STONKS AND TORNPS
Playing the actual stock market is a magnanimous task and, quite frankly, isn’t really for kids. But hey, since the Fire Nation is currently attacking the world at large, it’s a great time to understand microeconomics and how investing works… but on a much, much smaller scale. After all, how else are you going to pay off Tom Nook’s multiple home loans in Animal Crossing if not by gaming the system?
Let’s begin!
What is the Stalk Market in Animal Crossing: New Horizon?
Once your island reaches a place where your Resident Services is no longer operating out of a tent and is, in fact, in a proper building, in addition to Nook’s Cranny moving into a building of its own, the stalk market will open up. Every Sunday morning, from 5am and 12pm, Daisy Mae (sounds like Fanny Mae, for those of us who remember that nonsense) will visit your island and sell turnips for anywhere between 90 and 110 bells.
You’ll be able to spot Daisy Mae by the turnips on her head. She’ll wander your island from early morning until noon.
After you’ve purchased your turnips for the week, the Nook boys, Timmy and Tommy, will buy them for you for a wide range of bells (I once sold my turnips for 560 bells per stack of 10). If you’re looking to store your turnips, you can put them in your house (in stacks of 10) or somewhere on your island, but it will affect your island rating as turnips count as “random” items.
They will rot on Sunday morning, if you don’t manage to sell them by then. Or, if you decide to “time travel” and artificially move time forward to a week (or more) in the future.
What’s the purpose of the Stalk Market?
Put simply: to earn some bells and pay off your Nook island mortgage(s), in addition to putting money away for island infrastructure (bridges, inclines, and decorations). Beyond that, it’s a “push your luck” kind of mini-game that teaches folks to pay attention to patterns in turnip prices on your island.
How do you know when to sell your turnips?
There are a few different ways to determine when is the best time to sell your turnips. If you’re curious about how the turnip price patterns may work on your island, Polygon has an excellent guide to understanding what turnip trends are in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
If you’re looking to track turnip prices on your island, you can use Turnip Prophet. Turnip Prophet allows you to input your turnip prices throughout the week and will help you to better understand the Stalk Market patterns on your island. There’s a graph with labels on what every data point means, too.
If you’re looking to branch out and look to other people and their islands for turnip prices, both for purchasing and for selling with the Nook Boys, you can use Turnip Exchange. Hosts open their islands with Dodo Codes — special codes that you type in to visit people who aren’t on your Animal Crossing friend list — and you can join a queue to visit and sell at a higher price than what you might be able to sell on your own island.
What’s the purpose of being a “turnip host”?
If your turnip prices spike, opening up your island to family and friends is kind of a no-brainer. Share the wealth and everyone ends up happier as a result. Opening up your island to strangers is a bit more of a risk, especially if you don’t want people harvesting your fruit or you don’t have it set up with fences to funnel people where you want them to go.
And.
Sharing the wealth often means that folks will leave you tips in bells, which means that when they sell for big money, you may get a slice of that. It’s really up to the folks that are visiting.
What happens if the turnips “go bad”?
You lose them. They’re gone. You make no money off of them.
The most important thing to remember is it’s better to take a major hit to your investment than for you to make zero return on your investment. So, when it comes to Saturday afternoon, make sure that you sell your turnips for something, rather than let them rot in your inventory or your house.
What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts and strategies!
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