Economy and trade

How trading works

Credits are the transaction currency used by the merchant system. Water, contaminated water, scrap, medicine, components, weapons, and other goods have credit values, but they are inventory resources rather than additional currencies.

Each merchant has a separate trade profile that controls:

• Which items the merchant sells.
• Which items the merchant will buy from the player.
• The merchant’s buying and selling price multipliers.
• Optional stock limits for individual items.

An item in your inventory only appears in the sell column when the current merchant is configured to buy it. Likewise, the merchant can only sell items included in their own inventory list.

Price calculation

Every tradable item has a base value. The displayed price is calculated from that value and the current merchant’s multiplier, then rounded to the nearest whole credit.

Price paid by player = round(item base value × merchant buy multiplier)
Price paid to player = round(item base value × merchant sell multiplier)

The terms are from the player’s perspective: a buy price is what you pay to obtain an item, while a sell price is what the merchant pays you.

Current default merchant rates include:

Merchant	Player buys at	Player sells at	Specialization
Bren	120% of base value	70% of base value	Water, scrap, and components
Doc Meat	150%	70%	Medical supplies and drugs
Rust the Club	150%	70%	Weapons
Vesper	110%	90%	Water, salvage, and sentimental items

For example, an item with a base value of 100 credits costs 120 credits from Bren and sells to Bren for 70 credits.

Negotiator modifier

The Negotiator player archetype receives a further price adjustment after the merchant multiplier:

• Purchase prices are reduced by 10%.
• Sale prices are increased by 10%.

Using the same 100-credit item with Bren, a Negotiator pays 108 credits and receives 77 credits when selling it.

Trade session and stock

Buying and selling actions are staged in the trade panel before resources change hands. You can therefore stage sales to help fund purchases in the same transaction. The trade is applied when you confirm it, provided that:

• You still own the goods being sold.
• The merchant still has enough stock.
• Your current credits plus the proceeds from staged sales cover all staged purchases.

The interface supports quantities of one or five. Selling an item that you just staged for purchase cancels that pending purchase first, and vice versa.

Most configured merchant stock is currently unlimited. Individual goods can have a stock cap; for example, Vesper has only one Water Filter Part in stock. Limited stock is tracked per merchant and preserved by the game’s temporary-state save system.

Current Bartering status

The Bartering stat is described as a negotiation skill, but it does not currently modify normal merchant prices or trade outcomes. It is used elsewhere in the game, including slave valuation and some sale requirements. Bartering training and normal gameplay progression for the stat are not yet implemented.

Survival economy

Scavenging remains important because merchants do not accept every item and purchasing always includes a price spread. Water and contaminated water are separate resources: contaminated water can cover an immediate survival need, but carries health risks. Components such as scrap metal, circuit boards, batteries, and water-filter parts also compete between sale value and their use in vault progression.

Exact inventories and balance values may change while the game is in alpha.

Related topics

• Vault management

Trade for yourself in the current build.