How to make money fast

Overview

You need Coins for land expansion, clothes, blueprints, recipes, vehicles, and more. The six main income sources are farming, fishing, cooking, mining, Bulletin Board requests, and the Stamp Collection. The Merchant Ship at Starsand Port doubles your profits on everything you sell.

One thing to know up front: the Crafter profession route does not generate money outside of quest completions. If you go Crafter first, you will still need to farm, fish, or cook to fund things. Do not skip farming even if crafting is your focus.

Farming

Your farm should be the first priority for stamina each day. The seed shop has a limited supply of seeds daily, so buy all available seeds whenever you visit. For crop mechanics, see the Farming guide.

Best early-game crops

You start in Summer. Crops sorted by sell value:

Watermelon at 104 Coins each is the standout during Summer. After Summer ends (day 28), pivot to all-season crops like Soybean and Sugarcane. Planting 9 of the same crop in a 3×3 grid can trigger a giant mutation, see Gmax crops for details.

Fishing

Fishing requires nothing except a rod and time. No special setup or significant stamina cost. Catch fish and sell them, or save them for cooking. It is one of the best early-game income sources because you can start within the first 30 minutes. See All fish for species and locations.

Cooking

Cooked food sells for significantly more than raw ingredients. Stir-Fried Water Spinach sells for 90 Coins, but raw Water Spinach is only 27 Coins. More than triple the value. Once you have recipes and ingredients, batch-cooking is a strong income source.

Best early-game recipes

The Jam Maker (unlocked through Glass crafting) turns fruit into Jam, which also sells well. The Separator instantly processes raw crops into base ingredients for recipes.

Mining ores

One of the most efficient money sources once you can access the Moonlit Forest. At the end of each day, dump any remaining stamina into mining. Smelt the ores in your Furnace (stock up on Wood for Charcoal) and sell the resulting ingots. Processing ingots further into sheets or planks takes too much time relative to the return, just sell them as bars. See the Mining guide for ore locations and processing chains.

Bulletin Board requests

The Bulletin Board is outside the Community Center in Starsand Town. Key details:

• Take up to four requests per day.

• Most are fetch quests. Easy requests net 1,500 to 2,000 Coins daily.

• Completing requests also raises Affection with the NPC who posted the request.

• You can turn in request materials directly from your storage. You do not need to carry the items.

Stamp Collection

The Stamp Collection in the Islandpedia phone app rewards Coins for reaching collectible milestones. You hit most of these just by playing.

Sample milestones

• Gathering: 10 items → 1,500 Coins. 19 items → 3,000 Coins. 37 items → 7,000 Coins.

• Crafting: 31 items → 2,000 Coins. 61 items → 3,000 Coins. 121 items → 7,000 Coins. 196 items → 15,000 Coins. 271 items → 25,000 Coins.

Go to the Moonlit Forest early to knock out a chunk of gathering stamps. A few days of exploring covers many early milestones.

The Merchant Ship

The Merchant Ship is the single best way to maximize profits. It unlocks after completing the Starsand Port Construction quest from Marston (requires 15 Stone + 15 Softwood). The Merchant Ship buys items at 200% value double what any shop will pay. Save your most valuable items (rare fish, high-tier ingots, cooked dishes) for the Merchant Ship.

Summary of strategies