Barter

Barter is a Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3, Fallout Tactics, Fallout: New Vegas and Van Buren skill.

The Barter skill is primarily used in the buying and selling of items, such as trading with a merchant or scavenger. In general, the higher this skill level is, the lower prices will be when purchasing items. It is the primary factor in price determination, and is also offset by the Barter skill of the non-player character in question.

The skill is also used in certain dialogue options with non-player characters, where certain responses require Barter checks.

Fallout
The initial skill is determined as follows:
 * 20% + 2 × Charisma

Example: A starting Charisma of 5.
 * 20% + 2 × 5 = 30%

Barter can be useful with limited funds. With a low Barter skill, item prices may be as high as 700 for Rad-X and 32500 for combat armor.

Ways to increase

 * Salesman: permanent +20%
 * Good Natured: permanent +15%

Related perks

 * Master Trader: reduces vendor prices by 25%

Available discounts

 * Hub: Beth: 15% once you agree to find the missing caravans.
 * Boneyard: Zack: 15% once you agree to kill the mother deathclaw, 20% once you go through with it

Fallout 2
The initial skill is determined as follows:
 * 4 × Charisma

Example: A starting Intelligence of 5.
 * 4 × 5 = 20%

Again, the skill only determines the price of the vendor's goods. Items in the player's possession sell for a fixed price.

Ways to increase

 * Salesman: permanent +20%
 * Good Natured: permanent +15%
 * Negotiator: permanent +10% (+20% in v.1.0)

Related perks

 * Master Trader: reduces vendor prices by 25%

Available discounts

 * Klamath: Sajag

Fallout Tactics
The initial skill is determined as follows:
 * 4 × Charisma

Example: A starting Intelligence of 5.
 * 4 × 5 = 20%

Barter determines how much both the player's and the vendor's goods are worth, unlike the previous two Fallout games.

Ways to increase

 * Salesman: permanent +20%
 * Negotiator: permanent +20%
 * Good Natured: permanent +15%

Related perks

 * Master Trader: reduces vendor prices by 25%

Fallout 3
The initial skill is determined as follows:
 * 2 + 2 × Charisma + Luck/2

Example: A starting Charisma and Luck of 5.
 * 2 + 2 × 5 + 5/2 = 15

The game derives two more modifiers from it:


 * Sale value: 45% + (Barter × 0.45)% × Modifier


 * Buy value: : 115% - (Barter × 0.45)% × Modifier

The modifier is usually set at 100%, but can be modified in 10% increments depending on the character's attitude. For example, if the player is nice to Gob, the modifier will be 120% for selling goods to him and 80% for buying from him.

A Barter skill of 11 allows the player to sell at 50% of the rated value of an item. Each 5 point increase in score only increases sale prices by approximately 2.25 percent. A barter skill of 86 is required to buy ammunition costing 3 caps at value from a normal merchant, while if you have a 10% discount (e.g. in Rivet City) only 57 skill is needed, or with a 20% discount (possible with Seagrave Holmes & Bannon) a measly 21 skill works. However, the Barter skill does not reduce the charge for having merchants repair items.

A high Barter is a good choice for players with low Strength, since they do not have much room to carry many items and, subsequently, have less things to sell. However, having a companion partially negates this, since you can put around 200 pounds of weight on him or her.

Related perks

 * Master Trader: 25% discount with every trader in the game

Ways to increase Barter

 * Tag!: permanent +15
 * Bobblehead - Barter: permanent +10
 * Scoundrel: permanent +5 with each rank
 * Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor: permanent +1 or +2 with Comprehension
 * Roving trader outfit: temporary +5
 * Roving trader hat: temporary +5
 * Button's wig: temporary +5
 * Grape Mentats: temporary +2-10 depending on current Charisma, a perfect Charisma of 10 will not see any benefit
 * Ant queen pheromones: temporary +2-6 depending on current Charisma, a perfect Charisma of 10 will not see any benefit

Available discounts

 * Craterside Supply: 30% discount upon receiving the Dream Crusher perk
 * Moriarty's saloon: 10% discount with Gob if you're nice to him when you initially meet
 * Rivet City: 10% discount with all merchants in the city upon completing research into Rivet City's history
 * Rivet City Supply: 10% discount depending on player choice during the quest Council Seat
 * Potomac Attire: 10% discount depending on player choice during the quest Council Seat
 * Lock and Load: 20% discount upon completion of Economics of Violence
 * Federalist Lounge: 10% or 50% discount by hacking the nearby terminal, only the 10% option changes dialog slightly

Fallout: New Vegas
The initial skill is determined as follows:
 * 2 + 2 × Charisma + Luck/2

Example: A starting Charisma and Luck of 5.
 * 2 + 2 × 5 + 5/2 = 15

Barter affects the prices you get when trading with merchants. There are also several barter skill checks in the game that can help you advance in quests by displaying a good sense with money, talking down costs, and talking up rewards. The Barter skill is governed by the Charisma attribute.

General price (before application of reputation-based modifiers) is counted with the same formula as in Fallout 3.

Barter in quests and exploration

 * 20 to convince Trudy for an additional 25 caps for repairing her radio.
 * 25 to convince Chet to help you in the quest Ghost Town Gunfight or Run Goodsprings Run.
 * 25 to convince Dr.Klein to have 0|Dr. 0 give 250 bottle caps.
 * 30 to convince Johnson Nash to give you information about the NCR attack on NCR Correctional Facility for just 50 caps in the quest I Fought the Law.
 * 35 to convince Beatrix Russell in Wang Dang Atomic Tango.
 * 35 to convince Tyrone to give up the chemical ingredients in the quest Don't Make a Beggar of Me.
 * 35 to convince Aurelius of Phoenix to allow trade with Decanus Severus. (NCR Dog-tags for food or ammunition.)
 * 45 to trick Max into giving you Euclid's C-Finder for only 20 caps.
 * 45 to convince Squatter Bill (and the other Squatters) to leave for 50 caps in the quest Someone to Watch Over Me.
 * 50 to convince Mr House to pay an additional 250 caps for the platinum chip.
 * 50 to convince Old Lady Gibson to give you the thrust controllers for 250 caps (originally 500) for the quest Come Fly With Me.
 * 50 to extort 300 caps from Orris in G.I. Blues after an Intelligence check of 6.
 * 50 to convince Dr. Hildern for an additional 600 caps from in There Stands the Grass.
 * 50 to convince The Lonesome Drifter to give you the Mysterious Magnum during the quest Talent Pool.
 * 50 to convince Ralph to craft you a counterfeit passport for the New Vegas Strip at a reduced price of 375 caps (originally 500).
 * 50 to convince Red Lucy for an additional 100 caps after bringing her Mantis Eggs in the Side Quest, Bleed Me Dry.
 * 50 to more easily convince Dean Domino to cooperate in Find Collar 14: Dean Domino.
 * 50 to convince Dr.Klein to have 0|Dr. 0 give an additional 250 bottle caps to the player.
 * 50 to convince Greasy Johnny (and the other greasers) to stop causing trouble for 50 caps in the quest Someone to Watch Over Me.
 * 60 to convince Red Lucy for an additional 200 caps after bringing her radscorpion eggs in the Side Quest, Bleed Me Dry.
 * 60 to convince various merchants to sell food at a discount to Farber in the Camp McCarran Concourse.
 * 65 to convince Alice McLafferty to let Janet get out of debt in Young Hearts, explaining to her the possible profit from future trade possibilities with the Boomers.
 * 70 to convince Red Lucy for an additional 300 caps after bringing her Nightstalker Eggs in the Side Quest, Bleed Me Dry.
 * 75 to convince Dr.Klein to have 0|Dr. 0 give an additional 250 bottle caps to the player.
 * 80 to bribe the missionary involved with the quest G.I. Blues.
 * 90 to convince Red Lucy for an additional 500 caps after bringing her cazador eggs in the Side Quest, Bleed Me Dry.
 * 90 to convince Dr.Klein to give you: Fixin' Things, Programmer's Digest, Patriot's Cookbook, 250 additional bottle caps, 2 doctor's bag, 3 stimpaks and one super stimpak.
 * 100 to convince Legate Lanius to leave during Eureka!, All or Nothing, or No Gods, No Masters.

Available Discounts

 * Reputation: All factions will provide a discount based on the players reputation with them, therefore locations with no specific discounts can still have cheaper prices by getting the faction to like you.
 * Goodsprings: Trudy will give you a discount for saving the Goodsprings settler during Back in the Saddle, repairing her radio or helping the town during Ghost Town Gunfight. The discount is tied to becoming "Accepted" in the town, not any one specific act.
 * Primm: Johnson Nash will give the player a discount for making Meyers sheriff.
 * Novac: Cliff Briscoe will give the player a discount only after speaking to Jeannie May Crawford about the Dino Bite Gift Shop and then telling him she sent the player. The discount will not be lost even if he finds out the player helped kill her.
 * Old Mormon Fort: Julie Farkas give discount when the player becomes "Accepted" with Followers of the Apocalypse, further discount resulting in 1:1 ratio when the player joins the Followers.
 * New Vegas Medical Clinic: 1:1 ratio when the player joins or becomes "Accepted" by the Followers.
 * Great Khan armory: Female vendor will 1:1 price ratio when Great Khan become "Accepted"
 * Camp McCarran Concourse: Dr. Kemp will give the player a discount if they help during Proper Burial. The discount will be bigger if the player doesn't ask Christina for a reward.
 * Camp McCarran Concourse: William Farber will offer the player a discount, after repairing the food processor during Not Worth a Hill of Corn and Beans.
 * Hidden Valley bunker: When the player's reputation with the Mojave Brotherhood becomes Mixed, a paladin should approach them and inform them of a discount. This is currently bugged, however, so only the reputation discount is available.

Ways to increase Barter

 * Tag!: permanent +15
 * Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor: permanent +3, or +4 with Comprehension
 * Salesman Weekly: temporary +10, or +20 with Comprehension
 * Roving trader outfit: temporary +5, earliest acquisition is from Malcolm Holmes
 * Roving trader hat: temporary +5, earliest acquisition is from Malcolm Holmes)
 * Benny's suit: temporary +5
 * Vera's outfit: temporary +5 Barter and +1 Charisma)
 * Daniel's outfit: temporary +5
 * Alcohol, Moonshine, Party Time Mentats or Mentats: temporary +1 to Charisma, and thus +2 Barter for each, no effect with 10 Charisma

Van Buren
In Van Buren, as in Fallout and Fallout 2, Barter did indeed have an effect on store prices. However, it also represented a certain level of knowledge about the caravan houses and trading in general, giving it a small role in dialogue. The intended depth to Barter development came in the perks available at higher skill ranks.

Fallout 3

 * Mister Burke (77) - Allistair Tenpenny's right-hand man, asking you to detonate the Megaton atomic bomb
 * Leroy Walker (68) - Leader of 6-man squad of slavers who have occupied the Lincoln Memorial
 * Victoria Watts (63) - The Railroad member, asking your help in protecting escaped android Harkness