourself relatively close to a faction without angering them.
One problem with faction settlements is that you will need to have a decent relationship with them before coming to visit. Otherwise, there is a high chance that they won’t open their gates for you.
That’s everything you need to know about how to trade in RimWorld!
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