Starting in Manufacturing

I have been trialling manufacturing since July.

Strategy

For now, i am sticking to manufacturing in Jita and selling the manufactured items in Jita.

I focus on items where i can make profits of 25% (i.e. profits divided by sales proceeds).  So, similar to my Trading business i focus on items with little competition - though Jita is still competitive.

For now, i have 15 items up for sale which i have manufactured with an average sales price of 911m isk.

I don't have a smooth production line going - i only produce what i want to sell.  I don't store anything nor to i store materials.

I am more of a scavenger in Jita - i look for items that have a nice margin and where there is very little competition.  As soon as competition moves in then i move out and onto another item.

The Next Steps

I need to prove this can work and, if so, i will start to export the items i manufacture into my other Trade Hubs.  In that way i can greatly enhance my margins.

i.e. if an item is for sale for 750m isk in Jita then i would normally buy from the Jita sell order and put it up for sale in a trade hub for 1bn isk and so aim to make 250m isk profit (=25% margins).  But lets say i can manufacture the item for 650m and if i still sell it for 1bn then my profits are 350m = 35%.  And so in effect i am making my trading margin of 25% and an additional manufacturing margin of 10%.

The Numbers

The Table below shows how i am doing (and includes October to date).

September was the first month i made enough from manufacturing to justify itself (i.e. i could use the profits to Omega an account).

I September i made sales of 19bn isk and so profits of 4.4bn and after all taxes that came to 3.4bn isk. 

October is looking slow and i will have to go some to be able to claim i can use my manufacturing profits to Omega an account.