Star Citizen Profit Calculator
Your essential tool for planning profitable cargo runs in the ‘verse.
The cost in aUEC for a single unit of the commodity.
The sale price in aUEC for a single unit at your destination.
Enter the total SCU (Standard Cargo Unit) your ship can hold.
Total Potential Profit
What is a Star Citizen Calculator?
A Star Citizen calculator is a tool designed to help players make informed decisions within the game’s complex economy. This specific calculator focuses on trade and cargo hauling, one of the primary ways to earn aUEC (Alpha United Earth Credits), the in-game currency. By inputting the buy and sell prices of a commodity, along with your ship’s cargo capacity, you can instantly see the potential profit of a trade run.
This allows traders, from beginners in an Aurora CL to veterans in a C2 Hercules, to optimize their routes, manage risk, and maximize their hourly income. It removes the guesswork from cargo hauling, ensuring every trip has a predictable and worthwhile payout. Using a Star Citizen profit calculator is a key strategy for any serious space trucker.
The Star Citizen Profit Formula
The calculation for trading profit is straightforward but crucial. It determines your net earnings after you’ve bought a full load of cargo and sold it at a different location. The core formula used by this Star Citizen calculator is:
Total Profit = (Sell Price per Unit – Buy Price per Unit) × (Cargo Capacity in SCU × 100)
This formula accounts for the fact that one Standard Cargo Unit (SCU) can hold 100 units of a commodity. We break this down into several useful metrics.
Variables Explained
| Variable | Meaning | Unit | Typical Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy Price | The cost to purchase one unit of a commodity. | aUEC | 1 – 10,000+ |
| Sell Price | The price you receive for one unit of a commodity. | aUEC | 1 – 12,000+ |
| Cargo Capacity | The total volume your ship’s cargo grid can hold. | SCU | 4 (e.g., Cutter) to 98,304 (e.g., Hull E) |
| Total Profit | The final net earnings from the entire trade run. | aUEC | Varies greatly |
Practical Examples
Let’s see how this Star Citizen calculator works with realistic scenarios.
Example 1: Beginner Laranite Run
A new player with a Freelancer MAX wants to trade Laranite, a common and stable commodity.
- Inputs:
- Buy Price: 28.50 aUEC
- Sell Price: 29.15 aUEC
- Cargo Capacity: 120 SCU
- Results:
- Total Investment: 342,000 aUEC
- Total Sale Value: 349,800 aUEC
- Total Profit: 7,800 aUEC
Example 2: End-Game Quantainium Haul
An experienced trader uses a C2 Hercules for a high-risk, high-reward Quantainium run.
- Inputs:
- Buy Price: 78.00 aUEC
- Sell Price: 88.50 aUEC
- Cargo Capacity: 696 SCU
- Results:
- Total Investment: 5,428,800 aUEC
- Total Sale Value: 6,159,600 aUEC
- Total Profit: 730,800 aUEC
How to Use This Star Citizen Profit Calculator
- Enter Buy Price: Find the commodity you want to trade and enter its purchase price per unit into the first field.
- Enter Sell Price: Find a destination where the commodity is in demand and enter the price they will pay per unit.
- Enter Cargo Capacity: Input your ship’s total cargo capacity in SCU. You can find this in your ship’s specs.
- Click “Calculate Profit”: The calculator will instantly process the numbers and show you the results.
- Analyze the Results: Review your Total Profit, ROI, and other intermediate values to decide if the trade run is worth your time and risk.
- Reset and Plan Again: Use the “Reset” button to clear the fields and plan your next run with a new star citizen calculator query.
Key Factors That Affect Trading Profit
- Commodity Prices: The most direct factor. Prices fluctuate based on server-wide supply and demand, and can be affected by dynamic events.
- Cargo Capacity (SCU): Your ship’s size is the primary multiplier for your profit. A larger ship means larger, more profitable hauls.
- Travel Time: Profit per run is important, but profit per hour is a better metric. Longer routes, even if profitable, may be less efficient.
- Risk Level: Hauling in lawless systems may offer higher rewards but comes with the significant risk of piracy. This calculator does not factor in potential cargo loss.
- Initial Capital: You need enough aUEC to afford a full cargo hold of the commodity you intend to trade. Some high-tier goods require millions in upfront investment.
- Server Population & Kiosk Demand: At busy locations, supply and demand can be exhausted quickly. A profitable route on paper might not work if hundreds of other players are running it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
SCU stands for Standard Cargo Unit, the universal measurement for cargo in Star Citizen. 1 SCU is a 1.25m³ container.
Prices must be checked in-game at Trade & Development Division (TDD) terminals or at specific outposts. Third-party websites and tools often crowdsource this data.
No. This star citizen calculator uses aUEC (Alpha United Earth Credits), the in-game currency only. It has no relation to real-world money.
Price fluctuations can occur between the time you check the price and the time you sell. This is part of the dynamic economy of Star Citizen.
This changes constantly. High-value goods like Quantainium, Laranite, and sometimes illegal drugs offer huge profits but come with higher risk and capital requirements.
No, this is a simple profit calculator. It focuses only on the gross profit from a buy/sell transaction. You should mentally deduct operating costs from the final profit figure.
Yes. Once you have refined your mined materials into commodities, you can use their value at the refinery as a “Buy Price” and the price at a TDD as the “Sell Price” to calculate transport profit.
A negative profit means the “Sell Price” you entered is lower than the “Buy Price”. This indicates an unprofitable trade route.