Make Money in Tales of the Shire
The best way to make money in the early game of Tales of the Shire is by fishing. Here are the simple steps to get started:
- Acquire a Fishing Rod: You’ll receive your first rod from Old Noakes pretty early in the main story.
- Go to an Early Fishing Spot: Head to locations like Old Ruby’s Pond or the Old Stone Bridge Pool.
- Catch Fish: You can catch any fish at this stage, keep some in your pantry and sell whichever you have the most.
- Sell Your Catch: Take the fish to any trader, such as Farmer Cotton, and sell them for a significant amount of coin.
Compared to foraging, the fishing spots refresh multiple times per day, so it is safe to sell the extras! For a deeper look into other lucrative strategies, read on in our full Guide to Making Money in Tales of the Shire.
Why do we need to Make Money in Tales of the Shire
While friendship is the true currency of the Shire, having a pocketful of coin is essential for improving your Hobbit life. Money allows you to purchase key upgrades and items, such as backpack expansions from the Foraging Club to increase inventory space, house expansions from Willow Took to make your hobbit-hole cozier, new vegetable seeds from Farmer Cotton for your garden, and rare cooking ingredients to impress your friends at meals. And of course there’s Outfits and Furniture to buy and collect!
Deep Dive: Fishing for Profit
Fishing is the undisputed king of early-game income. It’s the most direct way to earn coin without using up valuable cooking ingredients. The mini-game is simple: cast your line, hook a fish, and then keep the cursor within the target area to reel it in. To maximize profits, you need to know what to catch and where. Below is a table of common early-game fish and their value.
| Fish Name | Selling Price (coin) | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Coastal Rainbow Trout | 72 | Ladle’s Jetty |
| Common Bream | 61 | Old Stone Tower |
| Sad Rudd | 61 | Cotton Farm Pond |
| Blue-finned Gudgeon | 32-34 | Old Ruby’s Pond, Tree Rot Pool |
| Bywater Bleak | 31-34 | Old Ruby’s Pond, Old Stone Tower, Tree Rot Pool |
| Honeyed Chub | 30-34 | Old Ruby’s Pond, Old Stone Tower |
Gardening is Not the Best way to Make MoneyEarly
It may be tempting to sell your harvested vegetables, but this is a mistake early-on. The true value of your garden is in providing ingredients for cooking meals to share with villagers, which is the primary way to increase friendship and unlock major game content. Selling crops yields very little profit compared to fishing.
| Crop Name | Seed Cost (coin) | Crop Sale Price (coin) | Net Profit (coin) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brown Tater | 30 | 36 | 6 |
| Beans | 32 | 32 | 0 |
| Brown Onion | 30 | 30 | 0 |
| Turnip | 30 | 30 | 0 |
As you can see, the profit is minimal. That Brown Tater is far more valuable as an ingredient in a meal for Old Noakes than as 6 coin in your pocket. The golden rule is: stockpile your produce, don’t sell it.
As you progress a lot further into the game and end up having a big garden, at that point selling produce might start to make sense. Some plants give more than one yield from a single seed, meaning you will end up accumulating produce over-time if you keep regularly re-planting your crops. Additionally, once Companion Planting fully opens up to you with additional flowers and vegetable “pairs”, you will more often harvest higher quality (2+ Star) vegetables, which will all sell for more than the basic version. Just make sure you definitely have no use for them in those rare high-quality recipes before selling!
Advanced Money Making Strategies
Once your hobbit-hole is established, you can employ more advanced strategies to boost your income.
Making Money in Tales of the Shire with Egg Arbitrage
Once you receive chickens from Farmer Cotton (starting at Friendship Level 3), you can turn their eggs into a reliable secondary income. The key is to trade with Nefi, the blacksmith. While a direct sale of 3 eggs nets you 63 coin, you can use them in a trade for a more valuable item.
| Trade Input | Input’s Value (coin) | Trade Output | Output’s Value (coin) | Net Profit (coin) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Eggs | 63 | Bacon | 78 | +15 |
| 3 Eggs | 63 | Pork | 60 | -3 |
As the table shows, trading 3 eggs to Nefi for 1 unit of Bacon and then selling the Bacon results in a 15 coin profit. This is a fantastic way to passively earn extra money every day once you have stockpiled enough Bacon for your cooking needs!
The Flower Market
Flowers may be the one exception to the “don’t sell your harvest” rule. Because flowers always yield a seed when harvested, they can become a self-sustaining cash crop after the initial seed purchase. Dedicating a garden plot to flowers can provide a steady, passive income stream without depleting your food supply.
The Barter Economy: The True Endgame
Ultimately, the goal of making coin is to facilitate friendships, which unlocks the most valuable economic system: bartering. As your friendship with villagers grows, they will offer exclusive trades for rare items you can’t get anywhere else. For example, Rosie Cotton will trade rare flower seeds for jam, and Old Noakes will trade rare fish for common vegetables like potatoes. This is where your stockpiled resources truly shine, giving you access to the best items in the game.
Making Money in Tales of the Shire Showcase
If you’d like a visual guide on the best fishing spots and money-making strategies, check out our video explainer below. It covers all the methods mentioned here with in-game footage!
(Video is Currently “Under Construction”)
We hope this guide helps you fill your coin purse in Tales of the Shire. For more news and guides, check out our Tales of the Shire Section or join our community Discord to chat with other friendly Hobbits.