The Market is one of the most useful buildings in Romestead and also one of the easiest to overlook early on.
Once you get it running, you have a permanent buy-and-sell point for items you need or want to offload. The catch is that you have to earn access first, and the inventory you see depends entirely on which biome you build in. This guide covers everything: how to unlock it, what it costs to build, how to upgrade it, and the full item list for all four biomes.
How do you unlock the Market in Romestead?
The Market is locked behind a quest called Art of Trade. You won't find the building recipe anywhere until you complete it. Once you do, the recipe unlocks and you can craft the Market at a Workbench.
The materials are not expensive:
- 8 Lumber
- 6 Stone
- 2 Clay
For players already a few hours in, you probably have most of this sitting in storage. The real investment is the time spent completing the quest, not the materials.
Market crafting at Workbench
How does the Market work?
The Market houses a merchant who buys and sells items. The merchant's stock is not universal. It changes based on the biome where you place the building. That means a Market built in the Plains sells different items than one in the Forest, Desert, or Volcano. A handful of items appear across all four biomes, but the interesting stuff is biome-specific.
The building holds 1 citizen slot, so you'll need a settler to staff it.
How do you upgrade the Market?
The Market has three levels, though only Level 2 is available in the current version of the game.
Reaching Level 2 requires a Mercury god blessing, specifically the Market Level 2 unlock. If you haven't started working on your god progression yet, check out the Romestead gods guide to unlocking blessings and leveling your altar before you try to push the upgrade.
Mercury blessing for Market upgrade
What does each biome Market sell?
Here's the breakdown. Some items appear in every biome. Others are exclusive to specific locations, and those are the ones worth planning around.
Items sold in all four biomes
These appear regardless of where you build:
- Flint Shard (20 Quadrans)
- Wood Stick (5 Quadrans)
- Wood Plank (20 Quadrans)
- Flint Arrow (2 Quadrans)
- Torch (15 Quadrans)
- Adventuring Boots (15 Denarius)
- Adventuring Hat (15 Denarius)
- Empty Pot (10 Quadrans)
- Adventuring Cloak (15 Denarius)
- Thick Cloak (1 Denarius 20 Quadrans)
- Placeable Dirt (10 Quadrans)
- Placeable Grass - Plains (10 Quadrans)
- Placeable Tall Grass - Plains (10 Quadrans)
- Placeable Grass - Dry Plains (10 Quadrans)
- Placeable Tall Grass - Dry Plains (10 Quadrans)
- Minor Health Potion (3 Denarius)
- Canteen of Youth (10 Denarius)
- Magical Candle (2 Denarius 50 Quadrans)
- Copper Arrow (20 Quadrans)
- Lucky Dice (2 Denarius 50 Quadrans)
- Lobber Wristguards (40 Quadrans)
- Health Potion (10 Denarius)
Plains Market exclusive items
Forest Market exclusive items
Desert Market exclusive items
Volcano Market exclusive items
Desert Market sells Drums and Lyres
Which biome Market is worth building first?
It depends on where you are in the game. The Forest Market has the most total unique items, with six different seeds and mycelium types that are hard to source otherwise. If you're building out a farming or gathering setup, that's the one to prioritize.
The Desert Market is the go-to if you need quest items fast. Drums and Lyres both appear exclusively there, and neither is cheap to track down in the world. The Volcano Market is the thinnest in terms of unique stock right now, offering only the Bedouin Cloak recipe and Pepper Seeds beyond the universal list.
The Plains Market sits in the middle. Its exclusive items skew toward food and consumables, which matters more in early survival than mid-game.
Forest Market with seed inventory
Tips for getting the most out of the Market
- Build walls before placing the Market. The merchant won't fight back, and losing them to a raid is an annoying setback.
- The Market also buys items you don't need. Use it to convert excess materials into currency rather than letting them sit in chests.
- Upgrading to Level 2 via the Mercury blessing raises the merchant's max rank to 7, which expands what they can offer over time. Prioritize this once you have the Lumber, Stone, and Brick ready.
- If you're running multiple settlements across biomes, consider placing a Market in each. The biome-specific stock means each one serves a different purpose.
For a full picture of how to progress your settlement, the Romestead beginner's guide covers professions, the god system, and survival mechanics in one place. You can also browse the full Romestead strategy guides collection for everything from boss locations to weapons tier lists.