Do I leave stations to adjust their prices of set it manually?

[Youripito]

I got to build some stations and i am in a dilemma. Is it more profitable if a leave the station to automatically adjust their prices or just set fixed prices and wait?

[Cycrow]

If you want the best profit, then it's best to use manual prices.

Automatic prices allow the goods to move faster and factories to keep producing, but at the expense of profit margins

[Hwitvlf]

I usually manually set the 'buy/sell' prices to 'average'. Most stations will turn a slow profit if set that way. Better profits come when you have a dedicated ship buying cheaper 'resources'.

Most resources will be sold to your station at 'average' price fairly consistently (energy, ore, food), but some are much less likely (crystals etc). If your factory is deep in enemy space (Argon space and needs Paranid food supplies or Majaglit etc) you will be visited by a seller.

Some products will almost never sell at 'average' (looking at you Massom Powder) as there is low demand and high production. Other products will sell as fast as they are produced (microchips, advanced satellites, quantum tubes etc). Many weapons and shields will not sell at any price, (weapon dealers are scarce) but it's easy enough to manually haul a load to a dock every now and then.

Also, make sure your factory's 'friend foe' list has no one marked as enemy. Enemy merchants can buy/sell if they are allowed to dock

[BrigandPhantos77]

In my experience and play I found the following true for me for selling things.

Best sellers:
1 MJ and 5 MJ shields
Mosquito Missiles, Firefly Missiles (no idea why as they suck)
Microchips
Quantum Tubes
Crystals
Most Foods, though they need to be below the average.
Nividium - High Seller (Above average it sells rare, just below average it won't stay in stock) Can sell this manually to barter merchants for max price. Need to add it to PHQ first though, and have at least 3500 units for it to appear with decent number request. Within 3 sectors outside of PHQ sector.

Worst Sellers
Most Weapons
Ore / Silicon (Reason: most NPC mines will have it at bottom price)

Energy Cells> A note on these. I've had solar power plants get many visits, but I usually set the price at 15. At 16 credits buying price, many of my factories get constantly supplied by NPC ships.
Food Types> On these, it's more of a crapshoot in my opinion. Some things sell fast, but I think it depends on who's food you are selling. At average price, the raw food usually get's brought to me. But I usually have to bring the prepared food price down to get it to sell.

Hope this helps you.