Fallout: New Vegas
75 Achievements
112-136h
You Run Barter Town
Sell 10,000 caps worth of goods.
41.2%
How to unlock the You Run Barter Town achievement in Fallout: New Vegas - Definitive Guide
*Note* I believe that you are initially only capable of selling 8000 caps worth of stuff to the vendor, since he only has 8000 caps. So, all you have to do is buy back some of your sold items (or his items, it doesn't really matter), and sell them once again to the vendor until you see the achievement pop up. Thanks to Vinicius Menti for pointing that out.
At the beginning of a game Tag the Repair skill and as you level pour skill points into Repair to get it to 90 ASAP. I suggest raising Intelligence to 7 at Character Creation and racing to New Vegas at the beginning (avoid sidequests, do main questline) to get to the New Vegas Medical Centre and purchase another Intelligence point implant at low level (giving 1 extra skill point at levels). Be sure to collect snowglobes on the way, the ones at Goodsprings, Lucky 38 Casino, Vault 21 and Old Mormon Fort are easy to get, and give them to Jane in Lucky 38 for 2000 caps each (these do not contribute to the achievement). The Comprehension perk can also help to temporarily add 20 points of skill for Repair and Bartering with their respective magazines (and many other things too). Try to get the Bartering skill to at least 50 as you level also.
Collect the following weapons on your travels and keep them in a safehouse until you reach level 14:
.44 Magnum Revolver (2500)
10mm Pistol (750)
Hunting Revolver (3500)
9mm SMG (850)
10mm SMG (2370)
Sawed Off Shotgun (1950)
Laser RCW (2150)
Laser Rifle (800)
Plasma Rifle (1300)
Incinerator (1300)
Rebar Club (500)
Combat Knife (500)
Super Sledge (3000+)
The prices indicated in brackets are when these weapons are near 100% condition. These weapons are not too rare and many can be found on Humanoid enemies like Powder Gangers, Super Mutants and the various "Raider" gangs. Vault 3 can be a very good place to horde some of these weapons. They are also middle range weapons (there are better versions) so you shouldn't miss them if you sell them. Also collect every other weapon you can find to use with Jury Rigging.
Whenever you collect one of the above weapons NEVER use one to repair itself (i.e. don't use a 10mm Pistol to repair another 10mm Pistol). When you reach level 14 take the Jury Rigging perk (need Repair 90). At this point you can use other weaker and less expensive weapons to repair these weapons you have collected (e.g. 9mm Pistol can repair a 10mm Pistol/9mm SMG/10mm SMG or the .44 Magnum). This will max the caps gains you can make when you sell.
You can maximise a sale by wearing the Roving Trader Hat and Clothing (+5 to Barter with each = +10 Barter overall) and reading a Salesman Weekly magazine beforehand (+20 w/Comprehension). Always sell in bulk to conserve magazines.
If you want to keep one of the above weapons for yourself do so (I usually collect Unique weapons for use). Don't bother to apply mods to things you will sell.
I use Victors Shack in Goodsprings to stash gear as it has everything you need inside and nearby too. Up to level 14 sell Aid and Misc. items you know you won't use and that ideally has a value/weight ratio of 10+ caps.
You can also apply this method to armour, but the gains aren't as large and armour does tend to wear out on a PC quickly. It is better to save armour for repairing armour you use with Jury Rigging throughout the game.
If you care about your karma, the best way is just to go into casino's. You should get it while doing the casino achivement (get banned from all the strip's casino's)
If you have a compainion while walking around the wasteland find really valuable stuff, for example, guns, sensor modules, and various other stuff. Give these to your campianion so that when theres a vendor,merchant, just take the stuff off your companion and then sell it
Good luck
If you are looking for a fairly quick way to get the trophy then you should stock up on items that have great value. Weapons like Laser and Plasma rifles will catch a great price. Anyways, stock up on lots of stuff and head to the Gun Runners vendor who is in a kiosk outside of Freeside.
Important! SAVE your game before you talk to him!
Sell EVERYTHING in your inventory to the vendor. He only has 8000 caps to offer you but make sure you take it all. Then go and fast travel to either Chet in Goodsprings or another vendor of your choice and get the remaining caps you need.
After you get the trophy, reload the hard save you made right before you sold everything. Then you can just sell stuff that you want and be on your merry way!
Easy enough. Haul your scrounged weapons, loot from creatures and enemies, and whatever other vendor trash you have back to town and sell it. Once you've made 10,000 caps from your filthy lucre, you will receive the trophy. Keep track of your progress on the Stats screen of your Pip-Boy.
While this achievement can be acquired over time, it is obviously easier with a high barter level. If you want to power through this achievement, you can use the following method:
- Find a merchant.
- Sell the maximum amount of goods to a merchant (equal to his / her caps on hand).
- Complete the transaction.
- Buy back your own goods.
- Repeat the last three bullets until you are out of caps / get the achievement.
If you are having trouble finding high value goods, most unique weapons sell for a lot of caps. You can also sell Power Armor for a hefty profit (kill NCR Heavies or BoS members for it). Finding all the snow globes, and selling them to Janet in the Lucky 38, will net you 14k caps which would make it very easy to use the above method. Alternatively, you can simply wait until after "The Courier Who Broke the Bank" and get the achievement quite quickly using the above method.
If you want to attain this achievement in a gradual fashion, then you can get this by simply looting everything you kill, combining the items by using your repair skill, and then selling all the goods when you get back to town. Remember that your influence with a faction determines the buy and sell prices of its merchants, so higher favor = less time and money!