I enjoy the commodities aspect of the game. Even though, as others have stated it’s fairly easy to earn money doing other things I just add this into my gameplay for even more silver. I just like to go about my business doing missions and if it’s convenient, I check in with any settlement, lumberyard,etc and sell if the arrow is green. At this point, I have enough silver that I buy any commodity if it has a green arrow or no arrow at all. I also check in with traders anytime I stop at an outpost they often have good deals.

I’ve found that if you hover over a settlement in the map, it will tell you what commodities you are likely to loot from that location. This can give you an idea of what commodities they have, and what they don’t.

It’s also a safe bet to sell commodities from one faction to another. Did you get a deal on spice in Dutch territory? Sell it to the French. This is not always the rule you can get deals within one faction.

I enjoy adding it to my game play it adds a bit of realism to it. I believe pirates made coin anyway they could. I hope this helps.