During the whole of the first period trade was largely affected by the activity of the Government as a store-keeper, the regulation of prices by the State, and the trading privileges of the officers. At first the whole population was entirely dependent for food and clothing upon the Government Store, and this condition of affairs continued even after farming had made some progress. The greater part of the population received their staple supplies without any payment, but a Government shop was maintained for the purpose of supplying those not entitled to free rations with the necessaries they required, and of enabling those who desired something more than the barest necessaries to obtain what they needed.

The only ships that visited Port Jackson during the first five years of settlement were the convict transports and supply ships, sent by the English Government, and those sent by Phillip to buy stores in Batavia and Bengal. The only approach to private trade was the small quantity of goods brought out by the owners or officers of the transports as a speculation; thus in October 1792 the Pitt brought upwards of £4000 worth of goods for private sale. These goods were bought by the military officers of the settlement chiefly for their own use. In the same year the Atlantic, which Phillip had sent to Bengal for provisions, was also commissioned to execute various orders entrusted to it by the officers, and a little later Grose and the other officers of the New South Wales Corps chartered the Britannia to make purchases for them at the Cape of Good Hope.