How Trading Works
Every trade goes through the outpost — the safe-zone hub where vendors set up shop. Walk up to a vendor, open their menu, and use the buy or sell tabs. You pay and receive carried Cash (the notes in your inventory), not your bank balance. To check current prices before you make the trip, open your phone (/phone) and tap the Market Info app.
Vendors are specialists: each one deals in specific categories. The Weapons Dealer stocks guns and ammo; the Medical Store handles meds and food; the Illegal Dealer handles contraband and the drug trade, including seeds, grow equipment, presses and processed drug sales. Knowing who handles what saves a lot of running around.
The Vendors
Nine traders cover every category of gear and goods. Here's who handles what:
| Vendor | Sells | Buys from you |
|---|---|---|
| Weapons Dealer | Firearms, ammunition, weapon attachments | Weapons & accessories |
| Medical Store | Survival meds — Field Dressings, Blood Bags, Splints, Trauma Kits, Anti-Viral — plus food | Medical items & food |
| Construction Store | Building supplies (Nail Bundle, Cement Mix, plates), deployables, electrical, resources, farming | Resources & farm goods |
| Equipment Store | Tools, general equipment, keycards | Equipment & keycards |
| Illegal Dealer | Coca and Poppy seeds, grow equipment, dedicated packing presses and contraband | Loose processed drugs, packed drug bags and other listed contraband |
| Fishing Store | Fishing gear, keycards | Fishing items & keycards |
| Clothing Store | Clothing, armor, utility items | Clothing & armor |
| Vehicle Parts | Vehicle components & modules | Vehicle parts & modules |
| Casino | Casino chips & games | — |
Dynamic Pricing
Vendor prices aren't fixed — they move with demand. The system re-checks every item's price roughly every 120 seconds and adjusts based on how much players have been buying or selling.
Each item has a baseline price. When lots of players sell the same thing, the sell price drops by roughly 5% per pressure tick — the market gets flooded and the vendor pays less. When demand is high and stock is low, prices tick back up by the same amount. The result is a live economy: move early on fresh loot, and you get the better rate.
Dynamic pricing affects sell rates more than buy rates. Buy prices from vendors are more stable; it's the cash-out side — selling your gathered goods — where you'll feel the swings. For high-volume earners like sheet metal and components, watch the price ticker before committing a large run. Sheet metal, for example, moves between roughly 80 and 120 Cash per unit around a 100 Cash baseline.
Drug sales use a separate buyer-demand system. The Illegal Dealer’s drug buyer tracks a shared team allowance that recovers over time; packing bags uses less of that allowance. Its seed and equipment stock has listed Cash prices and drug-rank requirements. See Drugs for that production and selling flow.
For more on earning strategies and which goods hold their value best, see Earning Cash.
Vendor Reputation
Outpost reputation is one shared standing across vendors, capped at 5,000. Eligible ordinary vendor sales and completed Outpost contracts earn reputation. Buying an item does not itself earn reputation.
Higher standing unlocks restricted stock and rank discounts. Check each item’s displayed reputation requirement; there is no single threshold for the whole catalogue. Drug rank is separate: drug sales progress Grower, Dealer, Supplier, Distributor and Kingpin, which unlock the Illegal Dealer’s grow stock. Do not treat a drug-rank requirement as an Outpost reputation charge.
On top of reputation, the rarest permanent items now sit in limited stock. The Weapons Dealer keeps a Limited Stock shelf (Python, SAR, Thompson, MP5, LR-300, Bolt, AK and the like), and metal armour, the Jackhammer and the Chainsaw are capped too. Each shows a visible buy limit and only restocks after a reset window — so nobody buys a whole raid team's kit in one trip. Everyday permanent weapon stock is deliberately low-tier (Waterpipe, Revolver, Double Barrel); the good stuff you earn, loot, or catch the smuggler for.
The Black Market Smuggler
Every so often a smuggler's boat anchors off the coast — a temporary event vendor with a green map marker and its own safe zone. It's the best place on the map to cash out rare loot, and it stocks tier-3 and event-only gear you won't find at the permanent outpost.
- Better cash-outs. Gold bars, diamonds, jewellery, weapon parts and military electronics sell for more here than at the outpost — up to the smuggler's visible buyer limits.
- Rotating rare stock. Each visit rolls a fresh temporary shelf of high-value weapons, armour, ammo and mods to spend that cash on before the boat leaves.
- Get there while it lasts. The event is time-limited and public — the marker draws a crowd, so expect company on the water.
Notable Buys
A short list of items worth knowing by price — the things that come up in every wipe:
| Item | Vendor | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Code Cracker | Equipment Store | 2,500 Cash | Cracks lock combinations — essential for raiding and puzzles |
| Drone | Equipment Store | 4,000 Cash | Recon tool; Guerrilla skill unlocks beancan & flashbang drops |
| Handmade Fishing Rod | Fishing Store | 250 Cash | Entry point for fishing as a Cash earner |
| Coca Seeds | Illegal Dealer > Stock | 300 Cash | Supplier drug rank; 0 Outpost reputation cost; grow in planters, including indoors |
| Poppy Seeds | Illegal Dealer > Stock | 600 Cash | Kingpin drug rank; 0 Outpost reputation cost; grow in planters, including indoors |
| Diamond | Sells to Illegal Dealer | 5,000 Cash | High-value loot find — sell immediately, price holds well |
| Jewelry | Sells to Illegal Dealer | 3,500 Cash | Found in monument crates and heist rooms |
| Zombie Flesh | Sells to vendors | 15 Cash | Drops from every infected — low value but plentiful early-wipe |
For all the ways to earn Cash beyond just vending — farming, drugs, gold bars, bank heists — see Earning Cash. For keeping it safe once you've earned it, see Banking & Marketplace. If you're looking at buying or renting a vehicle, the Vehicle Parts vendor and the full pricing breakdown is on the Vehicles & Kits page.