A DM can allow a player to sell a magic item during their downtime. Selling magic items can be difficult due to con artists and thieves looking to make an easy score. And even if you manage to find a legitimate buyer, they may not offer a good price. To sell a magic item, a player needs:
Pricing magic items is a large debate among D&D players. The price of a magic item, according the DMG, is based on the item's rarity. However, an item's rarity is not always a good measure of the item's power and true value. The table below shows how items are priced (as described in Xanathar's Guide to Everything). However, when pricing an item, many choose to use the homebrew Sane Price Guide. You can see each item's base Sane price by viewing our magic items page. The DM has full discretion on which price to use, and if they want to modify the price even more.
Rarity | XGtE Base Price* |
---|---|
Common | XGtE Base Price*: 100 gp |
Unommon | XGtE Base Price*: 400 gp |
Rare | XGtE Base Price*: 4,000 gp |
Very Rare | XGtE Base Price*: 40,000 gp |
Legendary | XGtE Base Price*: 200,000 gp |
The player's Charisma (Persuasion) roll determines the offer for the magic item. Below is the official table in Xanathars. A DM may wish to offer 25% for a natural 1, and %200 for a natural 20.
Check Total | Offer |
---|---|
1-10 | Offer: 50% of base price |
11-20 | Offer: 100% of base price |
21+ | Offer: 150% of base price |
Selling magic items attract thieves and con artists, all looking to take advantage of a situation. Every workweek spent trying to sell an item brings a 10% chance of a complication occuring. A DM can choose from the list below, or add their own complications.
d6 | Complication |
---|---|
1 | Complication: Your enemy secretly arranges to buy the item to use it against you.† |
2 | Complication: A thieves' guild, alerted to the sale, attempts to steal your item. |
3 | Complication: A foe circulates rumors that your item is a fake.† |
4 | Complication: A sorcerer claims your item as a birthright and demands you hand it over.† |
5 | Complication: Your item's previous owner, or surviving allies of the owner, vow to retake the item by force. |
6 | Complication: The buyer is murdered before the sale is finalized.† |