I said in my guide to some of the best early weapons in Starfield that some of the best items in the game are free, if you’re willing to steal from time to time. It’s true. But, while crime pays in Starfield, it also comes at a price. With stolen goods stowed on your ship, trying to within the Settled Systems becomes difficult. Factions like the United Colonies or The Freestar Collective can catch you when they scan for Contraband.
If they catch you, there are consequences. You can be asked to pay a fine and have your Contraband removed. You can be jailed, which penalizes you with a considerable XP loss. You may even be treated as a hostile, which makes going through essential areas with main quest content near impossible. If you want to keep the items you acquired less-than-legitimately- and remain in good standing with the authorities – there’s an easy way to become their rightful owner. In the case of ships, simply take your new ship to a ship technician and pay to have for your ship registered. For all else, go to the Trade Authority.
The Trade Authority
The Trade Authority Building on Jemison
The Trade Authority is a chain of retailers that specialize in the purchase and sale of illicit goods. As such, you will typically find them in some of Starfield’s roughest areas like The Well on Jemison, or Cydonia on Mars, or the city of Neon. They can appear as speciality kiosks or proper storefronts.
Contraband items will be marked with a yellow or red icon. If you’re looking to offload these items, you can simply sell them to The Trade Authority, no questions asked. If you want to keep these items, sell them to the Trade Authority and immediately buy them back. Now, they’re considered goods you purchased legitimately. As their rightful owner, you are free to travel with these goods and not get in trouble with the Law.
Visit the Trade Authority on The Den
“The Den”, a space station in the Wolf System
As I mentioned before, The Trade Authority is often found in the rough part of town on the settled systems. To land on these planets and moons, you’ll still need to be scanned to earn entry. This is why you want to go somewhere remote.
The Den is a space station in the Wolf System. Wolf can be found on the star map North of Alpha Centauri and East of Sol. The Den is in orbit of Chthonia. You are able to dock at The Den without being scanned. Once you board, go straight to the main area of the station and make a hard left to meet the Trade Authority clerk. Ask him what he has for sale, press the button prompt on the bottom of your screen to switch to the sell menu, then do the trick we taught you above.
We hope this helps you as you traverse the Starfield. For more tips and tricks, check out our Starfield guides here.
Starfield is Available Now on PC, Xbox Game Pass, and Xbox Series X|S.
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