Long term fans of the Animal Crossing franchise will fondly remember the Turnip Market, AKA the Stalk Market, which makes a welcome return in New Horizons. It involves buying and selling Turnips at the most optimum times but, as with the actual stock market, it isn't without risks. Here we take you through the basics of Daisy Mae's delightful turnips and how to make a profit before they go bad.
How And When To Buy Turnips
Every Sunday, Joan's granddaughter, Daisy Mae, can be found wandering around your island from early in the morning until midday. There are conflicting reports about exactly what time she appears but it's likely to be 8 am, in line with the Nook's Cranny opening hours.
You can talk to her and listen to as much of her terrifyingly bad sales pitch as you can stand before waiting for her turnip price. Since the aim of playing the market is to make a profit, you'll want this to be as low as possible.
You can also only buy turnips in stacks of 10, so remember this when you are buying. Another thing to be aware of is that turnips stack in 100's but cannot go into your household inventory so you'll need to stash them in your backpack or on the floor of your house.
Selling Turnips
Twice a day the price of turnips will change, at midday and midnight, and you can find out the current price by asking Timmy and Tommy in Nook's Cranny. It will fluctuate, and at the time of writing, the game has not been out long enough for players to work out if the prices follow any particular pattern.
In New Leaf, prices would be random, decreasing or show either a small or large spike. At this point in the game's life span no such market analysis has yet been conducted, so we'd advise playing it safe and cashing out when you're in profit. The profits could be huge but they could also be tiny or even none existent.
The Risks
As you are relying on a random market you could end up making a loss. Prices could drop and stay low, meaning those turnips may need to be sold for less than they are worth. If you've not sold your turnips by the time the store closes on Saturday then you're also out of luck.
Once the clock strikes midnight turnips will go rotten and then you'll lose everything you had. For those thinking they can avoid this by using time travel then we have to inform you that you can't.
You can time travel forwards with turnips unharmed, as long as you don't hit Sunday again, but if you try to go back to take advantage of a spike then your turnips will spoil.
So, when Sunday comes around, get ready to take to your island nice and early if you want to take your chances with the stalk market.