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Animal Crossing: New Horizons lets you customize your game more than any other entry in the Animal Crossing series — especially when it comes to villagers. Your neighbors no longer move out without permission, and you can choose whether you let the empty plots auto-fill, or go Mystery Island touring.

Related: Animal Crossing: New Horizons - How To Unlock Katrina And Get Purification Items

There’s also Nookazon, a website dedicated to trading in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Trading on Nookazon can be a complicated (and cutthroat) process, but it can also be a great way to get your favorite villager faster.

Updated on May 9, 2023: If your favorite villager has been eluding your in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, an easy way to invite them to your island is to trade with other players on Nookazon. To help you enjoy a smooth process when acquiring your new villager, we've updated this guide for readability.

What You’ll Need To Trade Villagers On Nookazon

Tom Nook hands paperwork to a villager in front of a tent
  • An open plot on your island
  • A Nookazon account
  • Nintendo Online and the ability to connect your Switch to Wifi
  • Bells (in the millions) and Nook Miles Tickets (in the hundreds)
  • Time and patience

Find Your Villager On Nookazon

A Nookazon user is on the search page for Kiki, a black cat. She is a normal villager. From left to right, the page shows listing for Kiki (the villager), Kiki's photo, Kiki & Lala Rug, and Kiki's poster

If you don’t already have a Nookazon account, now is the time to make one.

You can sign up with Discord, Twitter, Google, or Apple, or you can just enter a username and email through the Nookazon system (signing up with Discord or Twitter links your profile with your Nookazon account).

Once you’re logged in, use the search bar at the top of the website to search your villager’s name, and click on their image to be taken to the villager page.

Scope Out the Villager Page

The Nookazon villager page for Apollo, a cranky eagle villager. On the left side, there is a picture with Apollo, with three smaller icons underneath. On the right, different users have listed Apollo for trade.

On a villager page, you’ll see the villager’s picture and see three smaller photos with gifts beside them. These are called variants. For villagers, variants are 'heavily gifted,' 'lightly gifted,' and 'ungifted.'

  • Ungifted villagers are by far the most coveted (and therefore, most pricey) variant.
  • Lightly gifted and heavily gifted refer to how many items a villager has been gifted, but these variants don’t specify which kinds of gifts a villager has been given, like clothing, accessories, or furniture. If you’re concerned, ask the seller.

Pay attention to Average Prices. These show the average number of Bells and Nook Miles Tickets a villager sells for.

Always offer at least the average price for a villager that you want to trade. This can get very pricey, very quickly, so you can make a lower offer if you don’t have the funds, but most sellers won’t accept offers lower than the average price.

Popular villagers can go for as much as double or triple the listed average.

Look At Other Listings

On Nookazon, a seller is offering Ketchup, a peppy duck villager, for trade. One buyer offers 1,000,000 Bells and 100 Nook Miles Tickets. Another offers 5,000,000 Bells and 100 Nook Miles Tickets.

On Nookazon, sellers can either set their own prices or ask for offers. Many sellers will ask for offers from buyers, which means that buyers must offer a specific number of either Bells, Nook Miles Tickets, or Wishlist Items.

Wishlists are a Nookazon-specific mechanic, where players can make lists of items that they’re looking for in the game, including villagers.

A listing will tell you which variant of a villager a seller is offering, whether the villager is in boxes when the listing was posted, the seller’s name and star rating, and the listing price.

Clicking on a seller’s name will bring you to their profile, where you can see their profile, their social media accounts if they’ve linked them, their bio, and most importantly, all of their reviews and comments.

It’s important to look at a seller’s reviews before making an offer, so you can determine whether they’re legitimate.

If more than one person is saying the exact same thing, watch out. If anyone says that they’ve been scammed by a seller, find someone else.

It’s possible that you’ll miss out on good deals this way, but most good sellers won’t have reviews that say they’ve scammed people. Like most other things in life, if it seems too good to be true, it usually is.

You may also come across users with no reviews, which is usually a sign that they’re new to Nookazon. This is not necessarily bad; everyone is new once, and no reviews doesn’t mean bad news.

Or, as pessimistic as this sounds, the person might have gotten their old account banned. Don’t assume this about every account, of course, but keep this possibility in mind.

Start Making Offers

One Nookazon user has offered Marshal, a smug squirrel villager, for sale. A buyer is about to make an offer.

To make an offer, click on a listing, and click on the “Make an offer” button. From here, fill in the amount of Nook Miles Tickets or Bells that you want to offer.

Double-check that you typed the right numbers (and always check the zeroes at the end of your offer), and then click “Submit Offer.”

Make offers on multiple listings. Listings nearest to the top of the page are going to be the most recent, which means that it may be more likely that the seller is still online.

Under the listing price, it will show when the listing was made, usually something like “X hours ago.” Alternatively, you can also see the seller’s status as a dot beside their name: green if they’re online, yellow if they’re busy, and red if they’re offline.

If the dot is red, they won’t see your offer until the next time they log on. “Busy” means something different for everyone. If you’re unsure, take a look at the seller’s bio, but it’s generally fine to make offers to people who list their status as busy or online.

Wait For Offers

Stitches has a thought bubble in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. He's in a room with a Brown Brick Wall, and a brown wooden floor.

The number of offers a listing will receive, and how quickly those offers will come in, depends on how popular the villager is.

Super popular villager listings will usually start getting offers right away, while others could take anywhere from a few hours to a few days.

If you’re a seller, it’s totally up to you how long you want to wait for offers. If you’re willing to wait a few days for an offer to come in, make sure that your switch clock stays on the day that the villager is in boxes, or post your listing on the day the villager asks to move.

If you’re a buyer, be sure to ask whether the villager is in boxes or not before you end up at their island.

Adjust, Accept, Or Reject Offers

The Nookazon homepage, with one user's notifications tab open on the right-hand side. In the background, there is a banner advertising Youtube creator froggycrossing's newest video

Buyers and sellers will both receive notifications in the same place: on the top toolbar, you’ll see a bell icon right beside your name.

If that bell has a red dot beside it, that means you have a notification. You should also hear a 'Ping' sound.

This is where you’ll see whether someone accepted, rejected, or countered your offer. Here’s what that all means:

  • Accepted: You’ll see a green checkmark beside the notification, and Nookazon will tell you that “[seller] has accepted your offer for [villager]!”
  • Rejected: You’ll see a red x beside the notification, and Nookazon will tell you that “[seller] rejected your offer for [villager]…” and list a specific reason: the reason can be anything, from “offer was too low,” to “they accepted another offer,” to “having problems with the console.”
  • Counter offer: Sometimes, a seller will counter an offer, asking for a few more Bells or Nook Miles Tickets. When a seller counters a buyer’s offer, it’s up to the buyer to either accept or reject the counter. If they accept, the counter offer will become the new price for the item, and the seller can then accept or reject it.

Communicate With The Seller Or Buyer

Two Animal Crossing Players on one of their islands in what looks to be the summer. The apple trees and grass are a vibrant green, and the sky is clear and blue

Once an offer has been accepted, it’s time to communicate with the other person. If you’re the seller, now is when you send the other person your DODO code. However, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re both on the same page first.

  • Will the buyer have to make two trips to make room for their whole payment? How will payment work?
  • Are you asking the buyer for a “deposit” before they enter the villager’s home, or after they talk to them?
  • Will the buyer need to bring a vaulting pole or ladder to access the villager's home? Do you have an extra tool that they can borrow?
  • If the villager is advertised as “lightly gifted” or “heavily gifted,” what exactly does that mean?

Regarding that last question: sellers, be honest.

The buyer is going to find out that a seller lied when they see the villager, so it’s better to be upfront in the beginning than try and sneak something past someone.

It’s a mean thing to do, but it’ll also probably net you a bad Nookazon review.

Keep in mind that different buyers and sellers have different levels of experience and comfort when it comes to trading. Try your best to compromise with the other person, but make sure you’re listening to your gut.

If something feels off, it’s always okay to end the trade. Assuming all goes well, once you have your parameters set, the seller will send you their DODO code, and the buyer can head on over to their island.

Get Trading!

On the left, a character waits while a visitor talks to an in boxes Raymond. The visitor is using the Joy reaction.

Now is the fun part: getting to talk to the villager. Make sure you’re following all the ground rules you agreed on. If the seller is ever not at their airport, type out a quick greeting, and wait right outside the airport until they arrive.

Never run around someone else’s island without their permission. Even if you mean well, that’s an immediate red flag for most players, and in general, it shows that you’re not respecting them.

Some players will be nice enough to let you go into their shops, or walk around their islands for a while. If they let you do that, be gracious about it. Ask if they are expecting other people to come, how long they’d like you to stay for, and whether there is anywhere that they don’t want you going.

If you have the Nintendo Online app for your phone or tablet, you can type using your device’s keyboard instead of the clunky Switch interface.

This makes for faster typing and easier communication. Also, don’t be afraid to use reactions.

We’ll cover scams in the next section, but for now, let’s assume that the house exterior matches the one that you looked up, and the name on their house is the right name.

Enter the villager’s home and talk to them, until you get the option to ask them to move to your island. Then, speak to them again until they’ve agreed, and you’re all set.

Now, continue to follow the rules that you and the seller set out. Ask the seller where they want you to put your payment (they might have a designated spot), and pay up.

Make sure to thank each other before leaving the island, and always let the seller know that you’re leaving — and, always leave through the airport.

Leaving with the “-” button is bad practice in general because it disrupts the Wi-Fi connection.

This is both annoying and inconsiderate, especially if the person is expecting other visitors, or doing other trades.

Once You’re Finished...

An Animal Crossing player using the Joy reaction in front of a villager's blue house. Beside them, Rudy walks around with an umbrella

After the buyer returns to their island, the seller can close their gates. This is also when you complete your offer on Nookazon.

If you’re the seller, it’s always nice to check in with the buyer to make sure that their plot has a “Sold” sign, and that the plot has been assigned to the right villager before you complete the offer.

When you complete an offer, your chat is archived, which means that either one of you will have to “Request Chat” to start the conversation again. It’s easier to just keep the conversation open until both people are settled.

To complete an offer, you can go into your Shopping Cart or your Messages — these icons are right beside the Bell icon in the top toolbar. Or, if you’re already messaging the buyer to make sure they’re set, look at the top of your conversation for the red “Complete Offer” button. Click this, and you’ll be prompted to leave the buyer a review.

Sometimes, the buyer might complete the offer on their own, which is also fine. If this happens, you’ll receive a notification that “[Buyer] completed your trade” and you’ll be prompted to leave them a review.

Reviews are important on Nookazon, so if you have a good experience with someone, it’s always nice to leave a good review and a comment about why you liked trading with them.

Tips For Avoiding Scammers

An Animal Crossing: New Horizons player is using the Shocked reaction. They're wearing blonde braids, a red beret, and a red chef's uniform.

Getting to the seller’s island is the most exciting part of a trade; it is also the part where scams might happen. As long as you’re diligent, there are a few things you can do to minimize the chances of being scammed.

Buyers

  • Make sure that the villager is in boxes. Do not pay your full fee until you’ve talked to the villager that’s in boxes, and they agree to move to your island.
  • Ask if a friend can come to the island with you. Not every seller will agree with this, but if you’re really nervous, having someone there with you will a) ensure that you have a witness to the trade, and b) someone else who can turn off their switch and cut the connection if need be.

Sellers

  • Decide whether the buyer will pay at your entrance and when they can see the villager’s house — before talking to them, or after they’ve talked to the villager.
  • If a buyer pays before entering the villager’s home, it’s a nice gesture for the seller not to pick anything up until after the buyer has spoken to the villager. It’s also easier to add up your payment this way.

What To Do If You Suspect A Scam

A distressed looking Judy stands on the beach on someone's Animal Crossing island

If either player is not following the rules you agreed on or is not communicating with you, it is totally within your right to cancel the trade.

In case it was a genuine miscommunication, don’t complete the trade on Nookazon just yet; consider giving the seller or buyer a chance to reach out to you, and explain what happened.

If they don’t reach out, that’s on them. If they do, it’s up to you whether you want to try again.

If you realize that a player is trying to scam you, immediately press the power button on the top-left side of your switch, next to the volume buttons.

Pressing the power button will put your switch to sleep, which will cut your internet connection, thus stopping the trade.

You’ll both lose any items that you got from the other person’s island, and keep what you traveled with. You need to shut down the trade as quickly as possible, to avoid the other person leaving via the “-” button.

If they do that, the game will save, and when the game saves, you’ll lose any items that are no longer in your inventory. Whether or not the scam is successful, report the user on Nookazon.

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