Gold Coins are the lifeblood of Palworld’s economy, and merchants are where you spend them. Across the islands you’ll meet several distinct trader types – the everyday Wandering Merchant, the Pal Merchant who deals exclusively in captured Pals, and the shady Black Marketeer who peddles rare contraband Pals from hidden caves. This guide breaks down where to find each one, what they stock, and how Palworld actually prices the Pals you buy and sell.
Wandering Merchants: items, gear and supplies
The Wandering Merchant is the trader you’ll deal with most. Despite the name, they tend to sit at fixed spawn points rather than roam, so once you learn their spots you can restock reliably. They buy and sell items for Gold Coins – never Pals – and come in two main coat colors that signal their stock level:
- Red Coat merchants are the common variant, selling basic supplies and early-game essentials: food, raw materials, and entry-level equipment. They’re your go-to for restocking consumables.
- Green Coat merchants deal in more advanced goods, including some schematics and rarer ores – worth seeking out once you’ve outgrown starter gear.
Their inventories cover a wide range: Pal Spheres, food and medical supplies, ammunition, armor, weapons, Skill Fruits, and crafting materials such as Wool, Leather, Bone, and Ingots. A reliable early stop is the Small Settlement near the Plateau of Beginnings (around coordinates 75, -479), where a Wandering Merchant and a Pal Merchant typically stand side by side. Other dependable settlements include the Sea Breeze Archipelago, Forgotten Island, and Fisherman’s Point.
Approach a merchant and you’ll get a simple Buy / Sell / Leave interface. One warning: capturing a merchant with a Pal Sphere counts as a crime, marks you as wanted, and spawns hostile guards – though oddly, a captured merchant will keep trading from your base afterward.
Pal Merchants: buying and selling Pals
The Pal Merchant (the blue-coated trader) is a separate NPC that deals only in Pals. You can buy Pals from their rotating stock to fill out your Paldeck, or sell off duplicates and unwanted captures for Gold. Their inventory refreshes over time and leans toward early- to mid-game Pals at most locations, with stronger stock at desert hubs like Duneshelter.
Confirmed Pal Merchant locations include the Small Settlement (~75, -479), Marsh Island Church Ruins, Sea Breeze Archipelago, Forgotten Island, Duneshelter in the Dessicated Desert, and Fisherman’s Point. A handy bonus: if a Pal is dropped or lost, a Pal Merchant can sometimes let you repurchase it.
How Pal prices work
Every Pal has a hidden base price stat that anchors its value. The amount a merchant charges to buy a Pal scales with that Pal’s level using a clear formula:
Buy Value = [1.5 + (0.15 × Level)] × Base Price
That works out to a 1.65× multiplier at level 1, climbing to 9× at level 50. The sell value you receive is far smaller – the community-documented formula is the buy value divided by 20 (rounded down). In other words, selling Pals is a minor side income, not a money-printer. Worth noting: skill quality, Lucky Pals, and Alpha bosses do not raise sell value, so don’t expect a premium for a shiny capture.
| Merchant | Coat / Look | Trades | Currency | Where to find |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wandering Merchant | Red (common) / Green (advanced) | Items, gear, materials, Spheres, Skill Fruits | Gold Coins | Settlements (Small Settlement, Fisherman’s Point, etc.) |
| Pal Merchant | Blue coat | Buys & sells Pals | Gold Coins | Villages & settlements, often beside a Wandering Merchant |
| Black Marketeer | Black cloak, yellow eyes, pipe | Rare/sanctuary Pals; buys Humans | Gold Coins | Caves, mineshafts, desert hideouts |
Black Marketeers: rare and restricted Pals
The Black Marketeer is the underground equivalent of the Pal Merchant. Cloaked in black with glowing yellow eyes and a smoking pipe, they ignore Pal-trading regulations and stock a rotating selection of rare, high-value Pals – including some normally only found in Wildlife Sanctuaries. If you want a sanctuary-tier Pal without raiding the protected islands, this is one of the few legitimate-ish routes. They’ll also buy Humans, which regular merchants won’t.
True to their illicit trade, Black Marketeers hide away from settlements – in caves, abandoned mineshafts, and remote corners of the map. Reliable spots include beneath the Desolate Church fast-travel point (tucked under a western cliff), a canyon west of the PIDF Tower in the Dessicated Desert, and along the northern wall of Duneshelter. They’re combat-capable and will pull out a Gatling Gun if you threaten them, so trade peacefully unless you’re prepared for a fight.
A note on the Medal Merchant and Dog Coins
Palworld updates frequently, and a newer addition is the Medal Merchant, who trades in a separate currency called Dog Coins rather than Gold. They typically spawn at church ruins (Desolate Church, Marsh Island, Sea Breeze, Forgotten Island) and sell cosmetic Pal hats plus stat-boosting fruits and elixirs. Because this content is version-dependent, exact stock and prices can shift between patches – check in-game if you’re on an older build.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between a Pal Merchant and a Black Marketeer?
Both buy and sell Pals for Gold Coins, but the Pal Merchant operates legally in settlements and stocks common-to-mid-tier Pals, while the Black Marketeer hides in caves and offers rarer, restricted Pals – including some sanctuary-only species – and will also buy Humans.
Is selling Pals a good way to make Gold?
Not really. The sell value is the buy value divided by 20, so you only recover a small fraction of a Pal’s price. It’s a fine way to clear duplicates, but base activities like mining and crafting earn Gold far faster.
Can I capture a merchant?
You can throw a Pal Sphere at one, but it’s treated as a crime that marks you wanted and spawns hostile guards. A captured merchant will still trade from your base, though most players simply visit them normally instead.
Keep exploring
Merchants are just one piece of progression. For more, see our Palworld Dungeons Guide for boss loot, the Skill Fruits Guide for the active skills merchants sometimes stock, and the Factions Guide to understand the PIDF and the syndicates you’ll meet near merchant hubs.
Hunting down distant Black Marketeers and farming Gold is far more fun with a crew. If you and your friends want a persistent world that’s always online, you can rent a Palworld server and pick up merchant runs anytime – and our Palworld setup docs walk you through configuration step by step.
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