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Merchantlevel

Recette's Merchant Level is a key concept for the shop-keeping part of Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale. As Recette buys and sells items in her store, Recettear, she gains Merchant Experience (MXP); after a certain amount of experience, she gains a Merchant Level, unlocking new features known as Level Abilities.  Recette can also gain additional MXP through a Just Bonus or Near Pin Bonus, or by maintaining a Just Combo.

While there is a visible counter displaying Recette's current Merchant Level, talking to Tear allows Recette to check on future Merchant Levels as well as descriptions of what each Level Ability does.

The maximum Merchant Level is 99, which requires 252,450 MXP (although after level 50, no extra abilities are earned).

Merchant Experience[]

For any successful transaction, Recette earns at least a base value of 10 MXP.  This can be modified by a number of bonuses.

Pin Bonus[]

With any transaction in her shop (both buying and selling), if Recette offers close to or exactly the price the customer believes the item(s) in the transaction are worth, she will get a Pin Bonus. There are two levels of this bonus:

  • Just Bonus:  Recette gets a Just Bonus when she offers exactly (or very close to exactly - within 0.5%) the price the customer expects. Managing to get a Just Bonus triples the transaction's base experience to +30 (rather than +10). (There is actually a small acceptable percentage range to obtain this bonus, so the named price doesn't have to be absolutely perfect. Also, the expected percentage of the base price can change due to small randomizations, making it hard to nail every time without hacking.)
  • Near Pin: Recette gets a Near Pin when she offers a price that is close (within 5%) to the percentage price expected by the client, but not close enough to obtain a Just Bonus. Getting a Near Pin sets the transaction's base experience to +15 (rather than +10).

Both of these bonuses can't be earned at the same time, since they are essentially different levels of the same type of bonus. See Pricing Mechanics#Pin Price for the exact mechanics of how the values are calculated.

Just Combo[]

In addition to a possible Pin Bonus, if a customer accepts the first price Recette offers on a deal - either when selling or buying - she will start or maintain a Just Combo that adds even more bonus MXP to the experience earned in that transaction. Just Combos can be identified by their green color.

This bonus starts at a mere +2 bonus experience, but as long as Recette stays on a roll, it doubles with each consecutive successful transaction she manages without having to haggle, adding 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 and finally 128 bonus Merchant experience on and after the 7th combo link. Once maxed, she will continue getting +128 MXP for each combo-maintaining transaction.

A Just Combo will break if:

  • A customer outright rejects an offered price and leaves.
  • Recette ends up haggling.
  • Someone comes in complaining of a missed order.

The Just Combo value also resets at the end of each selling cycle.

Item booms are a great way to earn bonus merchant experience this way, since many customers of the same type appear in a single selling cycle.  This allows selling at around the same percentage for all boom customers, making it easier to combo; this can allow you to get the maximum experience a few times before the cycle ends.

Additional Notes[]

Recette can get any of the two previous bonuses both when selling and buying from customers in her shop.

They are also independent from each other, so she can get one, none or both at the same time in each and every transaction.  For example, she can get a Near Pin after haggling, or a Just Combo bonus without guessing a price near the price the customer expected.

The game will first tell you if you got a Pin Bonus for that transaction, then if you're starting/maintaining a Just Combo; after that, it tells you the total MXP you got for that transaction, for a possible total of 3 notifications.

Max experience[]

The max possible experience Recette can earn from a single transaction is this:

  • A Just Bonus triples the transaction's base MXP to +30.
  • A Just Combo on or after the 7th chain link adds +128 MXP.

So, the max experience that can possibly be earned in a single transaction would be for getting a Just Bonus on or after a 7th Just Combo link: 30 + 128 = 158 Merchant Experience.

Merchant Level Features[]

Merchant
Level
Level
Abilities
Description Notes
1 Starting Level As you work in the store, your Merchant Level will rise and allow you to do more with the store. Scroll down to see what each level does. Your shop starts with 3 tables (room enough to display 12 items), and you can buy Tier 0 & 1 items from the Market and Merchant's Guild. You can carry 20 items in dungeons, and can only bring back 1 if your Adventurer falls.
2 Customers Sell At this level, customers start offering to sell items to you.
3 Can Take Requests At this level, customers start coming to the counter with a general item category request, where you personally recommend which specific item they should buy. Try not to go over characters' budgets!
4 More Items (Tier 2) At this level, more items can be found at the guild and in the market.
5 Fusion Rank 1 At this level, you can start fusing items. Go to the Merchant's Guild to do so. Remember that many component parts can only be found in dungeons.
6 Change Wallpaper At this level, you may change your store's wallpaper to any you own. Check the Market and elsewhere for new wallpapers! Wallpapers can change the atmosphere of the shop.
7 Advance Orders At this level, you may accept orders in advance from customers that you fulfill at a later date. Remember to open the store on days orders are due!
8 Change Floor At this level, you may change your store's flooring to any you own. Check the market and elsewhere for new floor types! Floors can change the atmosphere of the shop.
9 Change Carpet At this level, you may change your store's carpet to any you own. Check the Market and elsewhere for new carpets! Carpets can change the atmosphere of the shop.
10 Move Counters At this level, you may rearrange the counters (tables) in your store any way you like. Purely aesthetic to suit your own tastes; has no effect on customers appearing.
11 More Items (Tier 3) At this level, even more items can be found at the guild and in the market.
12 Store Size Expansion (First Time) At this level, you may expand the store, giving you more room for counters and items. This first expansion costs 10,000 pix.  You'll now have 4 tables (room enough for 16 items).
13 Fusion Rank 2 At this level, you may fuse Rank 2 items at the Merchant's Guild. Remember that many component parts can only be found in dungeons.
14 Change Counters At this level, change your store's counters (tables) to any you own. Check the Market and elsewhere for new counters! Counters can change the atmosphere of the shop.
15 Vending Machines At this level, you can start placing vending machines! You can only place a few, however, and you must possess vending machines to place. Remember that vending machines always charge base price.
16 Bring Back 2 Items At this level, if you are defeated in a dungeon, you may bring back two items instead of one.
17 Item Storage (25 Slots) At this level, your overall inventory capacity in a dungeon is increased to 25 items.
18 More Items (Tier 4) At this level, even more items can be found at the guild and in the market.
19 Fusion Rank 3 At this level, you may fuse Rank 3 items at the Merchant's Guild. Remember that many component parts can only be found in dungeons.
20 Store Size Expansion (Second Time) At this level, you may expand the store even further. The second expansion costs 30,000 pix.  You'll have 6 tables (room enough to display 24 items).  Your shop also becomes big enough that it gets a second window, which means a second showcase display (see "Bugs").
21 Half Adventurer Pay At this level, your fame is such that every adventurer will cut their price in half for you!
22 Vending Madness At this level, you may place vending machines without limit. Vending machines do not let you interact with customers, remember... Remember that vending machines always charge base price.
23 More Items (Tier 5) At this level, truly epic varieties of items can be found at the guild and in the market. You know where to look, now!
24 Item Storage (30 Slots) At this level, your overall inventory capacity in a dungeon is increased to 30 items.
25 Fusion Rank 4 At this level, you may fuse Rank 4 items at the Merchant's Guild. Remember that many component parts can only be found in dungeons.
26 Store Size Expansion (Third Time) At this level, you can expand the store to truly massive proportions, allow you to display dozens of items at once. The final expansion costs 100,000 pix.  You'll have 10 tables (room enough to display 40 items).
30 Fusion Rank 5 At this level, you can create the most powerful items known to man via fusion! You'll need the components first, though... Remember that many component parts can only be found in dungeons.
40 Item Storage (35 Slots) At this level, your bags dwarf those made of dragon-hide, and you may carry 35 items from a dungeon at a go.
50 Bring Back 3 Items At this level, if you are defeated in a dungeon, you can carry back three items at once!

Bugs[]

  • The second store expansion's extra window only highlights an extra 3 items, as opposed to 4. This is due to the table clipping either the door jamb or a wall support (depending upon where you place it).  Also, when you first get the store size expansion, you can't actually get at the fourth slot; use the Move Counters function to move it over so you can place an item on that table slot.
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