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Overview

Vendors are NPCs spread across Pywel who sell consumables, resources, equipment, clothing, horse gear, and specialty goods. Players run into their first vendors shortly after arriving in the Hernand region and setting up the Greymane Camp. Every major town and settlement has its own cluster of shops, and wandering Street Vendors appear at landmarks throughout the open world. As the story progresses and players liberate territory through faction quests, new vendors unlock in previously occupied settlements.

Vendor inventories vary by region, so visiting shops in different towns is worth the trip. Each settlement stocks region-themed equipment, armor, and horse tack tied to local factions and cultures. The NPC Vendors article covers the broader vendor type system, blacksmith services, and faction liberation mechanics in more detail.

Buying and Selling

Interacting with any vendor opens a trade window where you can buy their stock or sell items from your inventory. Sales pay out in copper or silver depending on the item's value. A few important rules govern every transaction:

• Uniform sale prices. You receive the same amount of currency for a given item regardless of which merchant you sell it to. There is no benefit to shopping around for a better offer.

• Repurchase tab. If you sell an item and later want it back, open the vendor's Repurchase menu. The buyback price is higher than what you originally received, and the item stays in the tab for roughly two to three in-game days before it disappears for good.

• Vendor-specific buyback. Items can only be repurchased from the same vendor you sold them to. Selling a sword to Rhett and visiting another merchant will not show that sword in their repurchase tab.

• Temporary storage trick. Because Crimson Desert has no storage chests, you can use the repurchase system as makeshift storage. Sell items you want to keep safe, then buy them back within a couple of days when you have more inventory space. Only use this for short-term emergencies, not long-term storage.

• Midnight restock. Vendor inventories restock every in-game midnight (0:00). This is especially useful at the Butchery for food and the Provisioner's Shop for crafting materials.

Currencies

The economy in Crimson Desert runs on three forms of currency. Copper (bronze coins) and silver are the standard coins earned from selling loot, completing quests, and winning minigames. The exchange rate is 100 copper to 1 silver. Contribution Points are a separate regional currency earned by completing faction quests, finishing requests, and doing good deeds. They can only be spent at regional Contribution Shops.

Hernand City Vendors

The city of Hernand Town contains the largest concentration of vendors in the early game. These shops cluster around the town square and surrounding streets, and most are available as soon as you arrive in the region.

Hernand Region Vendors

Beyond the city walls, the broader Hernand region houses specialty vendors at farms, religious sites, trading posts, and fishing docks. Several of these merchants deal in goods that cannot be found at standard city shops.

Greymane Camp Vendors

The Greymane Camp near Hernand serves as the player's home base and primary hub. It starts as a small tent settlement and expands into a full base with multiple vendor NPCs and service providers as you invest resources into rebuilding it.

Goldleaf Trading Posts

After completing Chapter 2 of the main story, players unlock access to the Goldleaf Trading Post network. These posts buy and sell trade goods, both packaged and unpackaged, for copper and silver. The trading system revolves around buying low at one location and selling high at another.

Trade goods are high-value items with a blue background in your inventory. They include calligraphic paintings, tobacco, red ginseng, and ceramics. Most come from stealing, chest looting, or direct purchase at the Goldleaf Guildhouse. To sell packed goods, you need to transport them by horse or wagon to a trading post. The Goldleaf Guildhouse will only buy a minimum of 25 stacks of an item, and only items they have listed as buying. Watch the value trend indicators on the trading post map screen to time your sales for maximum profit.

Street Vendors

Wandering Street Vendors run stalls at landmarks across southern Pywel, serving the Hernand, Demeniss, and Delesyia regions. They carry rotating stock of consumables and common goods, which makes them useful rest stops when you are far from a town.

Known Street Vendor locations include:

• Bloomwood Ranch

• Timberturner Wainwright

• Goldenfist Arena

• Halssius Apothecary

• Totesmith Tannery

• Boomveld Bombworks

Street Vendor inventory rotates, so the selection changes each time you visit. They do not have a repurchase tab, so be sure about any sale before confirming.

Faction Liberation and Vendor Access

The Liberation System ties directly into which vendors are available. Settlements controlled by hostile factions have limited or no vendor access. Liberating these areas through faction quests triggers several visible changes: new vendors set up shop, residents return and daily life resumes, structures get rebuilt including shops and market stalls, and trade routes open that may improve vendor inventory.

Reaching Alliance reputation with a faction unlocks exclusive vendors and additional quests tied to that faction's territory. Shakatu, the goblin merchant, is one example. After completing a specific Goldleaf quest line, Shakatu takes over the Goldleaf Merchant Guild and becomes available as a specialty vendor with rare items not found elsewhere.

Horse Equipment Vendors

Horses have four equipment slots that affect mount stats and appearance:

Each settlement's saddlery and blacksmith offer horse equipment that matches the region's aesthetic. Players can mix and match pieces from different settlements for unique combinations. For example, a horse could wear a Hernandian champron from Annabella, Delesyian barding, and Serkis stirrups from Bruna if the player has visited vendors in all three regions. Dyes from the Dyehouse can be applied to horse caparison for further customization. See Horse Items and the Horse Guide for complete equipment lists.

Weapon Refinement at Blacksmiths

Blacksmiths across Pywel sell weapons, and their displayed work changes based on what you buy. When a player purchases a sword, the blacksmith animates forging a sword at their anvil; buy armor instead, and they switch to crafting armor. This is purely cosmetic but adds texture to vendor interactions.

Beyond selling finished gear, blacksmiths offer weapon refinement. This increases a weapon's base attack stats incrementally, creating a two-step loop: acquire a weapon, then invest materials to upgrade it. Refinement costs escalate with each tier, and higher tiers require rarer materials obtained from mining, gathering, and boss drops. Players can also bring raw materials to a blacksmith for crafting instead of buying finished equipment, giving flexibility in how you build your loadout. See Equipment Sockets and Enchanting for the full upgrade system.

Inventory and Bags

Your base inventory space is limited, and managing it carefully matters, especially before long expeditions away from vendor access. There are two ways to expand it:

• Bags from merchants. Small Bags cost about 50 bronze coins each and grant one extra inventory slot. Medium and Large Bags are available as rewards from faction quests and are worth prioritizing.

• Faction requests. Completing requests posted on Hernand's request board rewards copper, items, and up to 3 additional inventory slots per quest.

Small Bags are limited stock per vendor, but they restock at midnight like other items. Buy them from every merchant you visit to steadily expand your carrying capacity.

Money-Making Tips

Earning currency quickly is useful for better gear and inventory expansion. Once you hit about 100 silver, money pressure eases significantly, but getting there takes some effort. See the Gold and Currency Guide for a full breakdown. Here are some reliable early methods:

• Bounty missions. House Celeste in Hernand Town offers consistent income for combat-oriented players. Capture targets and deliver them to the Guard Station.

• Red Croton flowers. About 1,000 meters southwest of Hernand, fields of red flowers can be collected in bulk and sold to any vendor for quick profit.

• Goblin farming. Fundamentalist Goblins drop Crude Devil Masks that sell to any merchant for a good price.

• Archery Contest. Located at Lioncrest Manor (House Alfonso), northwest of Hernand City. Pays around 80 coins per round and can be repeated.

• Mining. Scolecite and azurite deposits yield about 6 silver each. Diamonds sell for over 2 silver per piece, with 6 to 8 per deposit.

• Trade goods. After Chapter 2, buy low at the Goldleaf Guildhouse and sell at Trading Posts for profit. Watch value trends to time your sales.

• Bank investment. At Grover's bank in north Hernand, exchange 500 silver for 1 gold bar. Invest in deposit boxes (100 silver each) for passive income over time.

• Armor flipping. Buy or loot leather armor, upgrade it at a blacksmith, and resell the refined version for a higher price than the combined cost of the base item and upgrade materials.

Tips for Shopping

• Visit every vendor you pass. Each settlement has region-specific inventory. You might find equipment, materials, or bags that aren't available elsewhere.

• Check Contribution Shops early. The Bolton Armor Set from Haldwin's shop is one of the best early-game armor options, and it only costs Contribution Points.

• Stock up on food before bosses. Renee's Butchery and Ronnie's Food Shop sell meat and provisions that fuel cooking recipes with combat buffs.

• Buy gathering tools immediately. The Pickaxe and Logging Axe from Alden's Provisioner's Shop unlock mining and logging right away. These tools pay for themselves quickly through material sales.

• Don't sleep on the Back Alley Shop. Grimrak sells masks and keys that are hard to find otherwise. Masks can also be looted from bandits, but buying is faster.

• Use the repurchase window wisely. You have roughly two to three in-game days to buy back sold items. After that, they are gone permanently.

• Watch for Shakatu. After the Goldleaf quest line, Shakatu's specialty inventory includes rare items not stocked by any other vendor in the game.