Hi,
For days I have been suffering from the issue of not being able to buy anything from ingame characters or the Pirate Emporium. I have just figured it out, it seems it was because I didn't complete the game tutorial / Maiden Voyage. As soon as I completed it, it all started working properly. Give this a shot, only takes 5-10 minutes.
Thought I would share this, I've also reported this in the support portal.
:D
