Little Tips and Tricks for Grand Bazaar

This information is included in my General Guide now but it may be useful to players who are beginning the game for the first time.


Tips and Tricks


Any item that is not 'Super Fresh!' will be less valuable than the same item in its freshest state. When items begin to go off, they can be sold, but they usually are worth no more than 1G each. If, however, you are able to use the Item either in your Kitchen to create a Cooked Dish or in a Windmill Recipe, it will regain its Freshness and its value will be as high as that of the same Dish or Item when made with a 'Super Fresh' ingredient! You therefore should use all Items that have lost their freshness rating in a Cooked Dish or Windmill Recipe.

Storage is a problem in most Harvest Moon games, especially at the start. There are some ways to store items temporarily outside of your Storage Room. Crops that have ripened, for example, can be left in the Ground at least for a day. If a Bazaar is scheduled the next day, it is better to leave all ripened Crops in the ground overnight for two reasons. The first is to increase your Storage space. The second is because Seeds are sold at the Bazaars. Once you harvest any Crop, the land will revert to untilled soil overnight. If you harvest Crops the day before a Bazaar, you will be forced to retill the land for the Seeds purchased at the Bazaar. If, however, you harvest the Crops on the morning of the Bazaar, you can come home in the evening to plant your new Seeds without having to till the soil.

Another temporary storage location exists in each Windmill. You can leave up to 6 completed items in the Windmill. If a Bazaar is scheduled, leave any items you intend to sell at the Bazaar in the Windmill if possible until the day of the Bazaar.

Diving for Items in the River is a good way to find valuable Ores and Sea Urchins, but it takes Energy. Using the Multiplayer option will allow you to dive to your heart's content as you can play through more than one day in Multiplayer Mode. Make certain that you have sufficient slots in your Bag before you embark upon your adventure, as you will not be able to give items to other Characters in Multiplayer Mode.

You can sell items at the Neighbourhood Bazaar in Multiplayer Mode. This is a method by which you can obtain more space in your Bag or sell items to obtain funds on a day when Raul's Shop is shut. If you need money on any Friday, try to enter Multiplayer Mode.

Multiplayer Mode is unlocked on Tuesday, 17 Spring in a visit from Mayor Felix. Until then, you will be unable to use the option.

Note that any items that appear on the ground on the morning of any Bazaar Day will disappear by the time the Bazaar ends at 7.00 p.m. Be careful, especially when storage space is limited to collect all valuable items from the ground before the end of the Bazaar.

You can open and shut your Stall at any Bazaar repeatedly. Your options are not limited to exploration of other Stalls. You actually can leave the Bazaar and return with more items if you wish to do so. Knowing the shortcuts from screen to screen is very helpful in this respect.

The little stone pathway to the left of the Bazaar leads directly to the Town Screen to a plateau above the houses. Leap down from there and take the path east to the Mayor's house. Leap onto the Barrel to find yourself on a plateau above the top tier on the Waterfall screen. Now you can walk east to the entrance to the Farm screen. This saves a lot of time on the day of any Bazaar.

If you have found any Ore Stones in the River, do not sell them either to Raul or at the Bazaar! Wait until you have a Hammer (sold at Felix's Stall the week after you purchase a Sickle from him), then smash the Ore Stone to find an Ore/Gem inside. Note that the result is random and is loaded at the moment you smash the Ore Stone. You therefore should wait until 6.00 a.m. on the morning of a Bazaar or any other morning after saving your game. Smash the Ore Stone. If it contains only Scrap Metal, reload your game and try again.

Fairly worthless items can be processed to create useful or valuable items. 1 Weed + 1 Branch creates Fertiliser in the first Windmill, unlocked on 24 Spring. Any Branch when chopped with an Axe becomes Lumber. Any Rock when smashed with a Hammer becomes Material Stone. Items retain their rank when processed.

One more point should be made with respect to fairly worthless items. Almost anything placed on your Stall at the Bazaar WILL sell. It is best to place a variety of items on the Stall, however, as customers are more likely to buy one if you have three different types of items on display. In other words, for example, rather than selling three types of insects, it would be better to display one Cooked Item, one Insect and one Crop or Flower. As soon as one slot is empty, fill it with another item, even if all you have are Weeds. Some one will buy...

Another Bazaar strategy is useful in terms of current Sales Goals. Although meeting your Sales Goal is no guarantee that the Bazaar will expand the next week, it certainly brings Zephyr Town closer to expansion. In Multiplayer Mode, it is better to buy expensive items, depleting your own income, to sell at the next Bazaar than to be in a position where all the Items that you possess, if sold, would not allow you to meet the Sales Goal. Agreeing with other players to sell items at half-price is the best way to make certain that every one can afford to buy the Items on display.

Another tip for Multiplayer Mode is to sell raw ingredients to a Player who has unlocked all the Windmills if you have not done so yourself. Once you quit the game, the buyer can process the items, then sell them back to you in a new Multiplayer game. Good communication is the key to a profitable Multiplayer Neighbourhood Bazaar. You can sell items at the Stalls of other Players at a Neighbourhood Bazaar, but remember always that any item sold is one less item that can be sold at your Weekly Bazaar.

As far as catching insects is concerned, most Insects are caught only if your Character walks instead of running. To catch any Firefly, you should stand in front of the location where its light appeared and, when the light winks into view again, catch the Insect. There are Insects that can be caught only if your Character leaps into the air. A double leap or somersault, followed by a press of the B Button can allow you to catch flying insects that could not be reached from the ground. This is a strategy for catching the Insects that you spy on Tree Trunks. Walk slowly to position yourself in front of the Tree Trunk. When the Insect begins to fly, leap into the air to catch it.