Commerce Tips

How Do I Sell Stolen Goods?

Ongar will sell you an almost unlimited number of lockpicks.

One thing you'll notice as you play through Oblivion is that most merchants will refuse to buy your stolen goods, which are denoted in your inventory with red hand icons by them. It's not a matter of them refusing to buy the items; they simply don't show up in your sell list at all.

Well, again, the Thieves' Guild is going to be your answer to this problem. If you've got "hot" goods that you wish to "move" at a "fence", then "peep" Ongar in "Bruma". You only have to complete one of Armand's quests to unlock bartering with Ongar, and he'll buy almost anything, stolen or not. If you sell a lot of stolen goods to him, though, he'll pass along word of your good deeds to Armand, which will in turn unlock new missions for you. The more expensive the items you sell, the more advanced quests you'll be able to perform for the Thieves' Guild.

Another benefit to selling stolen items to Ongar is that you'll be able to immediately buy them back from him. You'll lose plenty of money on the transaction, obviously, but selling and re-buying will strip the stolen status from the goods that you do this with. So if you have a nice piece of equipment that you want to use, but are afraid of having it taken from you if you get captured by guards, simply sell it and buy it back. This will eliminate the paper trail of ownership, allowing you to keep it even if you get run into jail.

Getting More Lockpicks

Whether you're playing as a thief, a warrior, or a mage, or something in between, lockpicks are going to be pretty handy to you. While Alteration mages might be able to pop open locks with a simple spell, most other characters are going to need to pick their way through the many locks that stand between you and sweet, sweet loot.

Unfortunately, learning the intricacies of picking locks can lead to a whole lot of broken lockpicks, especially early on in the game, forcing many players to bypass locked doors and chests in dungeons. Since most merchants won't sell lockpicks, you'll need to find an alternate source for these valuable tools.

In the early game, there are two relatively easy ways to obtain lockpicks. One is off the bodies of vanquished foes. If you explore the countryside a bit, you'll find many caves, forts, ruins, and the like. When you stumble across a location that's infested with bandits, then you can kill them to grab the occasional lockpick off their bodies, but the enemy of choice for lockpicks are goblins, which will be much more likely to die with lockpicks on their corpses.

A much simpler way to get lockpicks is to obtain them from the Thieves' Guild or Shady Sam. The Thieves' Guild can be difficult to find, but there are a couple of ways to join. You can either be caught stealing something, then spend a night in jail, after which you'll be approached with a membership offer, or you can read one of the Wanted: Gray Fox posters scattered around the Imperial City, then speak to a beggar while their Disposition to you is above 70, and they'll tell you how to reach a Thieves' Guild contact.

Regardless, you'll likely wind up meeting Armand Christophe at midnight in the Waterfront district of the Imperial City. He'll assign you a task that must be completed before you can join the Thieves' Guild. (If you need help with this task, bribe a beggar until you reach Disposition 70 or higher and ask them for help - or just wait for our walkthrough for the Thieves' Guild quests.) Although you're not technically a member of the Thieves Guild yet, Armand will agree to sell you lockpicks at five gold apiece, and he appears to have an unlimited number of them. You will, however, have to buy them one at a time, which can be a pain.

When you do complete Armand's task, though, he'll point you to the location of Ongar the World-Weary in Bruma, one of the Thieves' Guild fences. Ongar should have a replenishable supply of 100 lockpicks for your purchasing needs.

Shady Sam is a better choice for characters that wish to obtain lockpicks without joining the Thieves Guild. He can be difficult to find if you don't know where he is, though. To track him down, travel to the Chestnut Handy Stables outside of the Imperial City. From there, walk north outside of the Imperial City's walls. Shady Sam is standing in one of the alcoves formed by the walls abutments just north of the stables. When you find him, he'll offer to sell you up to 30 lockpicks at six gold apiece, as well as offer up samples from his large supply of poisons.