Nightclubs were added to Grand Theft Auto Online in the After Hours update. They are one of the many ways to make some easy cash — many people believe they're one of the best properties you could buy. However, the start-up cost and maintenance could be a bit off-putting to some players.

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Nightclubs aren't just for fun; you can do a lot more than go inside other people's nightclubs and dance. They provide plenty of missions and a lot of potential storage for your vehicles. They're in contention for one of the best businesses to own, but they have their caveats.

They're Very Expensive

a bunch of bundles of cash with a gloved hand sweeping them into a bag
via PC Games
https://www.pcgamesn.com/grand-theft-auto-v/gta-5-sales

To purchase a nightclub in GTA Online, you're going to need at least a million saved for the most basic properties available. Even then, that's for the bare-bones versions of the property. More upgrades are available to change the looks and features of the nightclub.

Not only do you have to worry about the price of the nightclub, but there is a lot of preparation involved. You need to be a VIP, CEO, or MC President to take full advantage of the Club Management missions. This involves buying those prerequisite properties beforehand. As such, it's recommended you get those out of the way before you even consider spending money on a nightclub. It's still not the most expensive prep, though.

Not All Nightclubs Are Equal

two characters in a nightclub in gta online
via Rockstar Games

There are 10 nightclub properties in the game at this moment. Needless to say, the more expensive ones are usually better. They're aren't just more visually appealing though — they tend to be closer to where all of the other activities or good properties are.

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It cannot be understated how much time you'll save by picking a nightclub close to your home and other properties. You will return frequently to increase your popularity or manage it, so just make it a bit easier on yourself.

The Upgrades

GTA Online Nightclub Garage

If you didn't spend money on some of the customization options, you an always go back and do it later. There are also a few upgrades you could buy after you already bought those. There are a bunch of visual changes: the style of the nightclub, light rig, nightclub name and sign, dry ice, dancers, and costumes. However, what's important are the storage options. You could get four extra floors for the storage facility and three extra floors for the garage (each holding up to 10 cars).

Once you have everything you want from the property customization upgrades, there are a few others that are important to making money and managing the nightclub.

  • You can purchase an equipment upgrade for $1,425,000. This improves the productivity of the warehouse technicians and doubles the rate of production for crates.
  • There's a staff upgrade for $475,000. This will reduce the daily popularity loss of the nightclub.
  • The security upgrade costs $695,000. This reduces the likelihood of the nightclub being attacked. It adds a gun locker to the office, spawns weapons throughout the office and basement, adds security guards to the basement levels, and cuts the frequency of raid mission events in half.

It's a smart idea to heavily prioritize upgrades over the visual changes if you're pressed for cash.

The Missions

GTA Online Characters Walking To Armored Truck In Nightclub Warehouse
Via GTA Boom

So, you've bought your nightclub close to your other properties, went ahead and spent money on the warehouse upgrades for more storage, and customized it to your liking. Great, now you'll have to go do some work to finish setting it up.

There's a series of missions where you have to pick up the staff for the nightclub and drive them back to your property. It's simple but just a bit time-consuming. After that, you'll be tasked with driving out and stealing a bus full of equipment. You just have to drive it back and make sure that it's all in one piece — simple, just a bit tedious. The same goes for the nightclub missions where you have to do other tasks to maintain the popularity of the nightclub.

Popularity Matters

People dancing in a night club.

Popularity does indeed matter when running a nightclub. The less popular your nightclub is, the less it pays, naturally. There are a few visual changes like noticeably bored customers, fewer dancers, and even worse drinks.

The visual changes aren't why this matters, though. The level of popularity directly influences how much money you generate. You could spend half a million on a staff upgrade, which will reduce the daily popularity loss of the nightclub. More often than not, you will also be doing missions to help increase the popularity slightly. Be prepared to return and drop flyers around the city every once in a while.

Passive Income

GTA Online Nightclub Dancefloor NPCs Dancing

The biggest benefit of the nightclub is that you don't have to be running the same few missions constantly to get a quick paycheck. You build income passively as the nightclub is running. The more popular it is, the more revenue it generates. You could make as much as $10,000 per in-game day (48 minutes) and accrue up to $70,000 in the safe. You should collect these weekly (in-game), at least.

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While doing heists or other missions, it's always good to come back and collect from your safe. Occasionally, mix in a nightclub mission or two. The warehouse technicians will also collect goods that you could sell for money.

There are plenty of opportunities to make cash while you're off doing something else. This could also be exploited by going AFK and waiting to collect money; this method has some issues with GTA Online timing you out and the decreasing popularity generating less money, though.

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