Trade involves various types of transactions. These include the exchange of a wide range of goods such as salt, grain, cloth, metal ores, finished products, stone, timber, and medicinal plants. Spices, especially pepper, textiles, and medicinal plants were traded across the Arabian Sea to the Roman Empire. Trade was conducted through land routes, river routes, and sea routes, extending to Central Asia, West Asia, East and North Africa, Southeast Asia, and China. Merchants, peddlers, and seafarers carried out these transactions, and coins facilitated long-distance trade.

The sources mentioned, particularly coins, reveal monetary transactions. Punch-marked coins, Yaudheya copper coins, Roman gold coins, and Gupta gold coins indicate that trade involved the use of currency. The widespread use of gold coins points to the enormous value of transactions taking place. Archaeological evidence, such as the bead-making industry in Kodumanal and hoards of Roman coins in south India, shows trade networks and economic exchanges across regions.

Several transactions are not evident from the sources. Barter transactions (direct exchange of goods without money) are not visible in coin-based evidence. Small-scale local exchanges by peddlers travelling on foot may not have left significant traces. Credit transactions or deferred payments are not documented. Additionally, the sources do not reveal the actual negotiations, agreements, or relationships between traders, nor do they show the services that might have been exchanged.