Traders

Talk to a trader and choose Trade to open the trade window. Put what you want to buy and what you want to sell in the middle and confirm: both sides are settled in one deal, and only the difference changes hands. Money is counted in copper: 100 copper make a silver and 100 silver a gold. You start the game with 1 silver.

What a trader will buy

A trader only buys what is on their own list. Some items they buy but never sell, such as the burial certificates Januarius takes; those are listed under “Buys from you” below. Anything else shows as unavailable in your backpack. Seeds are sold in lots of at least 4.

A deal also needs the trader to have the money. Traders start with a fixed purse and earn a set amount every day, so a trader who has just bought a lot from you may not be able to pay for more until the next day.

Prices

Every item has a base price, and each trader has a normal stock of it. The price moves with the trader’s current stock:

• Buying: the fewer they have left, the more each one costs. Each item is priced by the stock just before you take it.
• Selling: you get 75% of the price, and each extra item you add to their stock lowers the next one’s price. You never get more than the base price.

Exact formula

Price for one item = base price × √(normal stock ÷ current stock), times 0.75 when selling, rounded, at least 1 copper. Items with a fixed price (such as certificates) always cost their base price.

Example: Beer has a base price of 36 and Januarius normally keeps 10. With 10 in stock it costs 36; with 5 left it costs 36 × √2 ≈ 51. Buying three at once from a full stock costs 36 + 38 + 40 = 114. Selling him one bottle when he has 10 pays 36 × √(10/11) × 0.75 ≈ 26.

Every day at midnight

Each trader gets their daily income, and their stock of each item moves back toward normal: anything below normal is restocked a little, anything above is sold off at full price. It moves by up to a fifth of the normal amount a day, and more slowly as it gets close to normal.

So what you sell a trader drains away over the next few days and turns back into money in their purse, and the selling price recovers with it.

Happiness and tiers

Town traders also give happiness for certain goods; see Happiness and Town Quality for how the weekly limits work. Traders can move up to a second and third tier, which changes what they stock and buy. In the demo only Herm does, after Planted and Delivered.