Well, the first ship is kind of terrible for trading with no way of fixing it till they allow us to customize ship specs (planned for later during the beta) while simply buying a second gun makes it an okay fighter...Grabbing my post from the previous thread. Can anyone fill me in with a profitable trade route? Trying to get some money going. Absolutely terrible at the combat.
Even more importantly: it is very likely that the game will reset everyone's progress during the beta (maybe more than once): so it may not be very wise to spend too much time simply earning money unless its really what you want to do for fun.
But if you are dead set on trading do keep in mind that there's a natural supply and demand chain: in the galaxy map stars are tagged with a description like agricultural, mining, or industrial. Like in every trading game the trick seems to be buying cheap as much as you can (items with low demand) and selling it where you think the item will be in high demand. You can either use educated guesses (industry will need minerals, farming will want fertilizer), previous experience from past visits (pen and paper helps) or downright "cheating" by using one of the many available trading calculators available, such as:
http://www.elitetradingtool.co.uk
Be VERY mindful about pirate players preying on traders, often just outside stations! Check your radar and remember: hollow icons are other players, square icons are "safe" but triangle means they have their weapons deployed. When in doubt, divert power to system and engines and run, boosting as much as you can.