1. Commodity storage:
At the player SB, I set the buying and selling prices to be equal for commodities used in upkeep. During the times when others are doing upkeep for me, I want them to be able to do upkeep as efficiently as possible -- simply buying upkeep from and selling production to the SB. I do not want to charge a small transaction fee and discourage anyone who might choose to help me out.
This includes food and water, which are important upkeep commodities. So the SB price for commodities is ideally set midway between the selling price of the producers and the buying price of the consumers.
I am willing to charge a storage fee for high-end commodities that are not used in upkeep -- HWs, BWPs Droids. If you have a problem with pilots from other sectors selling droids to your SB, then set the buying price for droids to be 1000 less than it should be, and refund the difference to your stocker separately.
2. FWE pricing:
Taxes are worth about 40cr/t in the FWE equation, so the approximate break-even on pricing is (F + W) / 2 = E = 40, with floating population.
If you can manage these prices, then let the SB population rise without limit -- it will make little difference to your profit. Then you can have all 4 rings full of factories. Such a situation occurs in BU and PU08.
If the SB is farther away from a planet, and the SB must lose money on maintaining population, do not arrange the SB so that it needs to be constantly above 30k. The 2 SB rings from a population consistently over 5k is enough for the most important factories, and won't overly burden the pilot doing FWE runs. Trying to maintain high population for a SB at the end of a long FWE run is unsustainable in the long run.
In a safe core sector such as UNR, do not maintain an extra SB ring just to be able to have HDAs. HDAs are not needed during peacetime and can be built during wartime etc.
In any case, warehouses should always be on the innermost ring. It is better to lose an HDA or a factory than a warehouse full of BWPs and droids.
Also there should never be a limit on SB population. Either it can break even and floats at a higher population, or it the population is small enough that it always stays well below 50k.
3. High vs. low prices and what to produce:
High pricing is good to maintain a stable supply of construction materials.
Low pricing is good to attract customers.
Customers include producing at scrap prices.
Imperial SBs can and should produce high-end guns at scrap prices. This keeps the local economy running full-steam and allow Mooncrusher pilots to easily switch between trading and fighting.
Union SBs can produce L-Huge and LQ-Huge at scrap prices if the cost of energy is low enough. They mainly need lots of energy and rads and not much else. Every Union SB should produce them. They are ideal for a SB with lots of energy tiles nearby, well-suited for a SB far from a planet.
Union SBs can produce Key of Sheppard at well below scrap prices. If a Union SB is close enough to a planet to have high population, it can be producing goods for the PUC and Keys for the moguls doing transportation. Price the Key at well below scrap price, so that a mogul can partially cover the transportation cost by buying and selling a Key. The problem with Keys (and flux capacitors and missile batteries) is that they need a lot of commodities for production. Key of Sheppard is therefore suited for a SB with higher prices for commodities.
Meetpoint needs higher commodity prices to attract the needed supply of commodities for ship and equipment production. Note that at Meetpoint I am selling ships and equipment at only 11% over cost, so that OPC members pay only cost price after rebate. I have plenty of credits, so my production is more a service for the customers than a profit center for the SB.
A SB far from a planet shouldn't be trying to be a major production center. It should have weapons factory for missiles, a shield factory (if Union) for using up excess energy, and a repair bay. It can even manage that with only 1 SB ring, less than 5k population. Local buildings would mainly be 1 or 2 farms, an r'tron and a rad collector.
Pilots have better things to do with their APs than long FWE runs to maintain a high SB population. And we have better uses for our building slots than idle buildings in a sector where no one wants to waste APs on low-profit upkeep.
Note that with diversity bonuses, the profitability equations change. For example, my smelter near Let can pay higher prices for inputs and still produce metal for not much more than 100 cr/t. I am selling for an incredibly low 200cr/t and still selling at about twice my cost. Not every building owner will always be in a BBB or Leviathan with no faction equipment, so I wouldn't depend on diversity bonuses for profitability.
At the player SB, I set the buying and selling prices to be equal for commodities used in upkeep. During the times when others are doing upkeep for me, I want them to be able to do upkeep as efficiently as possible -- simply buying upkeep from and selling production to the SB. I do not want to charge a small transaction fee and discourage anyone who might choose to help me out.
This includes food and water, which are important upkeep commodities. So the SB price for commodities is ideally set midway between the selling price of the producers and the buying price of the consumers.
I am willing to charge a storage fee for high-end commodities that are not used in upkeep -- HWs, BWPs Droids. If you have a problem with pilots from other sectors selling droids to your SB, then set the buying price for droids to be 1000 less than it should be, and refund the difference to your stocker separately.
2. FWE pricing:
Taxes are worth about 40cr/t in the FWE equation, so the approximate break-even on pricing is (F + W) / 2 = E = 40, with floating population.
If you can manage these prices, then let the SB population rise without limit -- it will make little difference to your profit. Then you can have all 4 rings full of factories. Such a situation occurs in BU and PU08.
If the SB is farther away from a planet, and the SB must lose money on maintaining population, do not arrange the SB so that it needs to be constantly above 30k. The 2 SB rings from a population consistently over 5k is enough for the most important factories, and won't overly burden the pilot doing FWE runs. Trying to maintain high population for a SB at the end of a long FWE run is unsustainable in the long run.
In a safe core sector such as UNR, do not maintain an extra SB ring just to be able to have HDAs. HDAs are not needed during peacetime and can be built during wartime etc.
In any case, warehouses should always be on the innermost ring. It is better to lose an HDA or a factory than a warehouse full of BWPs and droids.
Also there should never be a limit on SB population. Either it can break even and floats at a higher population, or it the population is small enough that it always stays well below 50k.
3. High vs. low prices and what to produce:
High pricing is good to maintain a stable supply of construction materials.
Low pricing is good to attract customers.
Customers include producing at scrap prices.
Imperial SBs can and should produce high-end guns at scrap prices. This keeps the local economy running full-steam and allow Mooncrusher pilots to easily switch between trading and fighting.
Union SBs can produce L-Huge and LQ-Huge at scrap prices if the cost of energy is low enough. They mainly need lots of energy and rads and not much else. Every Union SB should produce them. They are ideal for a SB with lots of energy tiles nearby, well-suited for a SB far from a planet.
Union SBs can produce Key of Sheppard at well below scrap prices. If a Union SB is close enough to a planet to have high population, it can be producing goods for the PUC and Keys for the moguls doing transportation. Price the Key at well below scrap price, so that a mogul can partially cover the transportation cost by buying and selling a Key. The problem with Keys (and flux capacitors and missile batteries) is that they need a lot of commodities for production. Key of Sheppard is therefore suited for a SB with higher prices for commodities.
Meetpoint needs higher commodity prices to attract the needed supply of commodities for ship and equipment production. Note that at Meetpoint I am selling ships and equipment at only 11% over cost, so that OPC members pay only cost price after rebate. I have plenty of credits, so my production is more a service for the customers than a profit center for the SB.
A SB far from a planet shouldn't be trying to be a major production center. It should have weapons factory for missiles, a shield factory (if Union) for using up excess energy, and a repair bay. It can even manage that with only 1 SB ring, less than 5k population. Local buildings would mainly be 1 or 2 farms, an r'tron and a rad collector.
Pilots have better things to do with their APs than long FWE runs to maintain a high SB population. And we have better uses for our building slots than idle buildings in a sector where no one wants to waste APs on low-profit upkeep.
Note that with diversity bonuses, the profitability equations change. For example, my smelter near Let can pay higher prices for inputs and still produce metal for not much more than 100 cr/t. I am selling for an incredibly low 200cr/t and still selling at about twice my cost. Not every building owner will always be in a BBB or Leviathan with no faction equipment, so I wouldn't depend on diversity bonuses for profitability.