Buying/Selling/Transferring (TFTD)

Purchase Times

Purchase Times

ITEM	TIME (Hours)	TIME (Days)
All Personnel	72	3
TRITON	72	3
BARRACUDA	96	4
Craft Weapons	48	2
Craft Missiles	48	2
Gas Rounds(×50)	96	4
SWS	96	4
SWS Ammo	48	2
All Weapons	24	1
All Ammunition	24	1
All Equipment	24	1

Non-Manufacturable Prices

Non-Manufacturable Prices

ITEM	Buy Price ($)	Sell Price ($)
Aquanaut	40,000	0
Scientist	60,000	0
Technician	50,000	0
TRITON	500,000	0
BARRACUDA	600,000	0
Ajax Launcher	16,000	12,000
D.U.P. Head Launcher	17,000	12,750
Craft Gas Cannon	30,000	22,500
Ajax Torpedoes	3,000	2,400
D.U.P. Head Torpedoes	9,000	7,200
Gas Rounds(×50)	1,240	1,012
Coelacanth/G. Cannon	420,000	340,000
Solid Harpoon Bolts	200	100
Coelacanth/Aqua Jet	480,000	360,000
Aqua Jet Missiles	3,000	2,250
Dart Gun	800	600
Dart Clip	70	52
Jet Harpoon	3,000	2,250
Harpoon Clip	200	150
Gas Cannon	6,400	4,800
GC-AP Bolts	300	225
GC-HE Bolts	500	275
GC-Phosphorous Bolts	400	300
Hydro-Jet Cannon	13,500	10,125
HJ-AP Ammo	500	400
HJ-HE Ammo	700	560
HJ-P Ammo	650	520
Torpedo Launcher	4,000	3,000
Small Torpedo	600	480
Large Torpedo	900	720
Phosphor Torpedo	1,200	960
Magna-Blast Grenade	300	240
Dye Grenade	150	120
Particle Disturbance Grenade	500	400
Magna-Pack Explosive	1,500	1,200
Thermal Tazer	1,260	945
Chemical-flare	60	40

Manufacturable Prices

Table

Manufacturable Prices

ITEM	Start Price ($)	Sell Price ($)	Tech Hours	$Profit/hr	Payback
HAMMERHEAD	400,000	0	14000	- 82
MANTA	600,000	0	18000	- 82
LEVIATHAN	900,000	0	34000	- 66
Gauss Pistol	8,000	20,000	300	40	15 mon
Gauss Pistol Clip	1,000	1,050	20	2.5	(never)
Gauss Rifle	20,000	36,900	400	42	10 mon
Gauss Rifle Clip	2,000	1,950	45	- 1
Heavy Gauss	32,000	61,000	700	41	11 mon
Heavy Gauss Clip	4,000	3,220	70	- 11
Sonic Pistol	56,000	84,000	600	36	16 yrs
Pistol Power Clip	2,000	4,440	60	- 43
Sonic-Blasta Rifle	88,000	126,500	820	39	19 mon
Blasta Power Clip	3,000	6,290	80	- 84
Sonic Cannon	122,000	171,600	1,000	43	9 mon
Cannon Power Clip	6,000	9,590	80	-143
Sonic Pulser	6,700	14,850	200	- 9
Disruptor Pulse Launcher	90,000	144,000	1200	40	16 mon
Disruptor Ammo	8,000	17,028	220	- 27
Thermal Shok Launcher	78,000	120,000	900	39	17 mon
Thermal Shok Bomb	7,000	15,200	200	16	(never)
Vibro Blade	7,000	1,500	150	- 70
Thermic Lance	12,000	1,800	220	- 92
Heavy Thermic Lance	20,000	2,000	300	- 93
Particle Disturbance Sensor	34,000	45,600	220	53	4 mon
Medi-Kit	28,000	46,500	420	44	8 mon
M.C. Reader	262,000	304,000	1200	25	(never)
M.C. Disruptor	160,000	194,700	500	36	6 yrs
Gauss Cannon	182,000	211,000	300	97	33 days
Gauss Cannon Ammo	200	200	5	0
Sonic Oscillator	226,000	267,300	500	- 67
P.W.T. Cannon	242,000	281,100	400	81.5	44 days
P.W.T Ammo (craft)	28,000	53,300	600	9	(never)
Coelacanth/Gauss	500,000	594,000	1200	78	48 days
Displacer /Sonic	850,000	980,000	1200	- 44
Displacer /P. W. T.	900,000	1,043,000	1400	- 24
P.W. Torpedo (SWS)	15,000	31,500	400	-151
Ion-Beam Accelerators	130,000	250,000	1400	5	(never)
Magnetic Navigation	150,000	80,000	1600	- 56
Aqua Plastics	3,000	6,500	100	35	(never)
Plastic Aqua Armor	22,000	54,000	800	7.5	(never)
Ion Armor	42,000	85,000	1000	- 15
Magnetic Ion Armor	58,000	115,000	1400	- 40

Notes to Table

NOTE: Profit is measured in $ per technician hours. It is calculated by taking the difference between an item's selling price and its total build costs (including manufacturing start costs, and any exotic component costs) and dividing that by the technician hours required to build it. The profit is simply how much money you make in one hour with one technician building a particular item just to sell it. Payback is the time required for profits to repay all initial costs. So there is no "true profit" until after the Payback period has passed.

Further Notes

• The profit levels calculated above include the lost resale value of all manufactured/recovered components (Zrbite, Aqua Plastics, Ion-Beam Accelerators, Magnetic Navigation) used in their manufacture. In many cases this reduces the profit considerably.
• Also, keep in mind that that each technician costs $36/hr in salary, Living Quarters maintenance, and Workshop space maintenance. Any "profit" less than $36/hr is not really a true profit, it's just a subsidy to reduce your outgoings on Technician costs and overheads.
• In addition, before a true profit is made, you must recover the initial costs of hiring the Technicians, building their Living Quarters and their Workshop. Recovering these initial outlays will cost the equivalent of $67/hr per Technician for one month (or just over $11/hr for six months, etc). The Payback period shown above is the time taken to repay these costs (assuming multiples of 50 Technicians).
• As in the real world, fixed assets (such as workshops and living quarters) need to be fully utilised in order to be the most profitable. Whenever you use and hire Technicians in less than multiples of 50, the overhead costs are proportionally even higher, and the payback period on initial costs is longer.

Analysis

• The most profitable item to produce is the Gauss Cannon. The (craft) PWT Launcher and the Coelecanth/Gauss SWS have similar profitability to the Gauss Cannon. The Gauss SWS can be discounted since the Gauss Cannon must be researched before the Gauss SWS, which also has the requirement of Manta research.
• Whether the Gauss Cannon is likely to be researched before the PWT Launcher probably depends on the individual Commander's preference (or not) for Gauss weapons on the battlefield. For a Commander who generally avoids Gauss development, the PWT could provide an alternative route to profitability, as well as a usable craft weapon that is quicker to research than a Sonic Oscillator (if expensive to operate in terms of Zrbite and manufacturing time).
• The next most profitable item is the Particle Disturbance Sensor, which has the advantage that it can be successfully researched very early in the game, and also requires no Zrbite or Aqua Plastics.
• Almost all of the profitable manufacturing activities would be considered very good commercial investments. A Gauss Cannon factory, with an annual Return on Investment of nearly 1100%, would be considered an economic miracle. Even the Particle Disturbance Sensor (RoI just over 300%) would have investors beating down the doors. These high profits are presumably explained by XCOM's monopoly of the technology, combined with high demand that is perhaps due to the crisis facing the world. What is more mysterious is why only a few of the technologies attract enormous profit, while most of the others can only be sold at a loss, in some cases a 100% loss.

Alien Sub Recoverable Prices

Alien Sub Recoverable Prices

ITEM	Sell Price
Zrbite 1	5,000
Alien Corpses	20,000
Alien Sub Construction	20,000
Alien Cryogenics	5,000
Alien Cloning	40,000
Alien Learning Arrays	20,000
Alien Implanter	38,000
Examination Room	9,000
Alien Re-animation Zone	100

¹ Zrbite can only be acquired through salvaging from UFOs and Alien Colonies. As such, you are strongly advised NOT to sell it.

See Also

• Buying/Selling/Transferring (Enemy Unknown)