Stealing and pickpocketing in Skyrim is a great way to expand your inventory, get your hands on otherwise expensive gems, and get cool weapons for free!
I was a kleptomaniac when I began my first Skyrim playthrough. I thought I had hit the jackpot by stealing almost every valuable in Whiterun, but I quickly realized that merchants wouldn’t buy my stolen goods.
I’m sure almost every newbie Skyrim gamer gets frustrated that they can’t sell stolen items. This means that the sword you thought would give you 500 gold easily is just sitting in your inventory, hoarding the already limited inventory space (Speaking of which, check out the Skyrim: Where to store items? guide).
No need to worry! In this post, we’ll check out where you can sell your stolen goodies.
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How To Sell Stolen Goods In Skyrim?
To sell stolen goods in Skyrim, you will need to find a character who is willing to purchase them. To find such merchants, you must be part of the Thieves Guild. Since you’ll be robbing homes and pickpocketing a lot as a member of the Thieves Guild, they’ll show you how you can sell these items.
As you complete more main quests of the Thieves Guild storyline, the more such merchants you will have access to around Skyrim.
It’s important to note that selling stolen goods is illegal in the world of Skyrim, and getting caught could result in consequences such as fines or even imprisonment. You have three choices for selling stolen items in Skyrim, these include:
- Sell to specific merchants who purchase stolen items
- Get the ‘Fence’ perk
- Use Console Command/Mod
Let’s get into the depth of each and every one of these methods (there’s also a bonus method waiting for you at the end of the post, so read on!).
1. Sell Your Stolen Items To Shady Merchants In Skyrim
In order to sell your stolen items to select merchants around Skyrim, you’ll need to join and complete a few quests in the Thieves Guild.
In addition to selling stolen goods to the Fence inside the Thieves Guild in Skyrim, members of the Thieves Guild can also conduct trade with additional fences found across Skyrim.
The merchants who purchase stolen items are called ‘Fences.’ These characters are often found in cities and towns, and they can be identified easily if you pay attention to their conversations.
Here are some of the fences in major cities around Skyrim:
- Tonilia: Riften – The Ragged Flagon
- Mallus Maccius: Whiterun – Honningbrew Meadery
- Gulum-Ei: Solitude – The Winking Skeever
- Enthir- College of Winterhold
- Endon- Markarth
- Niranye – Windhelm
- Khajit Trading Caravans: Around Skyrim.
It’s worth noting that some fences will only start buying stolen items after you complete certain quests in the Thieves Guild.
2. Get the ‘Fence’ perk
Once the Fence Perk has been unlocked from the Speech Tree, players may sell stolen things to any shopkeeper in Skyrim. This perk requires Speech to be at Level 90; therefore, it won’t be available until much later in the game. And keep in mind you get even more perks once you improve your skill to legendary level.
This perk allows the Dragonborn to sell stolen items to certain merchants. Without the Fence perk, stolen items cannot be sold to any merchants.
To begin selling stolen items in Skyrim, most players will go straight to Riften after beginning a new game and join the Thieves Quest at level one.
3. Sell Stolen Items Using Console Commands And Mods
Using console commands and mods is the life and blood of The Elder Scrolls series. Modifying the game is the easiest way to get what you want. Read on to find out the console commands and mods to easily sell the items you ‘borrowed’ and are unable to sell because of the ‘Stolen’ tag.
- Using Console Commands:
While it feels like typing cheat codes, console commands make your life a lot easier when you’re stuck in Skyrim. Let’s check out how you can use console commands to sell your stolen items.
- Open the console with the [~] key
- Type the following console commands:
player.getav BypassVendorKeywordCheck 1
player.getav BypassVendorStolenCheck 1
The above console commands will remove the ‘Stolen’ red tag from your stolen items, opening your inventory to every merchant. Moreover, the second console command will allow you to sell all kinds of items in your inventory to all merchants.
- Alternatively, you can use the following console command:
player.setav speechcraft 100
This will increase your Speech to level 100 and above, allowing you to upgrade your skill tree till you get the ‘Fence’ perk.
- Using Mods:
The TES series, particularly TES V: Skyrim, revolutionized modding in games. Players were granted complete creative freedom to modify the game as they saw fit. Regarding TES series, it is often said that,
“If you can imagine it, there’s likely a mod for it.”
Changing all the dragons to Thomas the Tank Engine cast with the Really Useful Dragons mod is hands down the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen in a game.
Here are some mods that will help you sell your stolen items in Skyrim. Simply download and install one of the following:
Bonus Method: Using the Follower glitch
This is an extremely simple technique. The only requirement is that you have a follower. Once you have a follower, the process is quite straightforward:
- Gather all stolen items and place them inside a chest
- Order your follower to take everything inside the chest
- Select “I need you to do something” and select the chest
- After the follower takes all the items inside the chest, interact with them again, and select “I need you to carry some things.”
- Take back the items you left in the chest.
- The ‘Stolen’ tag will be removed, and now you can sell these items!
This a glitch in the game, and it can be fixed at any time through a patch, which is why it is included as a bonus method. Check it out if this glitch works for you; if not, then you can try the three methods mentioned above.
Happy stealing!
Conclusion
This guide covers the different ways of selling stolen goods in Skyrim. Players can join the Thieves Guild to access additional fences who buy stolen goods, or get the ‘Fence’ perk in the Speech Tree to sell stolen items to any shopkeeper. Console commands and mods can also be used to remove the ‘Stolen’ tag, allowing for all items to be sold to any merchant. Lastly, the Follower glitch can be used to remove the ‘Stolen’ tag from certain items. This method is a bit of a glitch and could be patched, so it is more of a bonus. All in all, this guide covers all the ways of selling stolen goods in Skyrim.
- Selling stolen goods in Skyrim requires being part of the Thieves Guild and having access to additional fences who buy stolen goods.
- Players can get the ‘Fence’ perk in the Speech Tree to sell stolen items to any shopkeeper.
- Console commands and mods can be used to remove the ‘Stolen’ tag, allowing for all items to be sold to any merchant.
- The Follower glitch can also be used to remove the ‘Stolen’ tag from certain items.
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