Trading

Trading in Wanderfolk is the primary way to buy supplies and sell materials, with prices dynamically adjusted by your reputation with each merchant NPC. At Beloved status you get a 25% discount; at Enemy status you pay 50% more. Demand indicators driven by the village economy reveal which goods sell for premium prices.

How Trading Works

Approach a shopkeeper, blacksmith, or other merchant NPC and press E to interact. Select the trade option to open the trade interface. You’ll see:

• Their inventory — items available for purchase, with prices
• Your inventory — items you can sell, with their buyback values
• Your gold — current balance

Select an item to buy or sell. Transactions are immediate — gold is deducted or added instantly.

Reputation Price Modifiers

Your relationship with the merchant changes prices dramatically:

At Beloved status, you’re buying at 75% of base price and selling at the best possible rates. At Enemy, you’re paying 50% more and getting much less for your goods. Some NPCs at hostile status may refuse to trade entirely.

Merchant Inventories by Role

Different NPC roles stock different items:

Shopkeeper

The general store carries a wide selection:

• Food (bread, raw ingredients)
• Basic tools
• Torches and supplies
• Common crafting materials

Blacksmith

Specializes in metal goods:

• Weapons (swords, axes, daggers)
• Tools (pickaxes, hoes)
• Armor and shields
• Metal ingots

Herbalist

Nature’s pharmacy:

• Herbs and medicinal plants
• Health potions
• Antidotes
• Rare botanical ingredients

Tavern (Innkeeper/Barkeep)

Food and drink:

• Cooked meals (stew, bread, meat)
• Drinks
• Sometimes rumors and information

What to Sell

Not all items sell well. Focus on selling:

• Monster drops — bones, hides, claws, and ectoplasm have good value
• Rare materials — shadow cores, frost cores, and soul gems fetch premium prices
• Excellent quality crafted items — these sell for 2.5x normal value
• Surplus resources — extra ore, herbs, and food you don’t need

Avoid selling:

• Crafting ingredients you’ll need — iron ore is worth more as a sword than raw
• Skeleton Keys — valuable for unlocking dungeon chests
• Quest-related items — some items are referenced in NPC conversations

Trading Strategies

Build Reputation First

The 25% discount at Beloved reputation applies to everything. Building reputation with a shopkeeper through conversation and gifts pays for itself through cheaper prices over time.

Sell to Specialists

Blacksmiths pay more for ore and metal goods. Herbalists pay more for herbs. Sell items to the merchant who values them most.

Buy Food Early, Craft Later

Early game, buy food from shopkeepers — it’s cheap and essential. Mid-game, start crafting your own food in kitchens for better quality and zero cost.

Caravan Traders

Traveling caravans bring specialty goods from distant biomes. They may stock items you can’t find locally and often buy items at competitive prices.

Demand Indicators

The trade interface now shows demand tags on items to help you spot good deals:

Demand is driven by the village’s economic simulation — if a mountain village is short on food, food items show High Demand and sell for more. If a farming village is drowning in grain, grain shows Low Demand and you can buy it cheap.

Use demand indicators to plan trade routes: buy Low Demand goods in one village and sell them where they’re High Demand in another. This is especially effective with caravans that move between regions.

Related Articles

• Reputation — the system that drives price modifiers with each merchant
• Caravans — traveling traders that bring specialty goods from distant biomes
• Village Economy — the stockpile simulation behind demand indicators
• Crafting Quality — excellent quality items sell for 2.5x normal value
• Farming — growing crops and artisan goods to sell at profit