I haven't been playing long, but so far, in the half-dozen or so trading runs I've made, an event triggers at the point of sale where a merchant tries to cut in and flatten the value of the good I invested in hauling... fine--but:

-This happens 100% of the time
-This happens regardless of trade good or location
-The merchant is always from the same faction as the city, so refusing always creates a follow-up event where the queue jumper is waved through anyway (having a consistent choice to accept the same spammed negative event or have it happen regardless is always extremely fun for the player and an incredibly efficient use of dialogue boxes /s)
-I am forced to sell at an effective loss no matter what I try to do
-There is no apparent way around this problem, no hint at there being a larger plot or quest-involved problem

I expect challenges from a game of course, but what gives? I'm just confused. I'm chalking it up to bad luck and a small sample size of playtime, but right now, a major aspect of the game is not fun. I have yet to experience a single successful trade in a trading game. If I'm going to find it worthwhile to continue, I need to know if this is normal and can be mitigated through familiarisation, strategy, items, progression within the game, etc. , or if there's something else happening.

Thanks