Seriously, if you want a TL;DR of this entire list, just don't spec trade in any specific way - the skill itself is decent, the perks are ehhhhhhh.
Taleworlds please just make it so buying carans gets you some passive trade XP. Oh wait you won't do that because it would be good, my bad, sorry.
1 - Appraiser & Whole Seller☆ Appraiser 15% decrease sell price penalty for equipment. Profits are marked.Whole Seller 15% decrease sell price penalty for trade goods. Profits are marked.Final verdict: The difficult part here is if you don't go for trade goods you'll he a harder time with getting trade bonuses since they won't tell you if equipment is cheaper or more expensive elsewhere through rumors. That being said, equipment is the majority of your selling game, so I like Appraiser more.2 - Caran Master & Market Dealer★★ Caran Master Party can carry 30% more weight. Item prices are marked.Party weight gain is nice. As is obvious, item prices being marked is good.💩Market Dealer
-50% cost of bartering for safe passage. Item prices are marked.This perk used to make workshop income slightly increase. It's better now, but still pretty bad -- if you do end up using this perk, I hope it's not more than once a campaign since you shouldn't be getting caught so easily and trying to weasel out of it.Final verdict: While Market Dealer is marked 💩-tier, I don't think it's that egregious since it's only a tier 2 perk, but the effective use of it is so much less felt than Caran Master - go Caran Master.
3 - Local Connection & Treling Rumors☆ Local Connection Workshops gather rumors. 15% decrease in sell penalty for animals.Rumors are ehhhh but workshops are always around whereas carans might not be. Workshops can allow you to "trademax" by strategically placing them.Treling Rumors
Carans gather rumors. 15% decrease in buy penalty from villages.The village penalty decrease is decent for horse villages but nothing else really.Final verdict: Playstyle matters here since you won't be following your carans around everywhere. I think Local Connection is better to strategize rumors from planned workshop placement.
4 - Distributed Goods & Toll Gates💩 Distributed Goods Double relationship for artisans from resolved issues.Unless you are specifically maxing out on quests (both RNG dependent and area dependent) this is a completely ineffective perk.💩 Toll Gates
Double relationship for merchants from resolved issues.Same as above.Final verdict: Both perks are lackluster due to not being able to control issues. Pick one at random and it's the same as if you thought it over, and the effects likely won't be felt.
5 - Artisan Community & Great InvestorArtisan Community Profitable workshops give +1 renown/day. +1 recruitment slot with merchant notables.Workshops are limited in numbers but can keep your companions free. Vanilla workshops suck at making real money, but if they make you renown, at least they do something right.Great Investor
Profitable carans give +1 renown/day. Companion hiring is 30% cheaper.Companion hiring is useless, but carans giving renown can increase your renown nicely.Final verdict: If you would rather send your companions off to do missions for you, go with Artisan Community. Otherwise, Great Investor is better for passive renown gain since there's no caran cap.