I’ve just arrived at the Bazaar Sidestreets and the advanced items sure are expensive. Is it OK to sell stuff like rostygold, silk and jade to purchase the commodities I need, or do I need them too?
It’s fine to sell that stuff to speed that process along. Once you’re a POSI a lot of the basic items become available through the Unfinished Business storylets, so you can grind them back up again.
Also: mostly everything is easily grindable, so it is usually sounder to sell for money those goods that are outside Neathy economy - that is, goods that cannot be converted into higher-tier goods in the “Myself” tab. I usually use Nevercold Brass, Rats on a String, Rostygold and Moon-Pearls as a permanent money reserve should I need quick cash (say you need that extra Dreaded point and you need a Devilish Fedora for example), with the caution to keep some Rostygold to pay the zee-voyage fees and the occasional Opportunity card (Buy a round at the Rusty Tramp for the Docks or attending the church-fete from the Church one), and if you like, some Moon-Pearls to buy tickets at the carnival (possibly redundant, it’s quite easy to just steal them, but buying could yield a higher tickets-per-action ratio).
There’s no true vendor trash in the game, as most items are more valuable as they are than as money. What I recommend doing is finding a profitable action, and allocating any funds you receive doing so as stuff to be sold. That way, you’re basically just “doing storylets that give money” instead of selling all your stuff that you may want later.
On the subject, Urthdigger here compiled a handy guide to the most profitable actions in London and at zee:
http://community.failbettergames.com/topic804-an-indepth-look-at-money-options.aspx
What I usually do is compile a buffer of items (like, 1000 or 10000 or something like that) and sell everything over that amount. Like Urthdigger said, everything has a use somewhere, so it pays to hold onto things, especially high-level items. I remember rotsygold, jade fragments, glim, and moon-pearls being used quite often in the early game.
Yeah, Glim does have a capital use for those who want to raise the “Adrift in a sea of misery…” quality - 500x Glim given to the Soft-hearted Widow total 6 points of the quality. (Currently I’m raising it when I can, I don’t know if it will ever be needed but especially having chosen a Gleam destiny it seems to me that some philantropic action might be in order).
Giving to the Soft-hearted Widow also pays back the value of the Glim in Stolen Kisses, which convert up to Favors in High Places, which are used to acquire a pretty fair number of PoSI items. Charity is surprisingly profitable.
As for the non-convertible goods, Rats are needed to open the route to the Labyrinth of Tigers, and I’m told that a reasonable stash of Moon Pearls might be a good idea if you want to get down with the clown at the dark carnival (although seeking out that story is something I personally haven’t started yet). Rostygold and Nevercold Brass have a few uses as well, but I don’t think there’s any one activity where you’d need more than about 1000x at a time.
The rest of the stuff in the goods category is a bit harder to accidentally end up with truly bulk quantities of, so if you have 5k+ Unusual Love Stories or Rattus Faber Corpses or whatever I’ll just assume you’ve got your own private reasons for that.
You need an appalling amount of Rostygold in order to acquire a Gang of Hoodlums once you become a POSI.
I posted some advice in a previous thread on what people should stockpile. Here are the bits which may be most relevant to your situation:[quote]You’ll need quite a few second and third tier items for PoSI equipment. Maniac’s Prayers, Inklings of Identity and, especially, Phosphorescent Scarabs are important and kind of annoying to acquire. You’ll probably find uses for several thousand Foxfire Candles, especially if you haven’t dealt with the Plaster Face. Do you like to treat your Lizard? If so, keep any Beeswax you find. You can generally sell fourth and fifth tier items. Exceptions: components, stuff you need for lodgings or ravens, and three or four Blackmail Material. You’ll rarely need Rag Trade or Cartography items other than Glim and a few Silk Scraps.
General stockpiling. Third tier items are interconvertible, so I like to hold onto those. I got a lot of the Antique Mysteries for my Bethlehem reservation that way. Appalling Secrets and lower level Mysteries are very useful, and Jade, Glim and Rostygold get used like pocket change. It’s better to sell stuff which can be ground efficiently, like Prisoner’s Honey and Mourning Candles, and hang on to stuff which can’t, like Souls.[/quote]