I don't tend to keep track of mineral price fluctuations as such, I instead have a list of mineral prices I have used to calculate item costs of everything I manufacture. If I can buy the minerals within a certain range of that original price I can feel confident that I will still make a profit. However, mexallon has seen a steep rise in cost in recent months. Judging by the market trends, the mineral cost has even spiked in the past couple of days. Rather than try to ride out the spike I look for the cheapest price I can, as the modules I am going to make turn a good profit that can absorb the new costs.

Hunting across the region I find a significant quantity of mexallon for sale if not at a good price then one that beats the market average easily. In fact, I decide to try a little experiment. Rather than only buying what I need for my current production run I procure the whole batch of minerals at the relatively cheap price. Reserving what I need for myself I then relist the remaining minerals at an increased price, but still cheaper than the average current cost.

I am sure buying bargains to resell is a common tactic with some entrepreneurial capsuleers but it's not one I have indulged in so far. However, I can't really lose. If I manage to sell the minerals back to other capsuleers I make most of my ISK back, and if I don't I get enough mexallon to last me for a while. The only way I could lose is if I don't sell the mineral and the price of mexallon drops significantly before I use it all up.

As it turns out, I manage to sell the whole batch of mexallon within a couple of days. Although I lowered the price a fraction before it sold a bit of maths shows that I effectively bought the minerals I put in to manufacturing for under two-thirds the prevailing market price, putting it below my original cost-estimate pricing, which really makes it a bargain. I may have to try this more often, although training in marketing, the skill that allows remote placing of sell orders, then becomes a necessity.