Manipulation of prices and management of internal markets is a must for you to learn to guarantee success in Victoria 3. The economy plays a major role in the development of a nation and once you have a good grip on the basics of economic simulation, your nation is sure to succeed.
It might feel a bit ambiguous at first but once you master the basics then proceeding further will be a piece of cake. Read on to learn how to manipulate the prices of goods and manage your economy.
How to control the price of goods in Victory 3
Buy and Sell Orders (supply and demand in traditional terms) is the best way to understand the manipulation of prices of goods etc. First, you should know what a base price is. This is the price of any item when it is being produced in an amount exactly to meet the supply.
Now if there is an excess production of a good in a country, there will be a reduction in prices and thus factories producing the good might face losses and other hassles.
Similarly, if the production rate of good drops, the price will increase, and buyers will not be in a good position now whereas buildings producing the good will benefit.
Continuing on, buy orders are the demand for a good which comes from building consumption and exports, etc. Sell orders are the supply of a good and come from imports or any production inside your country. These orders can easily be checked from the game menu for all goods.
While raising the prices of a good, you need to be wary of oversupply. This means that overexpanding of factories and buildings producing the good too soon will lead to a large drop in prices and thus your main agenda cannot be achieved.
Try to manage supply and demand carefully. For example, if there is an excess production of a good you can consider exporting it to other countries for extra profit. Manipulate production in a way to produce less of the good which will lead to a rise in prices.
Do the exact opposite for decreasing the prices of goods. You will receive plenty of alerts when several goods and equipment become too expensive. Thus, try to expand or upgrade production buildings or you can also import these goods to increase supply leading to a drop in prices.
Types of goods in Victoria 3
The decision of increasing or decreasing the price of goods depends a lot upon the type of target good. Each type has its strategies that you should keep in mind while implementing price manipulation methods.
Staple Goods
Firstly, we have the Staple Goods that are the absolute necessity of people and their survival. Some examples are Grain, Oil, etc. Special care must be taken for these as you don’t want to make them too expensive for the poor and too cheap to put your production buildings in loss leading to less production.
| Trade Good | Base Value | Prestige Factor | Traded Quantity |
| Clothes | £30 | 4 | 15 |
| Fabric | £20 | 3 | 20 |
| Fish | £20 | 3 | 20 |
| Furniture | £30 | 4 | 15 |
| Grain | £20 | 3 | 20 |
| Groceries | £30 | 4 | 15 |
| Paper | £30 | 4 | 15 |
| Wood | £20 | 3 | 20 |
| Electricity | £30 | 5 | – |
| Services | £30 | 3 | – |
| Transportation | £30 | 4 | – |
Industrial Goods
Then we have the Industrial Goods such as Iron, Glass, etc., which are mainly used in manufacturing industries.
| Trade Good | Base Value | Prestige Factor | Traded Quantity |
| Clippers | £60 | 5 | 7 |
| Coal | £30 | 5 | 15 |
| Dye | £40 | 5 | 1 |
| Engines | £60 | 10 | 8 |
| Explosives | £50 | 10 | 8 |
| Fertilizer | £30 | 5 | 15 |
| Glass | £40 | 5 | 1 |
| Hardwood | £40 | 5 | 1 |
| Iron | £40 | 5 | 1 |
| Lead | £40 | 5 | 1 |
| Oil | £40 | 5 | 1 |
| Rubber | £40 | 5 | 1 |
| Silk | £40 | 5 | 1 |
| Steamers | £70 | 5 | 7 |
| Steel | £50 | 5 | 1 |
| Sulfur | £50 | 5 | 1 |
| Tools | £40 | 5 | 1 |
Luxury Goods
Luxury Goods like Furniture, Art, etc. are for people’s happiness. Keeping these somewhat expensive is beneficial for the economy as well as you are only relying on wealthy people to invest here.
| Trade Good | Base Value | Prestige Factor | Traded Quantity |
| Automobiles | £100 | 10 | 8 |
| Coffee | £50 | 4 | 1 |
| Fine Art | £200 | 15 | 5 |
| Fruit | £30 | 4 | 5 |
| Liquor | £30 | 4 | 15 |
| Luxury Clothes | £60 | 10 | 1 |
| Luxury Furniture | £60 | 10 | 1 |
| Meat | £30 | 4 | 15 |
| Opium | £50 | 4 | 1 |
| Porcelain | £70 | 5 | 1 |
| Radios | £80 | 10 | 1 |
| Sugar | £30 | 4 | 15 |
| Tea | £50 | 4 | 1 |
| Telephones | £70 | 10 | 1 |
| Tobacco | £40 | 4 | 1 |
| Wine | £50 | 5 | 1 |
Military Goods
Military Goods are the ones used by your armies and military buildings such as Artillery, ammunition, etc.
| Trade Good | Base Value | Prestige Factor | Traded Quantity |
| Aeroplanes | £80 | 10 | 6 |
| Ammunition | £50 | 5 | 1 |
| Artillery | £70 | 5 | 7 |
| Ironclads | £80 | 10 | 5 |
| Man-o-Wars | £70 | 5 | 5 |
| Small Arms | £60 | 5 | 1 |
| Tanks | £80 | 10 | 6 |
Importance of infrastructure for goods
As you progress through Victoria 3, your country will face increasing needs for infrastructure developments for the transportation of goods, etc.
If these needs exceed the present support, transportation of goods will face numerous hurdles which will ultimately result in these goods being sold at a lower price than the market price even if goods are being produced efficiently.
Infrastructure development mostly includes railways and ports. Focus on these as well along with the development of production methods to effectively maintain the economic situation of your country.
