Does he stay in one place once you find him or does he move?

The trader can be found in many different places.

Once he has been found, he remans there.

Originally posted by blankitosonic:

You can buy the belt of thor , gives you 150 more of weight capacity
A hat with a light for use in dark places
And a material to craft powerful weapons ( meat of ymir )

As a base builder the belt is a must have. This took so much stone.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2417416715

Just found the trader. He didn't offer the belt of thor. Does he rotate what he offers? Hoping so. Going to start with the fishing pole for fun.

Originally posted by redgreen999:

Just found the trader. He didn't offer the belt of thor. Does he rotate what he offers? Hoping so. Going to start with the fishing pole for fun.

Screenshot please, he always offers the same stuff.

The belt of Thor is called Megingjord and he offers it...
https://valheim.fandom.com/wiki/Megingjord

So far in my game I've searched 2 near isles and found nothing of him. Found swamp, thankfully nothing else that would end me consistently.

the extra carry capacity is arguably not even optional once you start needing to haul metal in large quantities (iron age). Fishing is also a great source of endgame food.

You don't need ANY of it before elder.

Originally posted by HeikoFennec:

So far in my game I've searched 2 near isles and found nothing of him. Found swamp, thankfully nothing else that would end me consistently.

he is always in the black forest. but not always close to your start. so....search more.
(you can use valheim-map.world and type your seed to check the location if you're really desperate)

I would suggest looking for a smoke column that isn't yours, because the trader has a fire.

Originally posted by joane_jett:

I would suggest looking for a smoke column that isn't yours, because the trader has a fire.

You will see the marker on your map before you see the smoke.

Yes, the map marker shows up from a larger distance than your revealed map area. Usually you can find it by going along the shoreline, or if it's a large forest, just walk down the middle of it. No need to uncover every single inch of the map.

Absolutely. One of the items, the most expensive one, is a definite must-have.

You can buy the belt of thor , gives you 150 more of weight capacity
A hat with a light for use in dark places
And a material to craft powerful weapons ( meat of ymir )

trader mostly sells QoL stuff. you don't really need it, but it makes life easier:
flesh of ymir is an ingredient for crafting frostner(one of the best weapons against bonemass and yagluth) and iron sledge (if you're into 2h hammers this thing is awesome. treat it like an upgraded stagbreaker).
dwerg circlet gives you light around you. yes you can build a campfire or increase brightness in the settings instead, but this thing is just more convenient.
and the belt that gives you 150 more max weight. must have thing for mining ore. cuz this way you can bring more in one go)
thunderstone is an ingredient for oblitirator: a way to destroy all of your unneeded items you hoard in your chests (and maybe get some coal in a proces). especially useful for useless trophies. 1 coal per trophy.
fishing rod and fishing bait can allow you to fish. not sure it's that useful, but fish wraps are good (70hp 23stam for 2cooked fish and 4 barley)
and yule hat is for decorations only. i think.