How to Make Money in Graveyard Keeper 2: Early, Mid and Late-Game Income Routes

Money in Graveyard Keeper 2 is tight for the first few days and then opens up quickly. This page lists income routes in the order you unlock them, what each one pays, and the trader rules that decide how much you actually get.

TL;DR — Best income by stage

Currency: 100 bronze = 1 silver, and 100 silver = 1 gold. A new game starts with 50 bronze.

Part of the Systems hub — More Graveyard Keeper 2 systems guides

How trading works (read this first)

These rules decide every sale:

• A trader pays three quarters of the price it shows, and never more than the item's base price.
• The price falls with stock. Each unit the trader already holds, and each one in the same sale, lowers the price. Selling 90 of something in one go earns far less than 90 × the first price.
• Every trader has a purse. It can't pay more than the purse holds. Purses refill a little at the end of each day, and more at higher trader tiers.
• Burial Certificates, Town Gratitude, fish, rods, bags, zombie collars, and most tools, weapons and armour are exceptions that keep their full base value.
• Likes are separate from money. Goods marked with a thumbs-up at a trader also fill that trader's Likes bar, with a weekly cap for each item.

The town shops start almost empty, so sell them small amounts. Save big lots for the Trademaster.

Early game: certificates, wood, fish and crops

Burial Certificates (your first steady income)

Every body you bury, or burn in the Crematorium, pays a Burial Certificate.

• Certificates sell at a fixed price, so you never flood the market.
• Each Burial Certificate I also adds 1 Like, up to 5 a week.
• Keep your first certificate for Herbert's Certificate, Please quest; you only need to have it with you.
• A clean body scores a better grave and a better sermon later. See burial certificates from every corpse.
• The Treasure Hunter perk also pays 10 bronze for every organ you remove at the autopsy table.

Wood, fish and crops for Herm

• Firewood: 1 Short Log → 10 Firewood at the Chopping Spot. It's worth 4 bronze and Herm pays about 3. Keep enough for your own Fuel first.
• Planks: worth 10 bronze. Herm buys them from trader level 2; the Builder and Furniture Maker buy them too.
• River fish fillet: worth 11 bronze and Herm pays about 8. Each one sold adds 0.4 Likes; the first 5 each week count, so up to 2 Likes. The Basic Rod comes from the twins' pottery quest.
• Crops: each item has its own weekly limit, but all of them fill that trader's one Likes bar, and each trader also caps its weekly Likes (Herm gives only 2 a week at tier I). Spread crops across Herm, the Vegetable Stand and the Brewery. Wheat, for example, gives up to 2 Likes a week at Herm once he reaches trader level 2.

Process before you sell when a buyer exists. 4 Wheat (base 12 bronze) grind into 5 Flour (base 25 bronze), which the town Baker buys.

The Paint loop (best early-mid money)

Paint is two green runes. One Water is one green rune, so Water + Water at Laboratory I makes Paint, and so does a single Flour. It is one of the fastest early earners.

What you need:

1. The Alchemy Lab from the Plague Doctor chain, with Water studied at the Study Table.
2. The Paint formula. Linda's Safe Harbor quest at the Dockside Club teaches it and asks for 1 Paint. The first brew also records it.
3. Flasks. 3 Sand + 10 Fuel → 3 Glass; 2 Glass + 10 Fuel → 2 Alchemy Flasks I (Glass Blowing). Each Alchemy Flasks I on the Flask shelf is 5 brews.
4. Water. The Well, or an upgraded garden well (about 20 per draw).
5. The Trademaster's shop. Bring him 3 Lenses for Crystal Clear at the Main Pier. Lenses come from the furnace: 8 Sand + 30 Fuel → 2, with the Bellows upgrade.

Selling: the Trademaster pays about 2 silver per Paint at normal stock, then less as his stock fills. A recorded sale of 97 Paint brought 1 gold 54 silver. Spread sales over several days if his purse runs low. The Alchemist and, later, the Furniture Maker also buy Paint; see the paint loop on the alchemy page.

Selling Paint to the Trademaster pays money but no Likes; the Alchemist adds a few Likes a week. One walkthrough also picked up green tech points while brewing; see how to get tech points.

Mid game: sermons on Wrath

Once the church opens (Jack's boat, the twins, then the Nun), each Wrath sermon pays money as well as Faith:

• Donations per parishioner. Your congregation is limited by whichever is lower: Likes or church quality.
• A success bonus of up to 30 bronze per point of graveyard quality (36 with Performer).
• Money Prayer I pays 10 bronze per parishioner (Basic Prayer I pays 5) but needs 7 parishioners to start.
• Empty the donation box after the sermon. The coins wait there until you collect them.

For the full sermon maths and prayer choice, see sermon donations.

Mid to late game: town orders and the warehouse

• Take orders on Pride. The order board in the Town Warehouse only accepts orders on Pride, except on your first visit.
• Deliver to the crates in the Town Warehouse or the Warehouse Cellar. Goods count as they arrive.
• Finished orders pay their goods at base price plus 10 to 80 Likes, collected at the board. The Happy supplier perk raises the Likes.
• Regular orders add up deliveries over several weeks. Urgent orders need the full amount in the crates at once.
• Leftovers sell too. Anything else in the crates is sold at base price at the start of every Pride, so a surplus crate is a safe dump for goods a trader would underpay.
• Repeatable orders (marked with a repeat icon in the order list on the board) can be run again and again. The iron supply is the usual first one to automate; see the factory line that fills warehouse orders.

One walkthrough notes that goods delivered mid-week pay out at the next Pride, so plan a week ahead.

Late game: automate, then sell quality

• Zombies on production. A zombie on the Chopping Spot, the garden or a factory station keeps goods flowing. Give each one the right tool; see Zombies.
• Restore town shops. Each restored shop adds a new buyer with its own purse, new town orders, and village reputation.
• Faith to coin. After Homobonus I (bring bottles) and Homobonus II, Homobonus buys 10 Faith for 5 silver.

Likes vs money

Likes (town gratitude) are not coins. They decide sermon attendance and come from thumbs-up sales, Town Gratitude scrolls and town orders.

One creator shows a trick for Likes: buy a trader's thumbs-up item and sell it straight back. Their per-trader caps appeared to refresh the next day. Wikily says the caps reset every Pride, so check the bar on your save before relying on it.

Common money mistakes

FAQ

Q: What is the fastest way to make money in Graveyard Keeper 2?
A: The Paint loop. Brew Paint at Laboratory I from 2 Water (or 1 Flour) and sell it to the Trademaster at the Main Pier, who pays about 2 silver each at normal stock. You need the Alchemy Lab, flasks, and his shop opened with 3 Lenses (Crystal Clear).

Q: How do I make money early, before the Alchemy Lab?
A: Bury or cremate every body and sell the Burial Certificates to Januarius at the Village Tavern: 1, 2.5 or 5 silver depending on the grade, always at full price. Add firewood, fish fillets and crops for Herm.

Q: How much does a sermon pay?
A: Each parishioner donates, and a successful sermon adds up to 30 bronze for every point of graveyard quality (36 with the Performer perk). Money Prayer I pays 10 bronze per parishioner. Collect the coins from the donation box afterwards.

Q: When can I take town orders?
A: Only on Pride, apart from your first visit to the order board. Deliver the goods to the Town Warehouse or Warehouse Cellar crates; finished orders pay money and 10 to 80 Likes when you collect them at the board.

Q: Why does a trader stop paying for my goods?
A: Two reasons. The price drops with every unit the trader already holds, and a trader can never pay more than its purse. Purses refill a little each day, so sell in smaller lots across several days.

Q: Can I sell Faith for money?
A: Yes. After the Homobonus II quest, Homobonus buys 10 Faith for 5 silver at his house near the Town Warehouse. It is usually better to spend Faith, but it helps when you need coin.

Also read

• Faith & sermons — the weekly sermon payout
• Alchemy & runes — Paint and Preservative
• Autopsy & Skulls — better bodies, better certificates
• Automation — the factory behind town orders
• Beginner Guide — money in your first week
• Systems hub — more Graveyard Keeper 2 systems guides

Reference

• Wikily — Money and trading
• Wikily — Paint
• Wikily — Crystal Clear