Selling items in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is essential for earning gold, clearing out your inventory, and building wealth early in the game. Whether you’re picking up loot from bandits or clearing out old weapons, knowing how and where to sell your items can make your journey across Cyrodiil smoother and more rewarding. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about how to sell items in Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion, including where to go, how to get the best prices, and what to do if merchants won’t buy what you’re carrying.
How to Sell Items in Oblivion
To sell items in Oblivion, you need to visit a merchant or shopkeeper. These are typically found in major cities like the Imperial City, Skingrad, Bruma, and others. Look for general goods stores, armorers, and alchemy shops depending on what you want to sell.
Approach the merchant and press the interaction button to start a conversation. Choose the “Barter” option. This opens your inventory alongside the merchant’s. From here, scroll through your inventory list and select the item you wish to sell.
Once highlighted, select the item and confirm the sale. The gold you receive depends on the item’s base value, your Mercantile skill, and your relationship with the vendor.
Where to Sell Items
You can sell your items at any of the following types of merchants:
General Stores – Buy and sell a variety of items, including weapons, armor, ingredients, and miscellaneous loot. Great for early game.
Armorers and Weapon Shops – Specialize in buying and selling weapons, armor, and repair hammers.
Alchemy Shops – Buy and sell potions, ingredients, and alchemy-related gear.
Magic Shops – Buy enchanted gear, staves, scrolls, and spell-related items.
Fence Merchants – If you’re in the Thieves Guild, you can sell stolen items to fences found in various cities like Bruma and Bravil.
How to Sell Stolen Items in Oblivion
By default, stolen items are marked with a red hand icon in your inventory. Regular merchants will refuse to buy these. To sell stolen goods, you must join the Thieves Guild and gain access to fences—special merchants who don’t ask questions.
After completing the initial Thieves Guild quests, you’ll unlock access to fences like Ongar the World-Weary in Bruma. Fences operate like regular merchants but will buy stolen items, allowing you to turn hot loot into cold hard gold.
Tips for Getting Better Prices
Raise your Mercantile Skill – The higher your Mercantile skill, the better prices you’ll get when selling. This skill increases as you buy and sell more often.
Use Speechcraft or Charm Spells – Raising a merchant’s disposition makes them more likely to offer favorable trade prices.
Haggle – In the barter screen, you can attempt to increase the sale price slightly. Be careful—if the price is too high, the merchant will reject the offer.
Wear Fortify Mercantile gear – Some rings and clothing can temporarily boost your bartering abilities.
Sell to Specialized Merchants – Sell weapons to blacksmiths, potions to alchemists, and enchanted gear to magic vendors for the best offers.
What Items Should You Sell in Oblivion?
Valuable Loot – Gems, rare weapons, enchanted gear, and jewelry fetch high prices.
Duplicate Equipment – Don’t carry six iron longswords—sell the extras.
Heavy Items – If you’re getting over-encumbered, sell heavy armor or bulky loot that’s worth gold.
Excess Ingredients – Unless you’re leveling alchemy, consider selling ingredients you’re not using.
Low Durability Gear – Unless it’s rare, gear with 0 durability is better sold or discarded.
Final Thoughts
Knowing how to sell items in Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion helps you keep your inventory light, your gold pouch full, and your character ready for adventure. Whether you’re offloading bandit loot or making room for better gear, visiting the right merchant and mastering the barter system will keep you one step ahead in Cyrodiil. Don’t forget to raise your Mercantile skill, haggle when it makes sense, and use fences if you’re living that Thieves Guild life.