Arena:Buying and Selling Guide - The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP) (2024)

Buying[edit]

In Arena items may only be purchased at the Mages Guild and shops. Every item may be bartered down to a lower price, dependent upon your personality (PER) rating; a high level may enable the asking price to be lowered by as much as seventy-five percent. Shopkeepers will, however, refuse any offer which is deemed too low, asking that you raise such. Generally, each merchant will allow up to six separate offers to be lodged against a single item, although up to eight may be obtained if a price that is unacceptable is offered for some time.

Mages Guild[edit]

The Mages Guild offers potions, magical items, and spells.

Potion cost is for a single-use item only, although it may be purchased an infinite amount of times.

Magical items, come in three distinct categories:

1. Those that lower your AR.
2. Those that boost your attributes.
3. Those that cast spells from the known spell book.

Each is detailed below.

Category one magical items are priced as follows:

The price of these items may be negotiated.

Category two items are priced as follows:

Bartering for each of these items is, itself, a complicated process, which is explained below.

Magical items that cast spells are available in four forms, Marks, Crystals, Bracers, and Rings, the cost of which is based upon three factors, namely:

1. The price of the items base type.
2. The spell or effect that is cast when used.
3. The number of charges.

The formula for calculating the cost of said items is as follows:

 X = B + N*Y where X = Price N = Number of charges B = Base cost and Y = Cost per charge

The number of charges an item has may be ascertained via the following formula:

N = (X - B)/Y

The base price, B, for these items is as follows:

The cost per charge, Y, is:

Purchasing spells is, in comparison, quite simple. One selects the spell and a notice of both the spell's casting cost and the price is displayed. As noted in the official manual, casting cost is proportional to the price, however, while the price may be bartered down, the casting cost will remain the same. However, it should be noted that the casting cost for a spell will decrease as you level up.

Shops[edit]

Purchasing items at merchants stalls or shops is much the same as described above. The weapons and armor that boost your skills grant a +10 boost, while the items that can cast spells have their price based upon the spell it casts, not on the number of charges. The price of weapons and armor is dependent upon the metal of which it is made and the base cost of its ordinary form. The following is a list of the extra value if the weapon or armor has a spell appended to it:

* The 1000 is for weapons, the 7500 for armor.

As noted above, the price is dependent on the metal which is multiplied as follows:

The base cost for weapons is as follows:

For example, the price of an Ebony Dai-Katana of Firestorm may be arrived at like so:

50 * 500 + 25000 = 50,000 GP

For armor, the list is as follows (chain and leather armor are not included, as they may not be enchanted):

Thus, as an example, the price of an Elven Kite Shield of Levitation is:

30 * 10 + 200 = 500 GP

Selling[edit]

The selling of items may only be accomplished at equipment stores, regardless of their properties. In each city, town, and village there exists a single shopkeeper who will offer greater prices for every item than any other; while finding the proper merchant in large cities may be difficult, it is advised that great care be undertaken to do so. (how?)

It is possible to receive ninety-nine percent of the asking price for non-magical items (with a PER level of 100 and a New-conditioned item), although the initial offer given on any item will be at seventy-five percent of the original value (only if the weapon is New); this price may then be negotiated. A recurrent bug may occur in which certain items may be sold for more than the shopkeeper can afford; while this is improbable, it will not adversely affect the game.

Magical items, however, are significantly more difficult to pawn than the non-magical. The initial offer for magical items will fall somewhere between eighteen and nineteen percent of the value asked for such at the Mages Guild and can be haggled up to no more than twenty-five percent (with a high PER level). This does not, however, apply to potions. Regardless of what the price of the potion, 25 GP is all that will be offered. This may be haggled up to 30 to 35 GP, however, even this requires a high PER.

A good rule to know what offer to counter with is the following:

Add 1/3 of the offer to the offer made

So, as an example, if the offer is 2240 you may safely counter with:

(2240 / 3) + 2240 = 2987 GP

As most items you will desire to sell will originate from a treasure chest, dungeon, or another similar source, the major problem is knowing what to sell and retain. While items may be identified at the Mages Guild, the price is exorbitant. (If you don't mind being dishonest you can save, pay to identify the item, then reload). An estimate of the items worth may be obtained - in the case of weapons and armor - by examining the item personally. Those items which appear in tan within the inventory slot should be equipped, after which the metal from which the item was fashioned may be discerned according to its color, which are as follows:

If the item appears in red, its type may be identified from the manual. For example, a Long Bow has a base damage of 2-12; thus, should a Long Bow in red display a base damage of 4-14, a quick comparison with the manual will reveal the item to be a Dwarven Long Bow.

Lastly, as to color, if the item appears in cyan, try it on.
If you are able to, compare the statistics with the manual; if no difference appears, use the item. It may safely be assumed that those weapons which cast a fireball upon use are Firestorm enchanted, and so on. Those which, seemingly, do nothing upon use may modify your statistics; thus, the character's statistics should be checked after using an unidentified item. It is important to note that the only way in which to learn the number of charges any item of this type has is by identification in a Mages Guild.
If you are unable to equip the cyan item, look at the base damage. If there exists no modification to such, the only alternative is to have it identified at a Mages Guild.

Should you acquire a magical item such as a Bracelet, Belt, Torc or Amulet, the best course towards determining the price of such is by right-clicking the item. Each will either lower AR or boost an attribute. The following is a list of the items and their selling prices:

The above applies only to those magical items which lower AR; the following appertains to those which boosts attributes:

If, however, the item is a Mark, Crystal, Bracer, or Ring, the number of charges alone will be displayed by right-clicking. To learn more about the items you may either:

• Use the item.
• Have it identified at a Mages Guild.
• Sell it blindly.