In Starfield, you can obtain illegal contraband items like drugs or stolen goods. While possessing contraband isn’t necessarily illegal everywhere, certain patrolled planets will scan your ship and arrest you if contraband is found. You’ll need to smuggle or sell your contraband past the scanners to avoid getting caught. We’ll explain how to smuggle and sell contraband in Starfield.
Where to Sell Contraband in Starfield?
The safest place to sell contraband in Starfield is at Trade Authority vendors inside Trade Authority buildings. These vendors have enough credits to buy your illegal goods. Two early-game Trade Authority locations are in New Atlantis (Jemison) and Cydonia (Mars).
Trade Authority Vendors Location
Trade Authority offices are located in major hub worlds where you can sell contraband. In New Atlantis, the office is in the underground Well area, guarded by UC Security. In Cydonia, it’s in the main hub, down a ramp on the top floor.
However, the best location is The Den space station in the ‘Wolf’ Star System to avoid getting scanned when selling contraband. The Den doesn’t have patrol ships scanning incoming vessels, allowing you to dock and sell your contraband at the Trade Authority kiosk there without issue.
How to Get Past Scans and Smuggle Contraband in Starfield?
There are a couple of ways to avoid scan detection when smuggling illegal contraband in Starfield.
- Invest in the Deception skill, which reduces the chance of discovering contraband during scans. It’s generally better to spend your skill points on more useful skills.
- Visit The Keyspace station in the Kryx system and buy modules with “Shielded Cargo Hold” in the name of the shipping vendor Jasmine. Attaching these will help evade scans when carrying contraband.
- Find ships with Shielded Cargo modules installed, like certain mercenary vessels you can board and capture.
Keep in mind scan detection is based on total contraband weight, so even with shields, you may still get caught sometimes. Saving frequently helps avoid major setbacks while smuggling illegal goods.
That’s all we have on sell and smuggle contraband in Starfield. Since you are playing Starfield, check out our other guides while you are here at Gamer Tweak.