Trader (in training) ------------:
Here's the steps I'd suggest for anybody new to the trade...
1. Head to a city which has Caravans for sale, as well as an Academy for training
2. Do the 1 hour check with the cheap Trainer and see what your Trading skill is. Likely you don't want to leave the kingdom until your skill is above 10%. And you certainly don't want to engage in any black market (illegal) trades until your skill is above 40% as it's simply too easy to be captured and at the whim of a foreign judge.
3. Request our Queen add you to the Trader's message group. This way, you'll be able to get into discussions with the existing Traders and hopefully some private discussions with the members of it, so you can get tips and tricks of the trade, and be better off for being in the group.
4. Once you've done steps 1 through 3 (I'd actually advise going in order) make sure you are part of the Trader's message group and then start asking questions. Also start to figure out who the friendly and unfriendly kingdoms are. Message the rulers of the friendly ones, and start to get them familiar with you. This will help when you show up, because they'll at least have some idea who you are and what your intentions are.
5. Once you start going into foreign lands (and have at least 1 caravan) get familiar with announcing your arrival to the region lord and banker of said kingdom, and politely check if they have excess food for sale, or where you might find it. After buying up what they have, come back to Abington (please announce that you're on your way back) and see where we need the food most sold to. I can move food around, but if it's near harvest, there may not be any food to move (or enough to move and keep the region it comes from fed enough).
Aside from that guideline set, it'll pretty much be discussions with other traders and people you meet along the way that will shape how your trade runs will go.
Also, if you're running into gold issues, make sure to tell me how much you have, how much you need, and what you need the gold for.
NOTE: Try to keep bonds as much as possible.. only time you should have in-hand gold when travelling is for food purchases.. if you keep all your gold in-hand and in coins and you travel through hostile lands and get caught, you can pretty much bet a greedy judge will take the gold from you and you'll have to start all over again.
Also, while you're allowed to, please try to keep gold shipments to your family at a reasonable level. If you keep shipping your gold to your family, and it turns out that you need it for something else, I'll be hard pressed to assist you, if it seems you're sending all your excess home when you could be keeping a large share with you (as I'll know you squandered it for no reason elsewhere).