How do you haggle in Probably Stolen?
Open the Bargain panel during a trade. Offer Discount always works when selling; Add Markup can fail or make the customer walk out, so check the odds the panel shows first.
How to Haggle and Sell in Probably Stolen
How to haggle in Probably Stolen comes down to one rule: Offer Discount always works and Add Markup is a gamble. Beyond the counter, you can earn more by filling Marketplace Requests once you unlock them in Joe Wild's network, and by putting a vending machine in front of your store so it sells overnight.
How to make more money selling in Probably Stolen
For what the game is and every guide we publish, start at the Probably Stolen guide hub.
- Haggling: one discount-or-markup choice per side for each customer; the panel shows the odds before you commit.
- Requests: bring the items, get Credits and faction reputation.
- Vending machines: food and drink sell best; modules sell worst.
Selling at a glance
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Haggling | One choice per side for each customer: discount or markup when selling, markup or discount when buying. Source: In-game text; the game code. |
| Always accepted | Offer Discount when selling and Offer Markup when buying. Source: In-game text; the game code. |
| Can drive a customer out | Add Markup and Demand Discount. Source: In-game text; the game code. |
| Marketplace Requests | Unlocked through Joe Wild's network; requests start after your first week. Source: In-game text; the game code. |
| Codeword List | Decodes Revolution requests; arrives once you have both Marketplace Requests and Revolution requests. Source: In-game text; the game code. |
| Getting a vending machine | Buy it in the network, start with the Vending Machine perk, or accept the landlord's offer for +150 weekly rent. Source: In-game text; the game code. |
| Vending sale price | "+10% additional value", ignoring event prices. Source: In-game text. |
How to haggle in Probably Stolen
Haggling happens in the Bargain panel during a trade. It has six options, and each one says what it does:
| Option | When | What it does | Can it fail? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selling: Offer Discount | You sell | "Grants additional reputation on each item sold and increases customer budget." | No, "Always accepted." |
| Selling: Add Markup | You sell | Charges extra, "reducing their total budget and costing additional reputation on each item sold" | Yes; the customer can refuse or walk out |
| Buying: Offer Markup | You buy | Pays extra; "Grants additional reputation on each item purchased." | No |
| Buying: Demand Discount | You buy | Pays less; costs reputation on each item if it works | Yes; the customer can refuse or walk out |
| Blackmail (Criminal) | Either | Threatens to report the customer for better prices | "Always fails on non-criminal customers." |
| Threaten (Aug) | Either | Accuses the customer of being an Aug | Always fails on a normal customer, and you lose reputation |
For each customer you get one haggle per side: when selling, either a discount or a markup, not both; the same goes for buying. Discounts and markups come in steps of 10%, 25%, 50% and 75%, as shown on the panel.
Before you commit to a risky option, read the panel. It shows "Accepts", "Refuses" and "Walks out" percentages for that customer, and the bigger the markup or discount you ask for, the worse those odds get. Success depends on your reputation with the customer's faction, so markups get easier as you build it up. The panel also shows a "Reputation Multiplier": the "Estimated reputation gained or lost with this customer's faction for every 1,000 Credits traded."
A simple approach: offer a discount to customers from factions you want to grow, try a modest markup only when the panel's walk-out chance is low, and keep Blackmail and Threaten for customers you are sure about. Augs refuse markups; how to deal with them is on our trading with Augs section. Luck plays no part in haggling.
Probably Stolen Marketplace Requests
Marketplace Requests are orders from around the station: someone asks for a number of items within a deadline ("3 Days Left"), and you are paid in Credits and reputation with their faction. Unlock them by buying "Marketplace Requests" in Joe Wild's network. In a normal start the first ones arrive after your first week; if you skipped the intro, they can come right away.
To fill one, click the request on your store terminal. It takes the items from what you own and pays you immediately. Requests come from four places:
- Upper Levels and Lower Levels. Everyday requests, more often from the faction that likes you more. More on each faction is in our faction customers section.
- The Revolution. Only after you earn the Revolution reputation perk "Revolution Marketplace Request": "You will occasionally receive Marketplace Requests from various Revolution cells." One can come on a Friday; the Revolution Sympathizer starting perk adds one on Mondays.
- News events. A meteor shower, a medical supplies shortage, an Evidence Locker break-in, a construction project or a bad Nutrifruit harvest bring requests from the factions involved.
- One-off named requests. A handful turn up once per run after you unlock requests, such as "Toilet Paper for Georgio", Sawyer's "Beer for Janitor Crew", Dr. Jackson's "Energy Drinks", Officer Lun's "Li-Eat Snack Bars", a "Meat Cleaver" for an "Anonymous" buyer and three "Landlord's Special" requests.
Be careful what you hand over: delivering stolen goods to a request can be recorded by Security.
Probably Stolen Codeword List
Revolution requests are written in code. Some morning after you have unlocked both Marketplace Requests and Revolution requests, you receive the Codeword List, "An inconspicuous slip of paper with a hastily written key for the code used by revolutionaries."
| Request says | Means |
|---|---|
| Birthday Party | Upcoming Operation |
| Refreshment | Oxymore Injector |
| Gathering | Raid |
| Garden | Safehouse |
| Housewarming Gift | Security Access Card |
| Vacation | Extraction |
| Decrepit | Compromised |
| Last-Minute | High Priority Emergency |
Read with the list, each Revolution request says what it really wants:
- Housewarming Gift: "We need a housewarming gift for an upcoming friend's gathering." It takes 1 Disposable Keycard (Security), the card the list calls a Security Access Card.
- Refreshment Request: "Need some refreshment for our friend's birthday party. It's last-minute." It takes 3 Oxymore Injector.
- Scrap Metal Request: takes 5 Scrap Metal ("We need scrap metal to build a new garden. The old one's decrepit.").
- Processed Meat Request: takes 4 Processed Meat for a "picnic" in the "garden".
Counts are the amounts the request asks for.
Probably Stolen vending machines: worth it and what to stock
-
Vending Machine perk -
Vending Machine -
Vending Fountain
A Vending Machine sells items for you overnight, while your store is closed. "Items will be sold at +10% additional value and with Retail Markup if applicable but is not affected by event related modifiers." There are three ways to get one:
- Buy it in Joe Wild's network. "A vending machine will be immediately installed in the store."
- Start with the Vending Machine perk. "Start with a vending machine installed in front of your store."
- Accept the landlord's offer. From around day 43 he comes on every other Monday: "I am thinking of installing vending machines in front of your store. You can manage them and earn a nice passive income. In exchange for a tiny rent increase, what do you say?" The choices are "[Accept Vending Machine (+150 Weekly Rent)]", "[Accept Water Vending Machine (+150 Weekly Rent)]" and "[Decline for now]". He keeps asking until you have both machines or have bought the shop.
The landlord's deal adds 150 Credits to your rent every week for the rest of the run. It is worth it if you will keep the machine stocked with things that sell, and a poor deal if it would sit half empty.
What sells. The tooltip warns that "Certain types of item are more popular in the vending machine." From best to worst:
- Food and drinks
- Cheap everyday items with no other category
- Tools, energy cells and pricier everyday items
- Materials and luxury goods
- Modules, gun parts and chemical ingredients
Order from the game's code.
Within a type, cheaper items sell more easily. Stocking many copies of the same thing has diminishing returns, so mix it up. A machine with high attractiveness ("Current Attractiveness" in the tooltip) always sells at least a few items each night, food and drink first.
Running it. The takings stay inside the machine until you press "Transfer All". Label your goods honestly: buyers who find mislabelled items report it, and the night report says "Security has been informed." Each machine can be upgraded with Electronic Parts to raise attractiveness, up to a cap, and with Metal Ingot to raise capacity, but every upgrade raises its nightly energy use; see how power works in our machines guide.
Probably Stolen Water Vending Machine
The Water Vending Machine is the game's tooltip name for the Vending Fountain, "A vending water fountain machine that sells water automatically overnight. Only Basewater, High Quality Water and Pure Water can be sold." It has the same "+10% additional value" pricing as the Vending Machine.
Pick it if you already make or buy clean water to sell; how water grades and buyers work is on our selling water section. Pick the Vending Machine if your shelves are mostly food, drinks and everyday goods. If the landlord keeps visiting, you can end up with both.
Version notes and limits
Your shop also needs a business permit to keep operating legally once the Station Trade Board requires one; what it costs and what happens if you refuse is in our business permit section.
This page doesn't give haggling odds, request rewards, vending sale rates or how the Vending Fountain chooses what to sell. The update of November 6, 2026 raised the Vending Fountain's earnings at most upgrade levels and stopped vending machines from selling Intake and Outlet Hoppers placed inside them.
Probably Stolen haggling FAQ
Which haggle option always works?
Offer Discount when you sell and Offer Markup when you buy. Both also earn extra reputation.
Can haggling make a customer leave?
Yes. Add Markup and Demand Discount can make a customer refuse or walk out, more often the higher you push.
How do you unlock Marketplace Requests?
Buy "Marketplace Requests" in Joe Wild's network. Requests start after your first week.
What does Housewarming Gift mean?
It is a Revolution code for a Security Access Card. The request takes 1 Disposable Keycard (Security).
Are vending machines worth it in Probably Stolen?
Yes, if you can keep one stocked with food and drinks. The landlord's version costs 150 Credits of extra rent every week for the rest of the run.
What should you put in a vending machine?
Food and drinks first, then cheap everyday items. Avoid modules, gun parts and chemical ingredients, and don't fill it with copies of one item.
Should I buy the business permit?
You need it to keep trading legally once enforcement starts. Our display case guide covers the cost and the alternatives.
Sources and version history for this guide: Probably Stolen sources and versions.
Spot an error or a post-patch change? See how we label evidence and handle corrections in the Editorial Policy.