How to play the Stalk Market in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Turnips STONKS in Animal Crossing

The most valuable item in Animal Crossing: New Horizons isn’t wood, fruit, bugs, fish, stone, iron or gold. It’s something a lot simpler: turnips. But what makes them valuable isn’t the turnips themselves. It’s the Stalk Market that surrounds them.

Newcomers to the franchise might find it overwhelming at first. But if you want to become a millionaire and fast track your progress, you need to play the Stalk Market and become a turnip tycoon. And it’s quite easy to do. It just takes time, patience, resourcefulness, and a bit of luck. Here’s a quick guide on how to do it.

Daisy Mae, The Turnip Seller

Daisy Mae is a special visitor who appears on your island every Sunday from 5 am to 12 pm. She is a small orange boar with a drippy-nose and a bowl of turnips hoisted above her head. But don’t let her innocent appearance fool you. She is a thrifty saleswoman. You can buy turnips from her and sell them to Timmy and Tommy in Nook’s Cranny. 

It’s not possible to hoard turnips either. In one week, they’ll turn rotten. So you’ll need to sell them during the week no matter what. But there’s a catch. Buying and selling prices are always changing.

Buy Low, Sell High: The Golden Rule Of The Stalk Market

The first step is to buy low and sell high, which is the golden rule of the Stalk Market.

Daisy Mae sells turnips at a different price each week. The prices are different on every island. Generally, they vary between 90 bells and 110 bells. You’ll want to buy them at the lowest price possible. But it doesn’t matter too much. It’s more important to sell them to Timmy and Tommy at the highest price possible.

However, there is a lot more variance in Timmy and Tommy’s buying prices. It changes twice a day every day between Monday and Saturday. It can drop as low as 40 bells and climb as high as 600 bells. A bit of luck is needed. But keeping track of patterns in the prices can go a long way too.

The Four Price Patterns

The second step is understanding the four price patterns and how they work.

In the Stalk Market, buying prices follow one of four patterns throughout the week. These are known as decreasing, big spike, small spike, and random.

The decreasing pattern is the worst one. Prices start low. Somewhere between 50 and 99 bells. And they never increase throughout the week. Instead, they decrease a little bit each day. If the price hasn’t increased by Thursday, then you have the decreasing pattern for that week.

The small spike pattern is a decent one. It starts with a decrease. But then it will increase four times. The fourth increase will be the highest price in that week. After that, it will decrease again.

The big spike pattern is the best one. Like the small spike pattern, it starts with a decrease. But then it will increase three times. The third increase will be the highest price that week. It’s different from the small spike pattern because the increases in price are more dramatic.

The random pattern is a wildcard. The prices are unpredictable and vary throughout the week. It increases and decreases at random. But it normally fluctuates between 50 and 200 bells, which isn’t too bad. In the best-case scenario, you could double your savings.

Visiting Other People’s Islands

The third step is visiting other people’s islands to benefit from their buying and selling prices.

There is a lot of variance in buying and selling prices. And that means a little help from your friends can go a long way. If your island has horrendous prices on any given day, get your friends to check the prices on their island. Chances are they will be better.

If you don’t have many friends in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, don’t stress. There are plenty of kind strangers who will let you hop onto their island and buy or sell turnips at exceptional prices. Some do it out of goodwill. Others do it for tips. Either way, you’ll still come out on top.

However, you’ll need an invite to a stranger’s island in the form of a Dodo Code. That can be a difficult task. Thankfully, there are two resources to make the process a whole lot easier. 

Resources To Make The Stalk Market Easier

The fourth and final step is using some handy resources to find islands with exceptional buying and selling prices.

The first resource is a website called The Turnip Exchange. It’s a nifty little website that uses a queue system to help players find an island to visit. A host creates a queue ticket, which lists the current buying or selling prices on their island. It will also include their rules and demands, which may or may not include a tip.

You’ll have to be quick though. Islands with high sell prices are in demand. And the higher the price, the longer the queue. If you’re late to join a queue, you might need to wait for hours. And there’s no guarantee you’ll make it in time. But it’s a small price to pay to be able to quintuple your savings. If only it were that easy in real life.

If you have good buying and selling prices on your island, it’s also a good way to become a host. There will be plenty of people wanting to join your island to buy or sell turnips. And you can exploit them by demanding a tip. Money for nothing and your Nook Miles Tickets for free.

The second resource is a dedicated subreddit called /r/acturnips. It works in the same way. But instead of a proper queue system, it uses comments. A host creates a thread, listing their buying or selling prices and their demands. And users ask for an invite by leaving a comment. But it’s first-come, first-serve. So you’ll need to spam that refresh button.

And that’s all there is to know to become a turnip tycoon. With a bit of time and dedication, you can pay off your loans and be debt-free. And then you can really ‘turnip’ the volume. I’ll see myself out.