Sea Monster in Sea of Thieves
Image via Rare/Microsoft

17 Best Ways to Earn Money in Sea of Thieves

Every good pirate needs their booty.

Sea of Thieves is a multiplayer adventure game that gives players the ultimate pirate experience! You can finally live the pirate’s life without any real-life commitments; embark on legendary voyages, complete dangerous quests, explore the endless briny deeps, and collect enormous amounts of booty! If pirate games are your thing, you have to check out Sea of Thieves.

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Sea of Thieves can be endlessly entertaining to explore, but every player’s real goal is to collect as much money as possible. Though money in Sea of Thieves is mainly used for cosmetic purposes, it’s still one of the smartest things to collect in the game. What’s a pirate ship without some epic decorations anyway? The sole purpose of a pirate is to collect treasure, after all. Keep reading to learn all the best ways to earn money in Sea of Thieves!

17 Best Ways to Earn Money in Sea of Thieves

Thankfully, earning money in Sea of Thieves isn’t too difficult. However, if you’re only earning your cash through beginner voyages and small quests, you won’t be getting rich anytime soon. If you want to earn some major coin in Sea of Thieves, you need to try some of these money-making methods.

Related: Top Ten Sea of Thieves Tips for Beginners

1. Join the Merchant Alliance

Joining the Merchant Alliance is one of the smartest financial decisions players can make in Sea of Thieves. Players are given an endless supply of quests they can choose from and are actually paid fair wages! Hard work gets rewarded in the Merchant Alliance; if you like getting paid to explore, you need to join the Merchant Alliance in Sea of Thieves.

2. Embark on Lost Shipment Voyages

Lost Shipment Voyages are available to players through the Merchant Alliance. These voyages can grant players tens of thousands of gold at a time, and are incredibly fun to do! You can explore huge chunks of map and get paid handsomely for it. Lost Shipment Voyages don’t take much time at all to complete and are worth every second of your time.

3. Participate in Community Day Events

Community Days are scheduled days where players can obtain increased amounts of Reputation, Renown, and, of course, gold. Community Days don’t happen all the time, which makes it all the more important to take advantage of them when they do happen. You can go about your daily pirate tasks in the game and make twice the money for it! It’s recommended that you take full advantage of Community Days by taking on as many quests and voyages as possible, so you can earn crazy rewards!

4. Hunt for Floating Loot

Even Sea of Thieves can’t escape water pollution. In many areas of the Sea of Thieves’ oceans, there is floating debris. Many times, this floating debris actually turns out to be treasure! Free treasure is always a welcome sight in any game, especially Sea of Thieves. Look for flocks of seagulls circling in the sky, that’s usually a good indicator that there is floating loot nearby.

5. Sink and Loot Enemy Ships

This may not be the kindest method, but it’s a pirate-eat-pirate world out there. If another loot-hunting player passes you by, you can always load up your cannons and prepare for a fight! Intercepting other players is a great way to earn cash fast in Sea of Thieves. It may seem a little rude at first, but no one said the pirate life was easy.

6. Locate and Loot Sunken Ships

Like floating debris, sunken ships can be found by watching the sky for seagulls. Seagulls will conveniently congregate where loot can be found, so if you’re ever in doubt, just follow the seagulls! Looting sunken ships can be dangerous, due to sharks and the imminent danger of drowning, but it’s definitely worth the effort. Players can make some unexpectedly major bank by just looting already-sunken ships; no fighting or questing required!

Waving at Other Players in Sea of Thieves
Image via Rare/Microsoft

7. Hunt Down and Defeat Skeleton Ships

If you don’t feel like blowing up the ships of other players, you don’t need to. Skeleton Ships are just as easy to locate as player ships, and can be much easier to take down. You can locate Skeleton Ships easily by their tattered sails and their eerie green and blue lanterns. These ships don’t take much time to take down, and can give surprisingly great rewards to players who defeat them!

8. Complete the Gold Hoarder’s Vault Voyages

These vault voyages can seem difficult at first, but once you’ve completed enough of them, they become just as easy as any other voyage. The Gold Hoarder’s Vault Voyages offer some amazing rewards, not the least of which being heaps of gold! Although these voyages may not be the quickest to complete, the rewards make them more than worth the effort.

9. Purchase In-Game Gold With Real Money

This isn’t anyone’s favorite method of obtaining gold in any game, but it occasionally becomes necessary if you’re in a pinch. Purchasing in-game currency with real money is the most hassle-free way to obtain coins in Sea of Thieves. Although this may not be the cheapest way to get rich in Sea of Thieves, it is the quickest. If you’ve got the money to spare and want to get rich quick in this game, then you may want to consider taking a trip to the Sea of Thieves in-game shop.

10. Locate and Complete Sea Forts

Locating and conquering Sea Forts can seem like a lot of work, but the rewards make it all worth it. Sea Forts can occasionally be tough to beat, but they’re usually quick to take down. Players can get some massive gold for taking out these forts, and if they’re lucky, they can also obtain a variety of rare loot! If you don’t want the item rewards that are dropped, you should always take them anyway. Loot can always be sold to gain more cash in Sea of Thieves!

11. Participate in World Events

Sea of Thieves almost always has a new world event for players to participate in. If you ever want to know what world events are currently happening in your world, just look up! Nasty, colored omens hanging in the clouds are an indicator that a world event is nearby. Once located, players will need to prepare for these encounters. Players can encounter numerous enemies during these events, so being over-prepared never hurts. Once you’ve defeated the waves of relentless enemies and bosses, however, you’ll be rewarded with some amazing loot!

12. Raise a Merchant Alliance Emissary Flag for Trading

Players who raise a Merchant Alliance Emissary flag can trade valuable materials to outposts in Sea of Thieves. If you want to earn money in Sea of Thieves, this is a great way to go about it. Once raised, the Merchant Alliance Emissary flag will allow players to sell items like sugar, spices, silks, and gemstones to outposts. If you stock up on these items while on your many voyages, this can be a great way to earn some effortless income in the game!

13. Locate Siren Shrines

Siren Shrines are easy to find and offer a quick way to increase any player’s gold reserves. If you enjoy defeating enemies and solving puzzles in Sea of Thieves, Siren Shrines are the best way for you to make your money! These shrines aren’t too difficult to conquer and can yield a significant amount of loot for anyone who manages to clear them.

World Event in Sea of Thieves
Image via Rare/Microsoft

14. Find and Sell Reaper’s Bounty Chests

Reaper’s Bounty Chests can spawn at random locations throughout the Sea of Thieves map every hour. These chests can be difficult to locate, but if you manage to hunt one down, a Reaper’s Bounty Chest can be sold for hundreds of gold! These chests can be pesky to track down, not only for their scarcity but because every player in the game will likely be hunting for them too. Although they’re not easy to find, these chests are worth every second you spend searching!

15. Raise Emissary Flags for Trading Companies

It can take longer than desired to be able to raise flags for trading companies, but the rewards you get for doing so are definitely worth it. Once your Emmisary flag is raised, increasing your loot is easy! Players can get major bonuses for their loot just by raising these flags; if you want a good method for nearly effortless income in Sea of Thieves, utilizing Emmisary flags is the perfect method.

16. Utilize The Gold Rush Hour

The Gold Rush hour in Sea of Thieves is a timed event where all gold earned can be nearly doubled. These events happen daily from 17:00 to 18:00 UTC and 1:00 to 2:00 UTC. Thankfully this Gold Rush Event happens twice per day, so if you miss the first one, you can always aim for the second. If players participate in high-reward voyages or quests during these Gold Rush hours, they can make some serious cash in record time!

17. Participate in Gold and Glory Events

These Gold and Glory events are a great way to increase your gold reserves almost effortlessly. The dates and times of the Gold and Glory events vary, but it’s important to utilize these events when they do occur. During these events, all Reputation and gold that are gained are doubled. These events can also be combined with the Gold Rush hours, so if you’re lucky enough to be playing when these two events overlap, prepare for some serious cash intake!

If you’re looking for a game to help you explore the endless briny deep with relative safety, you’ve found it with Sea of Thieves. If you love games that allow you to loot to your heart’s content, check out the King of Seas and Skyrim: Elder Scrolls V guides on Gamer Journalist!

Author
Image of Allysen Pierce
Allysen Pierce
Allysen Pierce is a freelance writer with a passion for gaming who has been a part of the Gamer Journalist team since May 2022. Her main passions are horror games and dating sims (especially combinations of the two), but she has been known to play literally anything that is put in front of her. Her current favorite games include Skyrim, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, Cult of the Lamb, Slaughter Horse, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. When she's not playing games (or writing about them), she can be found reading, baking, watching horror movies, or playing with her cat.