* Originally by Eugene Hung

    All ports have a BEST price, which one will get 5 experience 
points if one bids that exact number.  The best price is 
determined by the number of holds, if uneven, then the best price 
is usually a fraction, though I am not sure, since I always get 
holds in groups of 5 and 10, up to my maximum.  Some ports have 
just ONE best price, those are the easy ones.  Let us say one is 
in a StarMaster with 70 holds(the most useful ship for robbing 
and attacking).  Get a psychic probe to help determine the best 
price.  The first time, either accept the port's initial offer 
for no experience, or bid a little higher than what they offer.  
The psy-probe will tell you how far you were off from the best 
price, then you steal the 70 equipment, and use your calculator 
to figure out the best price and nail it on the head for 5 exp. 
each time.  However, most ports have more than one best 
price(which I will explain).  You must use a different strategy 
for this, which is an extension of the strategy I just previously 
outlined. 
    Ok, so you have a psychic probe, and have just found out ONE 
best price. Port again, and look carefully at the initial offer.  
If the offer is within 20 credits or so of the previous time(when 
you sold 70 equ to them at an absurdly low price), the best price 
is the same as last time, and so you should bid your calculated 
best price from last time.  You may be off a credit or two, but 
eventually you'll figure out the best price through the probe. 
Now, let us hypothesize that inital offer is substantially 
different than last time(around 50-90 credits).  That means the 
best price has MOVED.  But, after lots of testing, I discovered 
that the best price can only MOVE up or down in multiples of a 
certain number, n.  THAT NUMBER IS THE NUMBER OF YOUR HOLDS. 
Thus, going back to the example, the port's best price can 
fluctuate up or down multiples of 70.  Knowing this, you look at 
the initial offer, see whether it went up or down from last time, 
estimate how many multiples of n it went up or down, and bid the 
best price plus 70 * roughly how much it went up or down.  This 
is a little confusing, so I'll illustrate: 
    Let us say the port offers 9600 credits for 70 equ.  You 
accept the offer, and figure out with your psy probe and 
calculator that the best offer was 10199.  You steal the 70 equ 
back.  Now you port again.  If the offer still is around 
9600(9580-9620), bid 10199.  Voila, 5 exp.  If you continue to 
steal-sell, and the offer varies very little, this is a one-price 
port. However, if the offer ever deviates by 50 or more, it is 
NOT a one-price port.  So let us say the 2nd time, the port offer 
9665(65 more than last time). Since you have 70 equ to sell, the 
port's best price must have gone UP by 70 credits(since the offer 
went up around 70 creds).  So one bids 10269, or 10199 + 70.  You 
steal, and port.  The port offers 9510 credits, or 90 below 9600. 
That's around 70 below the original best price, so you bid 10129, 
or 10199 -70.  You steal, and port.  The port now offers 9650, 
around 50 above 9600, so the best price is probably 70 above this 
time, so it's 10269.  You steal, and port.  The offer is now 
9385.  That's roughly 210 credits(70 * 3) below, so you bid 10199 
- 210, or 9989 credits. 
    As you can see, ALL THE BEST PRICES ARE RELATED by the NUMBER 
OF HOLDS. This strategy also works in other ships, such as a Corp 
FlagShip with 85(bid up or down multiples of 85 from the first 
figure). 
    There is a flaw, though.  One may not estimate the number 
correctly.  In the previous example, what if the port offered 
9635?  One could not tell whether the best price was the same, 
10199, or 70 up, 10269.  IN CASES OF DOUBT, OVERBID.  What I mean 
by that is, bid the higher figure, in this case, 10269.  If it 
WAS 10269, I get 5 exp.  If it was 10199, the port will raise its 
bid by 20-21 creds(30% of # of holds), also raising the best 
price by 21 credits(30%).  THE BEST PRICE CHANGES through 
overbids, by 30% of the difference between the bids, towards your 
offer.  So, let us say we misestimated, and bid 10269.  The port 
now offers 9655, which means we were over by 70, so we bid 10199 
+ 21(30% of 70), or 10220.  Bingo!  Realize, if one UNDERbids, 
the port will immediately accept the offer, and you will get only 
TWO exp, for being 99.31% off or so.  So always choose the higher 
figure, when in doubt.  And if you overshoot by 140, the port 
offer goes up by 40 or so, so the best offer goes up by 42 
credits(30% of 140), and you should bid 98(140 -42) credits less 
to get the best price.