There is a scale/balance icon on the right for each character, where you can have them balance the value of the trade goods with gold (up to the amount they have). The total amount you have offered for trade or sale is listed, as it is for the merchant (the total value of each inventory is also listed). If a merchant does not have enough gold to cover what you are offering for trade, you will have to purchase goods as well, or reduce what you are offering. With the
patch installed you can make repeated trips to the BF to sell everything.
When the trade window first opens, the numbers by each character portrait are the total values of each inventory. Think of the centre windows as a table where you place any goods you want to sell or trade, and do the same for the merchant for any items you wish to purchase. The total value of goods on the table for each character are listed on the right. Since you don't usually have the exact value of goods to trade for what you want, the balance icons basically even out the value. If you place a bunch of loot on the table worth 2000 gold, then click the merchant's balance icon, it will put 2000 gold on his his side of the table. If he only has 1500 gold, it will place that on the table, and you have the option of removing some equipment (and re-balancing the gold amount if you can not remove exactly 500 gold worth of stuff) or giving him more stuff than you are getting in return.
The total gold each character has is listed on the inventory screen. When trading gold (or other stackable items) may be moved to the character in the lead.
The original release version is 1.1, while the latest patch is 1.45, so you should update. There is also a version 1.46 that the UK publisher (at least) updated their production CDs to, and a 1.47 patch in development (no word on release date yet).
