Oblivion Stolen Items Guide – How to Sell & Fence Loot

Welcome, aspiring rogue, to the large, chaotic realm of Cyrodiil! You’ve got your hands on a lovely silver platter, a small collection of perfect gems, or even a pair of well-used enchanted boots, each with their own little red hand icon, which is merely the game’s way of announcing "STOLEN GOODS!" to every honest merchant in Cyrodiil.

In The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, selling stolen items is not as simple as walking into any general shop. Any standard shopkeeper will refuse to trade with you once you present your "hot" items. Attempting to sell an item while a guard is watching will likely cause you some anxiety. Instead, you’ll want to turn to the black market of Cyrodiil to convert your stolen items into precious gold.

This guide will take you through the three main ways to dispose of a stockpile of stolen goods and make you a wealthy scourge to honest citizens of the Imperial City.
 

The Essential First Step – What is a Fence?
 

In the Oblivion universe, a Fence is a merchant who will buy and sell stolen goods with no questions asked. They are a sort of pawn shop for the underground community; the necessary final part of any successful thief's career.

Why regular merchants won't work : 

• You cannot sell any item with the red "stolen" hand icon to a regular merchant. 
• Even if the regular merchant likes you, they will not perform the transaction for marked items. 
• The game usually makes that clear the moment you try; there will generally be a message read, "You cannot sell stolen items to a legitimate vendor." 

If you care about being a thief at all, you will need a Fence who will buy your stolen items and for all intents and purposes, there is only one way to secure one and that is to join the infamous Thieves Guild. 
 

The Best Path – Joining the Thieves Guild
 

There's no doubt that being part of the Thieves Guild is the most efficient and lucrative way to sell stolen merchandise. The guild's structure offers you a secure network of fences who buy your items, and increase their ability to purchase (the amount of gold they have) as you increase your ranks.
 

Step 1: How to Join the Thieves Guild
 

The Thieves Guild exists in the dark, hence they have to work a bit to locate them. There are two broad methods of getting their attention:

• Process A: The Painless (and Deviant) way.
• Break a Law: Steal any property in possession, a plate like a poor one, or an apple and be caught by a sentinel.
• Go to Jail: When arrested, you will see the choice to serve your time. Do not pay the fine or fight arrest because you will lose your stolen stuff.
• The Invitation: Once you have served your time and were released, the next time you sleep a special character will approach you with a note. Here is the gathering point of the Thieves Guild.

Alternative Method: The Stealthy (and Beggar-Friendly) Way
 

• Find the Wanted Poster: Go to the Imperial City and search a Gray Fox Wanted Poster- they are nailed to walls all over the city, particularly in the Waterfront District. Reading this poster leads to a trifle quest.
• Converse with a Beggar: Find any rag in the Imperial City. The beggars are generally the best informants of the underground information.
• Bribe the Beggar: It is possible that you will need to work on increasing the disposition (how much they like you) of the beggar by bribing him or using the Persuasion mini-game. Get them into a disposition of about 80 or more.
• Ask About the Gray Fox: When they like you well enough, ask them about the Gray Fox. They will tell you to meet Armand Christophe at the Garden of Dareloth (Imperial City Waterfront District) at midnight.
   

Step 2: The Initiation Quest
 

After you see Armand Christophe in the Garden of Dareloth during the midnights, he will begin the initiation quest: May the Best Thief Win.

• The Mission: You and two other possible recruits are to compete racing to steal the Diary of Amantius Allectus. The name is all that you are told, and you have to locate the house.
• A Hint of Thief: Beggars! Beggars! Locke a beggar and inquire of him concerning Amantius Allectus. They will put the point of the house on your map.
• The Heist: Break house (be sneaky!), get the diary off the desk, give it back to Armand Christophe.
• Success: You finish the quest, and are now an official member of the Thieves Guild, beginning at the rank of Pickpocket.
   

Step 3: Meeting Your First Fence
 

The guild will at once give you your first honest fence as a new member:

• Ongar the World-Weary
• Location: Bruma
• Where to Find Him: You may find him either in his own home, where there is a Chapel of the Talos, or in the Tavern of Olav, where he is drinking.
• Ongar has then become your man to everything stolen. You can open the trade window with him and sell any that is marked with the red hand.
   

Step 4: Ranking Up for Better Fences
 

The secret to becoming a long-term thief is to crack open improved fences with more gold to use so that you can sell more valuable goods in just one sale. In order to unlock new fences, it is necessary to complete the main jobs of Thieves Guild and collect more Independence Thievery.

• Independent Thievery: When you first complete your first official guild job, you will receive a quest titled Independent Thievery. This mission follows the cumulative worth of all stolen objects which you have managed to sell to a fence.
• Progression: Between principal quests of Thieves Guild you have to fence some fixed number of gold (e.g., 50, 100, 200, 500, etc.). As soon as you can meet the minimum, you will be advanced by your guild Doyen (the person who provides you jobs), and sent to the next, better-paying fence.

Once you are up in high place, you will have a fence with a staggering quantity of gold, so mass-selling stolen Daedric armor and priced jewelry will be very quick and simple.
 

Alternate Fences (The Non-Guild Options)
 

What in case you just do not want to become a member of the Thieves Guild? There are still two options available to you, but they are even less efficient.
 

Trick 1: The Inn of Ill Omen
 

One of them is going to purchase stolen products of anyone, whether a guild or not:

• Manheim Maulhand
• Place: The Inn of Ill Omen (On the highway connecting the Imperial City and Bravil City).
• The Disadvantage Manheim is the owner of the inn and has a very little to spend on gold also--usually no more than 50 gold. This means that either you can only sell things of low value or that you can only sell only one high-value item at a time, which makes this a painstakingly slow process to a serious thief.
   

Trick 2: The Dark Brotherhood (The Murderer's Route)
 

When you are already on the way to an assassin, it is possible to access a fence using the Dark Brotherhood:

Mirabelle Dar (also known as Mirage Dar in olden times information).

• Condition: You need to become a member of the Dark Brotherhood, to do that, you need to murder someone and be contacted by the guild.
• The Disadvantage: It is a late game option and the quantity of gold this fence can hold might be inferior to the sophisticated Thieves Guild fences. It can generally only be a viable choice when you had intentions to do the Dark Brotherhood questline.

Trick 3: Dunbarrow Cove (DLC/Anniversary Edition)

With the official DLC, the Thieves Den, which is included with all modern re-releases and the Anniversary Edition of the game, a player home can be unlocked which can be upgraded with fences:

• Location: Dunbarrow Cove is a smugglers cave south of Anvil.
• The Quest: A short quest An opportunity to take control of this secret cove.
• The Price: You have to use gold to complete the upgrade of the home. Another of the upgrades is the addition of a special fence service, which provides you with their own, non-guild based area to drop off your goods.
   

Expert Tips for the Aspiring Thief
 

Once you have a fence, remember these pointers to reduce risk and increase profits:

• Laundering Items: When you sell a stolen item to a fence and then buy it back from them, the stolen tag is removed.  This is called laundering the item, and it allows you to sell it to any normal merchant for a better price later (since fences give you terrible prices).
• Unstolen Potions/Poisons: An item won't be reported as stolen if you steal an ingredient and use it to make a potion or poison.  This is an excellent method for transforming "hot" ingredients into genuine, marketable products.
• Dropping and Picking Up: Sometimes the stolen flag can be removed from low-value or non-unique items by dropping them on the ground and then picking them up again.  Although a little erratic, this is worth a shot before losing money on a fence sale.
• The Fence's Schedule: In Oblivion, fences have daily schedules just like any other NPC.  They may not always be in the tavern or their home. Use the Wait function or the local clock to move the clock forward until they show up if you are unable to locate them.

In conclusion, joining the Thieves Guild right away is the best way to sell stolen goods in Oblivion.  Simply put, the most effective, lucrative, and entertaining way to transform a life of crime into one of wealth is through the guild's network of Fences.