Managing your store in Probably Stolen is about more than finding products and selling them for a profit. You also need to understand which customers have the most money, how their budgets increase over time, and when it makes sense to stop renting and purchase your store.
Some customers start with much larger budgets than others, while certain visitors become more valuable as the days pass. Your store upgrades and daily expenses also affect how efficiently you can run your business.
In this guide, I’ll cover the richest customers on Day 1, the fastest-growing customer budgets, the cost of renting versus buying the store on Normal difficulty, and six store mechanics that are easy to misunderstand.
Probably Stolen Store Guide – Richest Customers, Rent vs Buying
Customer budgets determine how much money visitors can potentially spend in your store. Some customers start with hundreds of credits, while others have budgets that increase as your run progresses.
The following table shows the customers with the highest starting budgets. These are base values before perks and store appeal bonuses.
Top 10 Customers by Starting Budget
| Customer | Faction | Day 1 Budget | Daily Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Level Hospital Supplier | Upper Levels | 751–1,001 | +1 |
| Station Engineer | Lower Levels | 250–1,001 | Up to +1 |
| Foodie Tourist | Tourists | 750 | — |
| Shopping Thief | Story | 500–750 | — |
| Private Security Contractor | Upper Levels | 501–701 | +1 |
| Upper Level Servant | Upper Levels | 350–651 | Up to +1 |
| Shopping Mercenary | Story | 600–650 | — |
| Water Stockpiler | Upper Levels | 501–601 | +1 |
| Upper Level Private Chef | Upper Levels | 401–501 | +1 |
| Corporate Representative | Story | 450–500 | — |
The Upper Level Hospital Supplier has the highest starting budget in this list, reaching 1,001 credits.
There are also two customers worth understanding:
- Foodie Tourist: Always arrives with exactly 750 credits.
- Station Engineer: Has a variable budget ranging from 250 to 1,001 credits, depending on the type of visit.
Remember that these are starting budgets, not guaranteed spending amounts. What customers actually purchase depends on the products they are interested in and their willingness to pay.
Customers Whose Budgets Grow the Fastest
Some customers might not look particularly wealthy at the beginning of a run, but their budgets increase much faster than those of other visitors.
These customers can become increasingly valuable during longer playthroughs.
Fastest-Growing Customer Budgets
| Customer | Faction | Day 1 Budget | Daily Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dealer | Story | 204 | +4 |
| John Smith | — | 100–179 | Up to +4 |
| Merchant | — | 203–303 | +3 |
| Shady Merchant | — | 253–303 | +3 |
| Mercenary | — | 300–302 | Up to +2 |
The Dealer and John Smith have the highest listed daily growth, with increases of up to four credits per day.
The Merchant and Shady Merchant also become more valuable over time.
Example: Merchant Budget Growth
The Merchant starts with a maximum budget of 303 credits and gains three credits per day.
By Day 100, the maximum budget reaches approximately 600 credits.
This is why you should not focus only on customers who have the biggest wallets at the beginning. Visitors with strong daily growth can become much more important in a long run.
Should You Rent or Buy the Store?
One of the biggest financial decisions in Probably Stolen is whether to keep renting your store or purchase it.
On Normal difficulty, renting starts relatively cheaply, but the price increases over time. Buying requires a much larger initial investment, although it can eventually save you money.
Let’s compare both options.
Store Rent on Normal Difficulty
Rent starts at 200 credits on Day 7.
After that, it increases by approximately 5% every week.
For example:
| Day | Rent |
|---|---|
| Day 7 | 200 credits |
| Day 28 | 229 credits |
On Hard and Challenge difficulties, rent increases by approximately 10% every week instead.
This means renting becomes more expensive as your playthrough continues.
Store Purchase Price
The store costs 12,000 credits up to Day 50.
After Day 50, the purchase price starts increasing.
For example, by Day 56, the price reaches 12,300 credits.
If you have enough money, purchasing the store can become a better long-term investment than continuing to pay rent.
Buying the Store with Cash vs Taking a Mortgage
There are two ways to purchase the store: paying the full amount upfront or using a mortgage.
The difference is important because a mortgage requires a smaller initial payment but creates weekly expenses.
Buying the Store with Cash
If you purchase the store outright on Day 28 for 12,000 credits, it pays for itself compared with renting by approximately Day 210.
This is a long-term investment, so buying early does not necessarily mean you immediately save money.
Buying the Store with a Mortgage
The mortgage option has different requirements.
For a Day 28 purchase, you need:
| Mortgage Requirement | Amount |
|---|---|
| Cash required to receive the offer | 4,000 credits |
| Down payment | 2,000 credits |
| Weekly payment | 930 credits |
| Payment duration | 12 weeks |
With these payments, the mortgage purchase pays for itself compared with renting by approximately Day 224.
Rent vs Buy Comparison
| Purchase Method | Break-Even Day |
|---|---|
| Buy with cash on Day 28 | Day 210 |
| Buy with mortgage on Day 28 | Day 224 |
Buying with cash reaches the break-even point earlier in this example.
However, the best choice depends on your current finances and how long you expect to continue playing.
If you want to compare different purchase days and difficulties, use a rent and buyout calculator rather than relying only on the Day 28 example.
Six Store Mechanics You Should Know
There are several store mechanics that are easy to misunderstand. Knowing how these systems work can help you avoid wasting money or losing valuable customer slots.
1. Showcase Signs Use Customer Slots
Showcase signs are useful for attracting specific visitors, but they also consume your daily customer slots.
Customers attracted through signs, permits, and certificates displayed in your showcase take the regular slots first.
Random customers can only fill the remaining slots.
However, buyers who visit specifically for the product categories you display are a separate customer stream and do not consume these slots.
This distinction is important when planning how many customers your store can attract each day.
2. Renovation I Does Not Add Customers by Itself
Buying Renovation I alone does not increase your customer capacity.
To unlock the third customer slot, you need one of these combinations:
- Renovation I + Renovation II.
- Renovation I + Mirage Projector.
Simply purchasing the first renovation is not enough.
3. You Can Avoid Trash-Related Appeal Loss
Trash accumulates during nights when you skip the cleaning fee.
However, you do not necessarily need to pay for cleaning every single night.
Paying for cleaning every other night prevents trash from building up enough to affect your store appeal.
If you skip cleaning for two consecutive nights, a default store loses one customer slot.
This makes alternating cleaning payments a useful way to save money without sacrificing appeal.
4. The Fridge Adds a Fifth Customer Slot
The fridge provides an additional customer slot, bringing the total to five when its effect is active.
It also improves the value of certain products.
After spending one night inside the fridge:
- Drinks receive the Chilled tag and become worth 20% more.
- Water rations also receive the Chilled tag and become worth 20% more.
- Nudka placed in the freezer becomes Ice-Cold and is worth 25% more.
This makes the fridge useful for both customer capacity and product pricing.
5. Power Service Only Supports Certain Machines
The power service does not supply electricity to every machine in your store.
It only powers chargers and power arrays.
Other machines operate using the battery in their own slots. If one of these batteries runs out overnight, the machine simply skips that night.
Do not assume that purchasing power service will automatically keep every machine running.
6. Appraisal Fees Depend on Your Estimated Value
Your appraisal fee is calculated using the value you submit, not just the item’s actual value.
The game allows an appraisal to count as perfect when your estimate falls within 95%–105% of the true value.
If you want to earn the maximum possible fee while remaining within the perfect range, aim for 105% of the actual value, rounded down.
For example, if an item’s true value is 300 credits, you can submit 315 credits and still receive a perfect appraisal.
Since your fee includes a percentage of the value you quote, this small difference can increase your earnings.
More Probably Stolen Reference Resources
If you want more detailed information about customers, products, and store management, there are several additional reference resources worth exploring.
The reference site mentioned in the original guide includes:
- Customer database: Details about what every customer buys and how much they are willing to pay.
- Item database: Base prices, buyers, production information, item uses, and price-changing events.
- Route guides: Water trading, Hydroponics, rat husbandry, aquaculture, winemaking, chemistry, gun modding, metallurgy, 3D printing, appraisal, power, and store upgrades.
- Calculators: Selling prices, bargaining, rent and buyout, supply crates, scratchers, and lottery.
- Ranking lists: Most valuable items, best value per inventory cell, richest customers, and products purchased by the most customers.
Managing a profitable store in Probably Stolen requires more than simply selling expensive products. You need to understand customer budgets, recognize which visitors become richer over time, and plan your store expenses carefully.
The Upper Level Hospital Supplier and Foodie Tourist are excellent examples of customers with large starting budgets, while the Dealer and Merchant become more interesting during longer runs because of their daily budget growth.
When it comes to purchasing your store, remember that buying with cash or using a mortgage is a long-term investment. On Normal difficulty, the Day 28 examples break even around Day 210 and Day 224, respectively.
Finally, do not overlook the six store mechanics. Showcase signs consume customer slots, renovation combinations matter, cleaning can be managed strategically, and the fridge provides additional benefits. Understanding these details can make a noticeable difference to your store’s performance.
