I don't understand how people make so much Gil in this game

[kaynide]

I will say straight up I do not have any crafters/gatherers capped, leveled partially but not capped. My 1 retainer is only 57 so she brings back little of value.
Gil making just sucks so bad so I don't see how people make so much gil unless they're resorting to shady means.

I mean, how much gil have you made? And have you actually started on Dec 2021 as indicated by your forum date?

If so, multiply whatever you've earned so far by 20, because that's about how long some players have been in- at the rate you're making money they'd have 20ish times what you do.

The game throws money at you, constantly. You thinking people are resorting to shady means just tells me that you haven't bothered to do your homework.

When I see this kind of post, I see either "I wanna get rich now!". That doesn't happen usually. I'll lay it out for you.

1. Do latest content and sell drops; Newest minions/treasure map/music stuff is usually good.
2. Market board, buy low sell high. Just like real world stocks, you have to find your own niches to make money and most don't share because they just create competition for themselves.
3. Do not underestimate daily/weekly content. It adds up.
4. Each retainer, at cap, will give you tons of thousands of gil DAILY in allagan coins, and drops you can pawn for a little more. Do the max level 18 hour venture. Or try the shorter ones for a chance at something (rarely worth it if your target is gil).
5. Doma will give you a pure profit of 20,000 weekly. (trade 20,000 in allagan coins, get 40,000 gil)
6. Weekly challenge log
7. Obviously do crafting. It's not a huge money maker in of itself, but there will be certain items you find that sell for double/triple the crafting materials.
8. Don't buy gear from the marketboard, ever, unless you absolutely need it to get an iLVL or for glamour. Unless you're doing endgame and need absolute BiS, there are better ways of getting gear that are free.
9. Always use up your leves. It's easy to level up DoL/DoH using them, and frankly some give you way too much gil (like coffee biscuits, unless its been nerfed).
10. Weekly beast tribe trade ins also give lots of XP and easy currency which translates to gil.
11. Weekly Delivery quests; same idea.

As in life, if you don't want to put in any effort, how can you expect to make any money?

[Jojoya]

I'd love if this community would actually clearly explain things to someone unfamiliar rather than layer everything under 50 different secret metas that someone just playing the game normally would never know about. This community operates like a giant fucking clique. It's why I don't interact with anyone ingame outside of my FC. The most absolutely impenetrable community I have ever encountered.

People into making money are rarely interested in sharing their secrets because then they'd make less money.

There's also no single easy way to make gil. There are a lot of different methods players use.

#1 best way to get more gil is to not spend it in the first place. Get what you want through other means. Looking for a hairstyle that sells for 5 million gil on the MB and comes from Eureka lockboxes? Farm the lockboxes. Eventually you'll get the hairstyle and the meantime you get a lot of other items that can be turned into gil. The amounts may be small but small amounts add up over time when you're not spending them.

#2 best way to get more gil is don't hoard items you're not actively using. Inventory space taken up by items you're not actively using is gil lost. Sell the items to other players, turn them in for GC seals that you can use to purchase ventures or crafting materials for personal use or to sell to other players, desynthesize them for materials for personal use or to sell to other players, or sell to a vendor as last resort if there's no way to make more gil from the item.

Beyond that there are many ways to make gil. Crafting/gathering, treasure hunts, roulette bonuses (try to fill Adventurer in Need for even more), challenge logs, FATEs, arbitrage (finding items priced lower than normal market prices then buying to resell for profit), pretty much anything other than Gold Saucer, PvP or standing around Limsa doing nothing. You're not going to earn gil if you're not doing anything.

But mostly don't spend gil to buy something if it's fairly easy to acquire through other methods or has a comparable item that is. Save your gil for the things that you will only be able to get by spending gil.

[Zaniel]

Surely there's some shady secret here that nobody is openly disclosing since I cannot get a clear answer from anyone as to this question so I assume it is via shady means, since this game gives you no clear options to make heft sums of gil in a reasonable amount of time.

There is no shady secret, it's just time and volume, there are some farmable FATEs like Eureka and so forth that bots use but 99% of legitimate players with a lot of money have just been playing a long time. I have around $30 mil after playing for less than a year and I've probably spent around another $10-15 mil on gear and minions and so forth. There are just a LOT of medium sized things that add up over time as listed by people in this thread, it's just vast amounts of $1,000 +$5,000 +$5,000 +$10,000 from regular activities constantly every day over large numbers of days.

You say you made $5 mil in a few weeks so that's $1mil a week? Rich players just did this for 200 weeks and ended up with $200mil, it's not magic. Can you make more than this with intelligent use of crafting / market board / farming rare drops/glams? Absolutely but most people don't bother and still accumulate the money.

[AluminumSiren]

Haven't read through the whole thread so maybe this was said but:

The easiest passive way (for me at least) to make gil is from retainers. Level them all up and just send them out on quick explorations. They will bring back decent items here and there worth a few hundred thousand, and you can get crates that have dyes in them. While jet black/pure white/pastel pink are rare, they still do happen. Turn in any dungeon gear drops you get from your retainer for GC seals and use those to buy more ventures. It's pretty much a passive circle of farming that requires almost no effort.

[Krotoan]

I will say straight up I do not have any crafters/gatherers capped, leveled partially but not capped. My 1 retainer is only 57 so she brings back little of value.

Sounds like you understand where the money comes from. Level your retainer, get a 2nd one (it's free). It's not hard. They are a big passive source of income. Having gatherers and crafters leveled is easy too (leves and beast tribe quests) and being able to straight up turn a couple minutes into gil is what they're about. People will pay not to level those jobs, as in they will pay YOU to go get the stuff cause they don't have the time or the desire.

I don't believe crafting is really that profitable alone.

Crafting by itself is a money SINK. Crafting the right stuff and playing the market board is the important step. It changes constantly so there's no magic thing to work towards, you have to pay attention. If you're willing to learn flow and ebb of demand and what sells well AND check relatively frequently to update prices you can rake in Gil. It's not just making stuff, it's making stuff and knowing how much it'll cost for mats VS how much you can sell it for. Example : Housing items are hot right now cause new houses are being setup, so lots of usually cheap things are jacked up.

Gil making just sucks so bad so I don't see how people make so much gil unless they're resorting to shady means.

There's a lot of help in this thread. You can take it or leave it, but there's no secret money pot you're missing out on in game or "hack". Passive sources of gil stack up, know the market on your server, do roulettes and challenges.

Past a certain point you can turn that money into more money if you're willing to play the markets and server hop somewhat. Buy ingredients cheap, sell finished products high. Just like in the real world the more money you HAVE the easier it is to increase by larger amounts.

[Raven2014]

I'm not sure if OP is genuinely asking for advise or just to rant ...

Still, even considering crafting I do not understand how some people have 50-100million + gil, enough to afford a mansion, or even a medium. Spending a few weeks doing my roulettes + spending tomestones + wondrous tales has barely netted me 5 mil.

Is this what entitlement looks like? You earn 5mil in just a few weeks and complain? Sure I'm one of those who have over 100+mil, but I also had played since 2014. Are you seriously think you should earn what people made over years in just a few week!?

You know the saying "take care of the penny and the dollar will take care of itself" ? The people who you see having hundred of millions, at some point also only had 5mil to their name.

I don't believe crafting is really that profitable alone.

And you thought wrong. These days I'm too lazy to craft, I had stop crafting stuff to sell and I buy the stuffs that I can craft. But you know what, every once a while the cost on the MB make me balk pretty hard that I just decide to spend 5 minutes of my time to craft it myself. And I know I'm spending close to half a mil per weeks buying maintenance stuffs like food/pot/odd mat or lvling gears from the MB because I'm too lazy these days.


Also, this game is probably the worst MMO in term of active money sink. The best way of having money is actually simply don't spend them. Basically, if you want to get rich, you need to become self-sufficient, but once you become self-sufficient, there is almost no point of being rich except to pad your ego. That's why you see people sitting a lot of gil ... because once you reach a point where you start accumulating gil efficiently, you'll find that you don't have a lot of way to spend them ... unless you become a lazy arse like me.

As it stands roulettes absolutely suck for gil and feels like everything combined is barely worth the effort, to the point where I've started to not even consistently do roulettes outside of leveling the one remaining job I haven't yet capped because I just do not care for the measly amount of gil I get it's that utter dogshit. I've reasoned that at the rate I'm accumulating (and I dont even spend my gil save for repairs) it's hardly worth the time and effort other than for exp (which also sucks) or just to do the content which is my primary reason at this point. Gil making just sucks so bad so I don't see how people make so much gil unless they're resorting to shady means.

This is like ... someone who just graduated from college, then looking what someone who had worked for 30 years have and decide on the spot either it's "too much work" or "they must have trade drug to get that money!" before even trying to apply for their first job.

[VelKallor]

I will say straight up I do not have any crafters/gatherers capped, leveled partially but not capped. My 1 retainer is only 57 so she brings back little of value.

That right there is where you can start. Get your retainers to 90, level your crafters and gatherers. You want one botany, one miner, and one combat retainer.

There are a large number of craftable items that sell like mad, housing materials, pieces for houses incl partitions...hell even making a few of the Round glam pieces can bring in some hefty gil.

Once your retainers are at 90, they bring back alllll kinds of neat little presents. :-D

Maybe if I could solo maps, or there was a map roulette. Since there isn't maps aren't an option.

Yes they can be soloed

Boarskin
Peisteskin
Leather
Saigaskin
Gliderskin

as well as others are ALL soloable.

I do saigaskin or gliderskin maps every day .

I mine them, I sell both zonureskin and khumbiraskin maps on MB for anything from 14k to 35k varying on price, PER DAY. Going back to gatherers, you can mine / botany / fish them up each day , its on your display under "map allowance". Even if you dont use them they sell well...hell I think its the leather maps drops an item which is critical to a certain housing item..its a rare drop but VERY profitable.

Do your challenge logs.

Get GC seals for items to craft and sell. ( using GC seals you can get the mats for tier 4 aquariums for example, they may be a slow sell but they pay off in the long run )

Dont discount the earlier expac maps either, some of them drop neat little items that can be sold..I think it was a boarskin map got me a set of Spriggan ears which sold on Kujata for a LARGE amount. You'd be SHOCKED at what glam pieces go for. I can make pretty much anything, which is why you want the all master recipe books for your crafters.

Levelling gear sells well, CUL materials and meals sell VERY well depending on item, the later stuff is a useful item.

(and I dont even spend my gil save for repairs)

Crafters -> GC seals-> dark matter -> repairs and not one gil.

Heres the reason why : Dark matter repairs past 100% so you get greater durability and repair LESS. Not one gil spent. You can also meld your own gear so no cost to get the melder to do it for you.

Tribe dailies ( yes, yes, I know, "beast tribes" but thats being changed... ) get you currencies to buy combat crafter AND gatherer materia. Again, not one gil spent.

Do the weekly hunts for seals and Centurio seals - exchange seals for aetheryte tickets - free travel. Even the GC has its own aetheryte tickets, and THOSE cost GC seals and a fast trip back to whatever capital city you are affiliated with.

Mine take me back to Maelstrom GC HQ in Limsa. Zero gil spent.

Lastly and most importantly, levelling your crafters means YOU DONT BUY GEAR OFF THE MB and can craft it all yourself.

Before I left Kujata, I was making a KILLING on SHB levelling gear for crafters, stonegold, white ash, bluespirit, sandteak...Id spend half my day gathering mats to make more as they were flying off the mb. I'd post stuff and it sold FAST.

Surely there's some shady secret here that nobody is openly disclosing since I cannot get a clear answer from anyone as to this question so I assume it is via shady means, since this game gives you no clear options to make heft sums of gil in a reasonable amount of time.

See above. NONE of it is "shady" in any way shape or form. Its all within the game. Its there if you know to look for it.

My advice? Get started on your retainers and level crafting. Thats the beginning.

[hynaku]

I make my Gil mostly from selling mats I gather or items my retainers bring back.

[Shibi]

I will say straight up I do not have any crafters/gatherers capped, leveled partially but not capped.

No gatherer at (minimum) 80 means you are 60,000 to 70,000 down on selling maps - or running maps and selling the mats that come from it.

My 1 retainer is only 57 so she brings back little of value.

Your 3 retainers at cap (one mine, one botany, one combat) will net you green gear you sell for GC, that you sell for Coke, or Hardened Sap, or similar (you need to spreadsheet the best value so there is no answer there)

Or if you play less, then let them hunt for alagan sacks of platinum and minions. Allagan sacks -> Doma.

Spending a few weeks doing my roulettes + spending tomestones + wondrous tales has barely netted me 5 mil. At the rate I'm going I would need to spend nearly a year.

You've made a start keep going.

How in everliving hell do people 50 several tens / hundreds of millions make their gil? This is insane. I don't believe crafting is really that profitable alone.

It is not profitable alone, but there are staple items that sell well. Mortar/Varnish/Cobalt/Silver/Electrum.... Again, this varies from DC to DC and there is no one answer. You need to work out what sells a lot (use the history button on the MB) then get to work gathering and crafting it.

Surely there's some shady secret here that nobody is openly disclosing since I cannot get a clear answer from anyone

You have to want to listen. You also need to spend time looking at the Marketboard. People can't give you one object, as every server is different.

The best way is to cross-server trade, work out what sells well, and then buy it low on other servers and sell it high on yours. People are inherently lazy, so, tap into that laziness and make millions.

At this second, Dark Hempen Cloth is 1733g on Lamia but only 6g on Ultros, and... it sells pretty well(look at your marketboard history to verify), so head over to Ultros and buy up their stocks under 500g the relist on Lamia for 1500g

...feels like everything combined is barely worth the effort,...

10 thousand here, 20 thousand there, 50 thousand elsewhere adds up fast. But if you don't make the effort you won't get anywhere. You must make the effort to get rich.

...Gil making just sucks so bad so I don't see how people make so much gil unless they're resorting to shady means.

On Materia, I started with 0 gil and a level 1 character. Inside 30 days I have 20 million from marketboard sales. By the time the Lottery happened a bit after 90 days later I had 58 million.

Nothing shady in it.

Level your gatherer to 90.
Level your retainers to 90 and send them out on quick ventures over and over.
Get all the green junk gear you can from retainer quick ventures and dungeons, trade them for GC seals.
Look what sells for most and most often (use MB history) on the GC Quartermaster's materiels and materials tabs.
Look what low level ore sells most... cobalt? silver? electrum? and spend a few hours a day mining it.
See which map sells for the most and most often (mb history) and mine one a day, sell it for equal to lowest price, or 1 gil HIGHER than lower.
Get all your Allagan tomestones and check which of the other materials sell.
Look for popular items that sell a lot (minions, glams - using MB history) and see which server has them cheaper than yours. World visit, buy, relist on your server.
Level up the beast tribes with dyes locked behind reputation, buy the dyes, sell them on MB.
Make mortar and varnish and keep stacks up for sale.
Buy an apartment for 500,000 - put in 2 gardens - plant shard seeds - harvest every day.
Buy unidentified with hunt seals, swap that for G3T soil, sell soil.
Buy aetheryte tickets and use those for expensive TPs. Sail when you can (it's 1/3 the cost)
Do a circuit of Diadem on miner or botanist a day, shoot all the sprites, sell the crystals. Sell the gathered mats.
Repair your own gear.
Meld your own gear.
Use up your leves.
Some of the skins sell well - tiger skin, wyvern skin, fleece, diremite web, grind those

and on, and on, and on.

Do all of this every single day and you should be earning 400,000 to 1,000,000 gil a day.

Believe you can be rich, and you will be. Will it into existance rather than giving up before you start.

I'd love if this community would actually clearly explain things to someone unfamiliar rather than layer everything under 50 different secret metas that someone just playing the game normally would never know about. This community operates like a giant fucking clique. It's why I don't interact with anyone ingame outside of my FC. The most absolutely impenetrable community I have ever encountered.

It's impossible to say "do this, make that" because every single server is different.

However there are the general guidelines, get to it by levelling miner and botanist up to 90 to start, and get those retainers working as close to ful time as you possibly can. Then work out what they gather (or you gather) that people want. Grow the shards, and convert the raw material to ingots or logs, get those hunts happening, keep your retainers working hard, get your GC seals working for you, and above all never let your retainers have a holiday - keep them working full time and the gil will start to roll in.

Did I say, get your retainers to work today? Because that's what you need to do right now, before you head out immediately after and level up your miner and botanist to 90. Use Diadem for that to 80.

Oh and get your retainers to full time work. No more beach time for them! Crack the whip and be a Rowena to them.

[Kolsykol]

This community operates like a giant fucking clique. It's why I don't interact with anyone ingame outside of my FC. The most absolutely impenetrable community I have ever encountered.

Why do you have to be so incredibly overly dramatic and negative in like every post you make on the forum lol.
If you behave the same way ingame I wouldn't want to interact with you either.