Hello Merchants! First of all, we've updated the steam page and made a new trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lRVkJWQY9Y Second, we wanted to give a glimpse into how early-game trading works. The global map is split into islands, some of these are city type islands. Most of the cities have trade posts: buildings that will let you buy and sell basic resources. Here's the price table: it shows the list of towns and goods that can be bought there. The trade posts in the game only allow for basic level items to be traded, more advanced item sale require bazaar visit. Advanced item acquisition can only be done on your own base via the means of production.
As you start the game, the map is unexplored and you don't know what's out there. Another thing is that you can't evaluate the prices properly without seing and comparing them to other towns, so the initial version of the table is flawed, the unconfirmed price levels will be shown with question mark in trade posts. Here's an example:
In this picture, you can see the price mini-table on the right. While the prices for the stone is figured out correctly, you still can't be sure whether the price for the wood and wheat is accurate. You can only deduct that you have seen it higher and lower in some places, hence the question sign because your perception of the price can change. The expensive wheat might not seem as expensive anymore after you visit a city with higher wheat price than here. You have to visit other towns to figure out the pricing, at least comparatively. When you visit the towns, their prices and info is added to the table and you can compare the costs more accurately and plan the trade routes accordingly.
Hopefully this gives a better insight on how trade works in the game. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions :) See you at the game release in 5 days, July 30th 5PM GMT!