I built 2 marbles for ascended goods. (I call them A goods.) That helped though I don't know how much. The main help they give is you won't have to go through as many decays to build up the goods you need. Even with 2, keep them spelled. Of course, you can get more goods by using time instants on the day you need them. If that's your plan you probably only need 1 factory since it can be reused again and again to collect from. But using time instants for goods production might not work as well at you might think. Once you collect them you need to use a merchant to trade them. (You don't use your own A goods.) So, you may need to use instants to get your merchant back to place another order with them. If you have a friend with a stash of the A goods you need, schedule a time both of you will be on. Then you both can send out merchant and the other one takes the trade getting the merchant back instantly and ready for another trade. If you are using instants to get your merchants back or have a friend, you only need one merchant during that time since it's always available. It is a bit easier and quicker if you have a couple of merchants.
When I did the chapter, it was brand new so there were problems with not enough people making A goods and there was the usual imbalance of one kind or another good depending on which world you were on. Now, many people produce of A goods, so there isn't as much a problem of getting your trades taken quickly. I've finished ch 20 and still make A goods to trade and take people's trades. I always take the trades from people who only make 2k or 3k trades. BTW, making A goods, just as with S goods, they become a minor producer of T goods as they decay since you put fewer goods into their production than you get back. It just cost unur which decays into nothing.
I only used all 5 merchants a time or two, but that was more because there weren't enough good producers of what I needed at the time. As more people produced and needed A goods, spending diamonds for a merchant wasn't needed, at least for me.
Since you get your goods as soon as you place them with the merchant, there is a differ etiquette for trading that was suggested by
@SoggyShorts, though I'm sure others realized the same thing:
- Look for posted trades you need that have a hat by them since that will send the merchant back to the person using that merchant allowing them to use that again sooner then the 6h it takes for them to come back on their own.
- Next, place trades with your merchants, hoping someone will take them quickly.
- Last, if you can't wait, take trades that don't have a hat. The person who made the trade has already gotten their merchant back, so taking those trades doesn't help them.