Where can you sell Starfield contraband? In Starfield, contraband means anything illegal to possess or trade in a given location. If you have contraband, it typically means you’ve gotten your hands on some outlawed items or substances. The game marks your Starfield contraband with a yellow marker in your inventory so you can track anything you might need to sell on the black market.
If all your Starfield contraband is burning holes in your pockets (or your conscience), you’ll probably want to get rid of it ASAP. Unfortunately, you can’t sell it to just any merchant without them putting a bounty on your head, so you’ll need an alternative plan. Here’s everything you need to know about where to sell your Starfield contraband, including locations and other information when dealing with ill-gotten goods.
Where to sell Starfield contraband
To sell contraband in Starfield, you must visit either regional Trade Authority human representatives, Trade Authority ships, or the Crimson Fleet. Some vendors dealing in contraband require you to complete a mission to prove they can trust you.
While many merchants will purchase stolen items, it’s harder to find those who will deal in Starfield contraband.
Trade Authority human representative
You cannot sell Starfield contraband at Trade Authority kiosks, so you must find the regional Trade Authority human representative instead. For example, in New Atlantis, you can head to the Wells and find Zoe to sell your Starfield contraband. You can find a Trade Authority in all major cities.
When talking to a Trade Authority vendor, you can sell Starfield contraband items directly out of your ship by selecting the ship’s inventory, meaning you don’t have to carry them on you to sell them.
Note that in these areas, your ability to sell your Starfield contraband is contingent upon successfully smuggling it into the area without scanners picking it up.
Trade Authority ships
You will come across Trade Authority ships as you explore. Assuming the ship is in a space not controlled by a faction, you can then choose to dock and sell Starfield contraband items at these locations.
Crimson Fleet
The Crimson Fleet has its own Trade Authority and will not perform scans on your ship. You can access the ability to sell Starfield contraband to this group as part of the game’s Deep Cover mission.
How Starfield contraband works
Starfield contraband can net you a lot of extra credits, but you will face serious consequences if caught selling or harboring any prohibited items. The amount vendors may be willing to pay for Starfield contraband varies based on supply and demand.
When entering patrolled, faction-controlled areas such as cities or space stations, you will subject your ship to a contraband scan. While you can resist this scan, it’s not advisable as it can lead to severe consequences. Once you allow the authorities on your ship, they will take anything considered contraband and any stolen loot, which the game denotes in your inventory with a red marker.
Note that the types of Starfield contraband considered illegal will vary by location, as do the penalties for harboring specific items. If the ship scan detects contraband, expect to be arrested and subjected to a fine, which varies based on the contraband’s value. You are more likely to face contraband scans in heavily patrolled areas.
Many areas of the game are not patrolled areas, so you can easily move your contraband freely throughout those areas. Further, if you have the Starfield Dream Home trait, you can store your Starfield contraband there as the location is not subject to scanning.
How to avoid getting detected with Starfield contraband
You can avoid getting detected with Starfield contraband by choosing and improving the Deception skill, upgrading your ship with a shielded cargo hold, and investing in a scam jammer. Note that the more contraband you have, the more likely authorities will catch you with these items, which is true no matter how many precautions you take. Just keep in mind that no matter what ship upgrades and skills you have, there is always a very small chance of failing a cargo scan if you have contraband on your ship.
Improve your Deception skill
To avoid getting caught with Starfield contraband, you can take the Deception skill, which you can select in the second tier of the game’s social skill tree. This skill makes you far less susceptible to getting flagged during contraband scans. At rank one, you’ll decrease your risk of getting caught by 10%, and at rank four, you’ll reduce it by 50%.
Upgrade your ship’s cargo hold
Starfield’s shielded cargo hold upgrade makes it more difficult for scans to detect contraband. For the effect to work, you must remember to store your contraband items in your cargo hold instead of your inventory.
If you want to buy a shielded cargo hold, you can visit Lon Anderssen, an NPC located on the Red Mile on Porrima III. You can also purchase these items from Jasmine Durand, the Ship Services Technician on The Key, which you can access during the Deep Cover mission.
To get a shielded cargo hold, simply talk to the ship technician and peruse their upgrades. At this point, you can upgade your ship just as you would with a faction ship technician. You’ll find several different cargo holds, and they vary in effectiveness. As you might guess, the higher-quality upgrades are more effective, but they’re also much more expensive, so gather a good number of credits beforehand if you plan to purchase these items. Alternatively, you can also choose to purchase an entirely new ship that has shielded cargo space.
Another option to gain shielded cargo space is to hijack a ship with a shielded cargo hold. You can can check if a ship has a shielded cargo hold by looking beneath the ship’s total cargo capacity gauge. You can also get ships as mission rewards, and completing the Mantis side-quest grants the Razorleaf with a shielded capacity of 160.
Typically, the more shielded cargo space you have, the less likely you are to get caught with any given amount of contraband. However, if you fill your shielded cargo space to maximum capacity with Starfield contraband, you are still likely to get caught.
Use a scan jammer
Some of the ship services merchants that deal in black market goods also sell scan jammers, which block the scan signals and make it easier to hide your contraband. These items will decrease your potential to get caught with contraband during a scan by a set percentage. Scan jammers will not work without shielded cargo holds.
Both Lon Anderson and Jasmine Durand sell scan jammers as ship upgrades, so check out their options while you’re upgrading your cargo hold. Like the shielded cargo holds, scan jammers have varying degrees of effectiveness, and the most effective ones are also the most expensive.
Getting caught with Starfield contraband
If you are caught with Starfield contraband and are facing an arrest, you can pay the fine, serve your jail sentence, attempt to escape, or try to bribe the authorities. Each option has pros and cons. In each case, you will still lose all Starfield contraband.
Pay the fine
If you choose to pay the fine, you will lose the requested credits. However, your record will be clear, and you are free to go.
Serve your jail sentence
If you accept your jail sentence, you will have to stay imprisoned for the requisite amount of time and will lose XP.
Attempt to escape
You can always attempt to escape from prison. However, even if you do so successfully, there will still be a bounty on you, which you will have to face eventually by paying off or serving more jail time.
Offer a bribe
If you have chosen the Starfield Negotiation skill, one of the game’s tier 2 social skill tree options, you will gain the potential to bribe authorities. As you level this up, bribes will cost less money; at rank four, they will sometimes cost no money. However, bribery doesn’t guarantee success, so be prepared to suffer the consequences if you aren’t successful in your dealings with authorities.
That’s everything you need to know about selling Starfield contraband. If you’re just jumping into Bethesda’s all-new space adventure, be sure to also check out our guides to the the best skills on the Starfield skill tree, Starfield character creation, and all Starfield traits and how they work.
