In this Core Keeper Money Making Guide, I'll tell you how to earn money so you can buy the items you want from merchants or reroll your skills!
How to Unlock the Merchants in Core Keeper
There are four merchants that we know of in Core Keeper as of version 1.0. Each merchant has its own requirements to unlock it.
Bearded Merchant
The Bearded Merchant is unlocked the first time you defeat Glurch the Abominous Mass, the boss of the Dirt biome. After that, he will roam around the area where you killed Glurch.
Glurch will also drop a Slime Jar; you can place this in a sealed room with a door and a bed and have the Caveling Miner Merchant move in with you.
Seasonal Merchant
The Seasonal Merchant can be unlocked by crafting a Seasonal Calendar at a Carpenter's Table and placing it in a room with a bed. This merchant is a bit different than the others; he only takes items from seasonal events as payment.
Backpack Merchant (a.k.a. the Caveling Merchant)
The Backpack Merchant can be found roaming around The Forgotten Ruins biome in a special room with a campfire and bed. If you want him to move in with you, you'll have to defeat Ghorm the Devourer and place the Mysterious Idol in a room with a door and a bed.
Fishing Merchant
The Fishing Merchant can be unlocked after you defeat Azeos, the boss of Azeos' Wilderness. Azeos will drop a Pilke of Chum -- place this in a room with a door and a bed and the Fishing Merchant will eventually move in.
How to Make Money in Core Keeper - Best Ways to Make Money
And now, to the meat of our Core Keeper Money Making Guide. This game uses "Ancient Coins" as a currency, and there are a bunch of different ways you can earn it.
Here are several strategies for making money in Core Keeper!
Looting Ancient Coins
Ancient Coins can be looted from crates, jars, and chests found in the world.
Selling Valuables
Valuables are special items whose only purposes are to be sold for Ancient Coins or used as decorations.
Selling Old Items and Loot
When you enter a new biome, you'll soon gain access to more powerful gear than what you already have. You can sell old equipment (or any equipment and items you looted from monsters) rather than cluttering up your storage with it.
Selling Metal Bars
Copper is precious in the early game, but you'll soon find that you have dozens or even hundreds of bars and not much to craft with them. If your Copper Bars, Tin Bars, etc. are piling up and you don't want to craft anything, you can always sell them.
Selling Fish
Fishing is a great source of food, but it's also a great source of profit. You can sell any fish you catch to either merchant and turn a tidy profit.
Selling Cooked Food
Cooking is the best way to fill your Hunger meter and earn buffs, but it can also be profitable. Once you've begun Farming in earnest, you'll probably have way more food than you know what to do with. Don't sell the ingredients, though -- take the time to cook the food and sell the finished product for a much better profit.
Selling Boss Items
The items dropped by the game's bosses (including their chests) are fairly valuable. Selling the items you earn from boss fights can earn you some extra pocket cash.
Bear in mind, purchasing a Summoning Idol to revive a boss will cost you 500 Ancient Coins, and it's doubtful that you'll earn that much from any one boss's loot. Consider starting a new temporary world and killing the boss for free rather than using the Summoning Idol to spawn one in your main save file.
Core Keeper Money Making Guide - Sell Price List
Here are the price lists for some of the items in Core Keeper. You can find out the price of any item by hovering your mouse over it while talking to a Merchant.
Valuables Prices
- Amber Chunk - 18 AC
- Bag of Marbles - 113 AC
- Balloon Spore - 10 AC
- Black Bubble Pearl - 150 AC
- Blood Skull - 27 AC
- Blue Glass Shard - 43 AC
- Bone Creole - 35 AC
- Broken Core Idol - 52 AC
- Bubble Pearl - 90 AC
- Caveling Doll - 200 AC
- Caveling Effigy - 107 AC
- Caveling Prophet Mask - 127 AC
- Caveling Sandal - 26 AC
- Caveling Skull - 10 AC
- Ceremonial Flute - 46 AC
- Charred Caveling Skull - 37 AC
- Chipped Plate - 50 AC
- Desert Diamond - 222 AC
- Dry Butterfly - 23 AC
- Ear Plate - 20 AC
- Fish Fossil - 23 AC
- Fizzy Crystal - 69 AC
- Forker Coral - 29 AC
- Fungal Bone - 15 AC
- Geode - 33 AC
- Golden Feather - 75 AC
- Green Kelp - 1 AC
- Grub Knot - 17 AC
- Hard Thorn - 15 AC
- Leaf Fossil - 25 AC
- Mechanical Arm - 45 AC
- Mold Dew - 100 AC
- Ocarina - 78 AC
- Old Amulet - 21 AC
- Old Spore Mask - 100 AC
- Oracle Card "Aura" - 150 AC
- Petrified Coral - 46 AC
- Petrified Egg - 18 AC
- Petrified Trilobite - 33 AC
- Pickaxe Head - 27 AC
- Precious Urn - 32 AC
- Processor Chip - 203 AC
- Rusty Fishing Hook - 14 AC
- Rusty Spoon - 3 AC
- Sealed Beverage - 68 AC
- Shark Tooth - 37 AC
- Small Caveling Skull - 80 AC
- Stone Cap - 17 AC
- White Whistle - 250 AC
- Worker Handcuff - 34 AC
That's it for our Core Keeper Money Making guide! Check out more guides below: