Starfield Vendor Credits Refresh: When Shops Restock, and how to force a reset

by Alex Donaldson on 08 September, 2023

While selling loot is a major component of any RPG, in Starfield it arguably feels more important than ever. But in the persistent open world of a Bethesda Game Studios title, sellers have one major enemy: the Vendor Refresh.

It’s a pretty simple concept, really. Unlike in a lot of RPGs, vendors and shops in Starfield all actually carry a set amount of credits, the in-universe money across Starfield’s settled systems. That means a vendor can buy stuff off you… so long as they have the credits to afford to do so.

This doesn’t just go for shopkeeper NPCs, but also shops that run through terminals and even the special vendors you use for ship building and selling ships.

Vendors will generally have around 5000 credits at the low end as as much as 20,000 credits to play with for buying your gear - which runs out quickly if you’re selling weapons and spacesuits - and even more quickly if you’re selling contraband. Luckily, there is a way to reset vendor stock - which replenishes their cash, too.

If you try selling to a shop short on credits, you can still offload your items - but you'll get less - or nothing.

How to force shops and vendors to restock credits and items in Starfield

If you’re trying to offload a whole lot of stuff and struggling against the cash reserves of vendors, the answer to your woes is surprisingly simple - and it involves embracing Starfield’s world simulation rules a little.

Specifically, all vendors need to restock items and credits is time. So you can go away and do some missions, or even leave your character idling - or you can use Starfield’s ‘wait’ function.

Typically, vendors reset their stock and cash inventory after around 24 hours local time. You can wait at any usable seat, or by sleeping in a bed. Luckily, most shops in Starfield have a chair in them, or very nearby.

Most shops, such as the UC Surplus in New Atlantis, have seats right inside, making waiting for a restock easy.

24 hours is the maximum period you can wait for, and you should find that after waiting 24 hours the shop is back to its ‘default’ state, complete with a fresh stack of credits for buying your unwanted gear from both your local inventory and your ship inventory.

Waiting can let you sell everything to one shop rather than hopping about - though we suggest you go to one of the shops with a larger cash starting point, such as Trade Authority NPCs (not the terminals). Even then, you’ll probably have to wait several times to empty all your loot, especially if you’ve purchased the haggling skill to get more buck for your bang - which we recommend as one of the best skills in Starfield.

It’s worth keeping in mind that any planet on Starfield is governed by two times - UT, the universal time of everywhere, and whatever the local time is on that planet. Depending on the planet, 24 hours local time might be just a few hours UT - or days. The shop resets are all seemingly governed by local time, however.