ACNH: Guide to Buying, Selling, and Boxing

Villagers

Last Updated: April 21st, 2020

*Credit to @JacobHowie#4063 for creating this guide*

*Credit to @patthicc#7017 for working on the tier list*

Discord Link (Animal Crossings’ Corners): https://discord.gg/W99v67K

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Consider donating for more research and if you found the guide helpful <3
Table of Contents
Introduction

Collecting Villagers

Appraising Villagers

Moving Out/ “Boxing” Villagers

Method #1: Skip and Dip
Method #2: Two-week Yeet
General Notes

Selling Villagers
Tips On Selling Villagers

The Official Animal Crossing Discord Server

Tips to Avoid Being Scammed During A Trade
Common Terms For Trading

Current/Fixed ACNH Glitches: Patch 1.1.4a

Credits For Guide Content

Donation Board

Conclusion
Introduction
Welcome to the Animal Crossings: New Horizons Guide on how to buy, sell, and box
villagers. The world of trading is very complex, especially in Animal Crossing. This
guide’s intent is to make the process less scary and daunting for newcomers and
veterans alike.

Let me start off with my background. I’m someone who started off completely
unaware of the complexities and nuance with trading and boxing. It became
something that I believed I couldn’t invest time in because it looked difficult and
made me unmotivated. However, within a few days, I learned how to flip my (5)
Nook Mile Tickets (NMTs) into over (160) tickets. This is a screenshot update of my
inventory.
As you can see, the process took time to collect this many NMTs, however it’s
something that anyone can do (even someone who isn’t familiar with the process)!
The next steps will cover understanding how to collect villagers, appraise them, and
trade them off, thus flipping a profit.

Collecting Villagers
Before you start selling and boxing villagers in the market, you need to encounter
villagers that you can appraise. During this guide, I will reference NMTs frequently
because this is how you encounter villagers. To start, collect a few Nook Miles
Tickets and embark on mystery island tours. This is the process to encounter and
bring villagers home. In order to find villagers on the island, you MUST have an
open space on the island. This means that you need to have less than ten villagers
and have an open space. If you don’t, talk to Tom Nook to reserve a spot on the
island (if you just need land) or you need to move someone out. You must initiate a
conversation with Nook before finding new villagers on mystery islands. If you have
someone coming into your island, you won’t find anyone on that same day.

After you head to mystery islands under these conditions, you are guaranteed a
villager to spawn on the mystery island. Look for the campfire and identify the
villager. Before proceeding, you need to identify if the villager you found is worth
trading on the market. This will lead into appraising the villager.

Source: IGN
Appraising Villagers
The next subject of the guide is understanding how to appraise villagers. A common
error people make is not understanding the worth of their villager. The market is...
unique to say the least. In general, I abide by a common chart that shows the rarity
and popularity of each villager in Animal Crossings: New Horizons. Thank you so
much to my friend @patthicc#7017 for creating the guide!
The chart above shows a consistent rarity for each villager. The tier list was
compiled from the amount of interest derived in the adoption lists. A common
trend that follows is how popular and how expensive someone is sold for in the
Discord. I’ve included a spreadsheet that shows how many people want to adopt
each villager. As of April 9th, we have updated the tier list to include Tiers D and F.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qd18A0tWlalvTDWSyjob3feG9vlLqhSkT
xGI3p41Jws/edit?usp=sharing

As a general rule of thumb, I’ve comprised a table for trading. This accounts for the
majority of villagers. However, I still would recommend looking at similar offers on
Discord.

Table 1: Approximate Trading Prices

Different Tiers Appx. Trading Prices

Tier A: Overwhelmingly Popular ~30-100+ NMTs or any number of bells

Tier B: Extremely Popular ~20-30 NMTs or 3 million bells

Tier C: Popular ~10-20 NMTs or 1 million bells

Tier D: Not as Popular ~5-10 NMTs or 500,000 bells

Tier F: Uncommonly Desired ~1-5 NMTs or 100,000 bells

In my opinion, for each villager to be a profit, it should either be in Tier A, B, or

sometimes C. Anything under that will not sell very easily and can be difficult to
make a profit on. If something is not listed on the table or tier list, look for similar
offers in the Discord. In order to bring the villager back to your island after you find
and appraise them, simply ask them to move back to your island. They will always
come back. In between telling the villagers they can come to your island and arriving,
please expect one day of downtime. Next, let’s look at how to flip a profit on the
villager. In order to sell your villager, you need to understand how to move out a
villager.
Moving Out/ “Boxing” Villagers
Moving out and “boxing” villagers is an interesting process that allows you to let
others pick up your villagers. The process is something that is experimental thus far
and requires a fair amount of time and dedication towards. So far, I have two
methods that have worked for me. I will share both of them and the mechanics
behind it. Shoutout to the contributors on the front cover for helping me. Please
note that for both methods, the day will always begin at 5:00 AM

Method #1: Skip and Dip

The way that this method works is by setting a, “standard” day. This can be any day.
For the sake of the method, I will classify this day as April 1st, 2020 (April Fools).
When you want to kick a villager out, talk to your villagers on this day. There is no
set amount of villagers that you have to talk to or specifics, but I recommend
talking to at least three villagers. After you’re done with this, save the game and
close the application. Next, go to settings and set the date to 15 days in advance. In
this instance, it would be April 16th, 2020. It’s important to keep the time around
1:00 PM for best results.

When you load in, look around for villagers with bubbles above their heads. They
will be walking around slowly and visibly contemplating. If you see this, approach
them and talk with them. Be prepared to answer if you want them to move away or
not as there is no way to back out of this conversation after you initiate it. If there is
no one outside with a bubble above their head, time travel forward another two
days. If I were to continue this process, it would be April 18th, 2020. Continue doing
this until you find someone with the contemplating bubble. If the bubble is on a
villager that you do want to leave, simply ask them to leave. If it is on someone that
you want to stay, do not interact with them and quit the game without saving. Next,
time travel forward two days and enter the game. You will find that a new villager
will have a bubble over their head! In this case, I would be on April 20th now. Repeat
until you find the desired villager that you want to move.

Note: I used these dates as reference and don’t have to be the ones I use. As long as the
process involves the same spaced time intervals in-between each save and close,
you’re set!
Method #2: Two-week Yeet
This process is very similar to the first one, but takes a little bit longer. I’ve
personally had some luck with this method. There will still be a “standard” day. In
this instance, I will keep April 1st, 2020. This process is a little different. You must
talk to all your villagers except the one you don’t want for three consecutive days.
After each day, you need to save and time travel forward. After three days, you want
to travel ahead two weeks. If I did this process on April 1st, I would continue until
April 4th and then fast forward until April 18th.

General Notes
● Rain, events, or birthdays will keep villagers inside, so skip another two days
if this happens; save in between each day!
● Going into buildings won’t reset the process
● You need more than 2 villagers for the process to work
● If a villager approaches you for a reaction, it is OK to talk to them about it
● Your newest villager is the least likely to want to leave
● Time-travelling will not affect the game or island in any way (the villagers
may note your prolonged absence)
● You should stay in “prolonged time” as any attempt to move back to present
day may affect who enters the plot of land (Tom Nook may auto-assign
villagers)
● Please save in-between each day to ensure that the game updates

After one of two methods is completed, the villager will be in the “moving” stage.
The same day that you accept their offer to leave, they will be in this stage. Their
house will remain furnished until the following day. This day is when they’re in
boxes. Isabelle will mention that it’s their last day. When they’re in boxes, you can’t
revert back and ask them to stay, they’re leaving. Also during this stage is when
others can adopt your villagers and bring them back to your own island. If you want
to adopt a villager, enter their house and talk to them until they mention Resident
Services. When they do so, they’ll say they can join your island. When done talking
to them, return to the island. If there is a “SOLD” sign at the site and the name of
the villager is on the sign, they will move in. If not, consult the person who is selling
them and ask for a reinvitation. If you decide to leave them, Tom Nook may replace
that villager with a new one the following day.
Selling Villagers
Finally, after putting the villagers in boxes, you are able to sell them. When selling
them, you can post something on the Discord page saying that they’re in boxes. To
maximize profit, always opt to utilize a bidding format. Ask others to give you bids
and maintain this until you reach the value you want. If you want, you can also give
a “buyout” or “automatic win” option. That means if someone hits that offer, the
deal will close. Always aim to hit at least the values found in the table. This is a
benchmark and will result in a near profit each time you complete a trade. As a
general note, please don’t be greedy with your sales and prolong the bidding process
to upend others. It’s not nice!

Tips On Selling Villagers

On any Discord that you encounter, please note that there will always be villager
trading channels! In them, you will find a variety of villagers being sold or
purchased (as expected).

Additionally, there may be people in between the process of sending messages that
are looking for the villager you’re advertising. As a general rule of thumb, feel free to
DM (direct message) individuals and tell them your current bid. Oftentimes, I find
people not paying attention or are idle because they’re not posting messages. There
is a typically five minute cooldown on any Discord Server, so please post correctly
the first time! It’s a shame when people don’t correctly post and then they have to
wait for so long.
A sample post in any Discord server may look like: “FT: Wolfgang in boxes. Please
DM me for the current bid. The buyout for Wolfgang is currently 30 tickets.
Thanks!”
The Official Animal Crossing Discord Server
https://discordapp.com/invite/acnh

Tips to Avoid Being Scammed During A Trade

As a buyer and seller, I understand that there can and will be scammers on the
Discord server. However, as someone who has conducted dozens of positive trades,
I can offer some tips and tricks to make sure that you’re adopting a villager and
earning the Nook Tickets or vice versa.

As a seller, I always ask individuals to leave the tickets or proof of payment at the
gate. Sometimes, if the buyer feels uncomfortable with the process, buyers will
adopt a system where 50% of tickets are dropped off to start then 50% are dropped
off at the end. This ensures that someone won’t adopt the villager without payment.
It can be nerve wracking to conduct your first trade and sell to someone. However,
as a seller, please be sure to conduct yourself in a professional manner! You want to
make a profit but also want to be kind to one another. This is a friendly Discord!

As a buyer, be sure to ask lots of questions and verification that the seller has the
villager in boxes. Typically, I will ask people to send a picture of themselves with the
villager in boxes saying their Discord name. This helps severely reduce the amount
of scams, especially for higher tier villagers. If at any point the seller attempts to
close the session during a trade, immediately leave the session by pressing X on the
application and performing a hard close. This prevents the game from updating
itself, allowing you to keep your tickets or currency.

Common Terms For Trading

There is a lot of terminology that people who trade will use. I have included a list of
terms that are shorthand.

● “FT” -- For trade

● “LF” -- Looking for
● “C/O” -- Current offer
● “AW” -- Automatic win
● “NMTs” -- Nook Mile Tickets
● “OBO” -- Or Best Offer
Current/Fixed ACNH Glitches: Patch 1.1.4a
In Patch 1.1.3, the developers for Animal Crossing patched the issue that caused
players to have empty plots after conducting a trade from their campsites. The
glitch has been fixed wherein villager lots will be reopened where it may once have
been an issue.

However, I have still heard mentions of recurring issues for individuals who can’t
find their villagers after trading or bringing them to their island. As far as I’m aware,
this can still be an issue in-game. If you have any additional information regarding
the campsite or Amiibo glitches, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Note: Please do not use any Amiibo villagers under any circumstances to trade to
others. There’s still an inherent risk associated with it. Please let me know if you
have encountered these issues.

In addition, there is another issue that causes the island and save data for each
islander to not update accordingly. For example, if someone wants to do a trade
then leaves from their phone, there is an inherent risk that the transaction could be
reversed (i.e. the villager doesn’t want to leave and the buyer has their Nook Mile
Tickets back). If this happens, there is no risk for either of you to conduct the trade
again, just remember that you have to leave “naturally” (through the DAL airport
after talking to Orville.

Source: Animal Crossing World

Credits For Guide Content
There is a lot of information that goes into this work and therefore, we must give
credit to those who spent hours donating their time to make things run smoothly
for others. We appreciate all the hard-work that those before us have put in, and
therefore we need to acknowledge their successes. To all those in the Animal
Crossing Community, Thank You!

*Credit to @Baby Seal#3407, @i c e d m o c h a#5004 for time skips*

*Credit to @IrrelevantMew#3871 for a similar guide on time travelling*

*Credit to @georgiacrossing on Twitter for the scam prevention technique*

Donation Board
Thank you to our amazing donors who have given their time and resources to help
construct a refined guide. The guide isn’t easy, and those who donate in anyway are
deserving of being shown off and given the utmost respect. From all those who
created this guide, Thank You!

*@iMaxed0ut and the “Hosting Paradise!” Server -- 330 NMTs*

*@extra#2368 -- 50 NMTs*

*Serpentine Island -- 10 NMTs*

Conclusion
To conclude, I hope you have learned something in this guide. It took awhile to
compile and research. If you have any questions, please reach out to
@JacobHowie#4063 or @patthicc#7017! Thanks <3