Trading wasn't really working out well for me even after the patch. I just have to learn which systems deliver to which (like extraction goes to refinery systems). Mining was fairly profitable but good god I lost so many braincells trying to drink away the boredom.
Bounty hunting was, is, and probably will be forever fun for me. I just don't get as lucky with big bounties showing up. However, rare trading is most likely what I will do for a while as an intermediate source of income. If anyone is frustrated with poor gains, this is probably where you should go. With my 40t Cobra I can make 500k-1M per round trip which honestly isn't too bad time wise (I have yet to time myself).
For those interested in making fairly easy money, try out this route. (I take no credit for this, I saw it on another post and can't remember who said it, but thank you sincerely)
Leesti, Lave, Orrere, Diso, and Zaonce <-----> 39 Tauri, Fujin, Wolf 1301, Witchhaul
Basically those are 2 clusters of rare commodity locations where you can stock up on all of the nearby systems that sell rares, then take it to the other cluster which happens to be around 170 LY away (the "sweet spot" for rares to be sold back to anyone). Once there sell all of the rares you have been toting around and stock up on more from the other nearby systems, then just take it back to the first cluster where you started. Profits will be great. The navigation tab on the galaxy map will help immensely. Just search for one of the systems in the cluster 170 LYs away (after you stock up), zoom out until you see the web growing out from your position. You can wait for it load more routes closer but you will most likely have to plan jumps in stages. I usually plan when I'm fuel scooping (don't worry about interdictions as it will force you out of the map to deal with it)
Hopefully this helps a few who were struggling with the grind for cash. This at least makes it feel less grindy imo. Also it might be good to have exploration tools on your ship as you will almost certainly run into quite a few unexplored system and the extra cash is nice for fuel/repair/amm or just more savings.
Admin notes:
- Also check out the rest of the post in the thread. It contains useful information.
- Its a relative old thread. Not sure how good, relevant the routes are with the current version of ED.