Welcome to our probably stolen walkthrough. This guide takes you step-by-step through your crucial first seven days in business.
You will learn how to balance wholesale purchases, spot forged products, handle shady characters, and turn junk into profit. Getting these early routines right saves you from going broke before the weekend hits.
Make sure you have your notepad ready and your store shutter prepped as we dive into day-by-day survival.
In this Probably Stolen Week 1 Walkthrough, we focus on the Apprentice specialization and the easiest difficulty setting, Price Gouge. Learn the basics of running your store, buying and selling goods, spotting and relabelling counterfeit items, and managing customer interests. We also cover scavenging at the Dumping Grounds, handling wanted criminals, trading through barter, upgrading your store, and setting up the Furnace to process scrap metal as you work through your first week.
For more information beyond this walkthrough, keep following our site updates. We keep all our strategy hubs updated as new patches drop.
- Getting Started
- Week 1 – Day 1
- Week 1 – Day 2
- Week 1 – Day 3
- Week 1 – Day 4
- Week 1 – Day 5
- Week 1 – Day 6
- Week 1 – Day 7
Getting Started
When you start the game, you will notice multiple scenarios called Specializations. This walkthrough focuses on the Apprentice specialization, which is recommended for beginners.
The hardest setting so far is Rock Bottom.
The other options give you specialist roles and may or may not include the tutorial section. You can play as a fence, gunsmith or chemist, but for your first run I recommend Apprentice.
The next part is perks, but if this is your first run you won’t be able to pick any active perks. From your second run onwards, you can have up to 4 active perks running.
From here you have to pick the difficulty, and we went with Price Gouge, which is the cozy and easiest mode.
Next, take a look at the overlay to learn all the hotkeys and functionality of each section of your shop.
Pro tip: Always check your tablet receipts to match customer interests before locking in a sale.
Week 1 – Day 1
Since customer lines are randomized, watch out for specific scripted events as you progress. My first customer offered plenty of food items, so I bought them all out immediately.
Call the next customer who has $62 to spend on food. Sell her 2 Peats to maximize your profit from her specific budget. If you ever feel unsure about item combinations, open your tablet and check the Interests section on the receipt.
Bring in the next customer who is looking for a variety of food items. Fulfill her request to secure a clean profit margin.
The final visitor of the day is a security agent handing over a list of wanted criminals. Remember to press the panic button on your counter if any of these wanted individuals ever walk through your door.
Close the store, click the sleeping bag, and pay the $5 electricity fee to end the day. Read your morning report before opening the shutters for the next shift.
Week 1 – Day 2
The mentor leaves behind a handbook for his notes along with advice on buying wholesale for discounts. With four customers waiting, call the first visitor to inspect his bulk offerings.
The second customer arrives with a 106-credit budget specifically looking for materials. Hand over the materials you just picked up on wholesale to clear her funds.
Call the next customer. She wanted a variety of food items, so I obliged.
Every night you can visit the Dumping Grounds to scavenge for valuable goods. Be warned that this keeps you up late, causing you to miss one customer the next morning unless you have a specific perk. Put your new bandage inside your fanny pack right away.
Select your backpack and head out to scavenge while keeping an eye on injury probabilities and attempt limits. Grab the most valuable items once your attempts run out and head back to rest.
Week 1 – Day 2
Display a lead pipe on your left shelf before going to sleep to attract weapon buyers.
Week 1 – Day 3
Six customers wait outside your door today, with the first drawn in by your displayed lead pipe. Sell him the weapon since he expresses interest in nothing else.
The mentor stops by next to deliver documents teaching you how to spot counterfeit goods. This lesson focuses on Hemingway cigarettes, teaching you to check discrepancies in the logo, seal, and color using a new magnifying glass.
Spot the broken seal and incorrect logo on the next customer’s pack of Hemingway cigarettes. Point out the flaw to lower their asking price before buying it off them.
Sell available food to the following customer and buy out the wholesale lot from the person after them. Your final visitor is Arthur Lefleur, a target from your most wanted list.
Week 1 – Day 3
Arthur offers to put in a good word with the Revolution faction if you let him walk, and his bounty is the lowest on your list anyway. Let him go before wrapping up the day.
Week 1 – Day 4
Start your morning by collecting a labeler and a note from the mentor. Use this labeler to fix the counterfeit cigarettes you acquired yesterday.
Sell your labelled items to tourists and upper-level customers while avoiding lower-level citizens and security agents. Another customer enters with a logo-missing pack of Hemingway, so confront her to lower the price and buy it.
Label this new packet and sell both packs to the following buyer at a steep markup. Deal with a household goods buyer next before meeting Joe Wild.
Week 1 – Day 4
Joe Wild offers a nightly insurance service to protect your store from thieves. Opt into his protection or end the night normally.
Week 1 – Day 5
Open your shop and buy out a large lot of metal scraps from your first customer. Continue processing shoppers until the mentor arrives to explain display cases.
Set up your neon sign and display items carefully before ending the day, as this dictates the tier of customers visiting your store. Consider another trip to the Dumping Grounds if your health allows.
Week 1 – Day 6
Week 1 – Day 5
The mentor leaves two notes covering barter systems and store upgrades. Open your doors and let a food-seeking customer barter blood bags, scratch tickets, or scrap metal; take the blood bags.
Week 1 – Day 6
Dr. Jackson arrives later carrying a Furnace used to turn scrap metal into ingots. Buy it off him if you have the cash, and remember to visit him after hours.
Insert the energy cell and at least two pieces of scrap metal into the furnace overnight. Giorgio arrives as your final customer, supplying you with plenty of extra metal to keep operations running.
Week 1 – Day 7
Nine customers line up today, with the first snapping up your displayed household goods. Dr. Jackson follows as your second customer, selling crucial upgrades for your furnace.
Week 1 – Day 7
Install Dr. Jackson’s modules as soon as he leaves. Handle a visiting thief carrying contraband by turning her in, though you will take a temporary hit to your Black Market reputation.
Wild returns to introduce store upgrades earned through favors and nightly protection subscriptions. Purchase the Red Imp Brewery contact and Showcase Expansion 1 to set up future supply chains by phone.
The mentor drops by to explain how in-game events fluctuate market prices, noting that material values will drop tomorrow. A weekly premium merchant also visits to sell rare goods like cassettes and batteries.
My suggestion would be to use the store upgrades first. You gain favour by increasing reputation with the lower levels or subscribing to his nightly protection service.
I chose Red Imp Brewery and Showcase Expansion 1. Wild will leave his card regardless of what you choose.
Since I had the Red Imp Brewery contact, I called them by phone to place an order. Next the mentor will show up and tell you how in-game events affect prices.
When supplies are high, prices drop. In this case, materials wont sell for a lot tomorrow.
A premium seller should also show up with a lot of expensive resources. He will come by every week.
I got a cassette and a battery off him.
Pay your rent to close out the week after dealing with remaining patrons. Visit Dr. Jackson one last time to pick up a battery recharger and a satchel before moving forward.
Check out our related strategy guides for more advanced tips on store management and faction relationships.
Videogames. Gym.
My dog. Sneakers.
Manga. In that order.