Probably Stolen Beginner Guide: Your First Week, Day by Day

Quick answer

Start as an Apprentice on Mark Up, trade basic stock while the Mentor teaches you the shop, and buy insurance when it appears on Day 4. Keep 200 credits for rent on Day 7. Your long-term goal is to buy the deed before rising rent catches you.

On this page

Your goal

You run a pawnshop on a space station. Rent rises every week, so the run is a race to buy the store from the Landlord. Everything else, from water to weapons, is a way to fund that.

Your first run

Pick Apprentice on Mark Up. The developers call Apprentice the best start for beginners, and you get 550 credits to begin with. Leave the tutorial on, because it also unlocks the First Steps achievement. Starting perks are locked until your second run.

The first two weeks

Day	What happens	What to do
1	The store opens	Press the green wall button for the shutter, then the green counter button to call customers
2	Dumping Ground and wholesale offers appear	After closing, scavenge or buy discounted piles to resell
4	Joe Wild offers insurance	Buy it to protect your stock at night
5	The Loan Shark visits	Note his offer. He returns on Sundays once you hold 5,000 credits
7	First rent, 200 credits	Pay it. Joe Wild also starts selling upgrades
12	The Mentor warns about Augs	Learn the tells before you meet one
14	Second rent	Bills rise from here

How to make money early

Keep orders small until you know how fast stock sells. A cheap batch that sells out beats a large one that ties up your rent money.

Stock the display case before you open. Items in it bring in buyers for that type the next day, and luxury or high-margin goods suit it best.

Check goods before you buy them. Counterfeits are a real cost, and the inspection cheat sheet lists every tell.

Count profit the honest way

Trading profit is what you sold, minus what that stock cost, minus rent and nightly fees. The shop calculators work out how much of your cash is really free to spend.

Staying safe

Uninsured nights carry a robbery risk of about 33%, and it rises the longer you go without cover. Buy insurance. One player reports a 100% alarm still let thieves through, and that only 120% stopped them all.

Stolen goods can be seized in an inspection. A crime total of 300 to 1,499 credits gets you arrested, and 1,500 or more gets you executed, so don't keep contraband in plain view.

Reputation matters too. If your standing with any major faction falls to -100, that faction ends the run. The endings guide lists every way to lose.

After the first week

Once your income is steady, spend on things that pay for themselves. Showcase Expansion I and Joe Wild's referral services are common first upgrades. Referrals bring extra customers, but each one adds a nightly fee.

Be careful with the Landlord's vending machine deal. In one recorded run it added 150 credits to weekly rent and sold too little to justify it.

When you can see the deed in reach, use the Rent & Buyout Calculator to choose between cash and a mortgage.