How the turnip exchange can be profitable for Animal Crossing: New Horizons players

Bells are vital in the Animal Crossing world. Functioning as the in-game currency, bells are used to pay mortgages, buy items and many other things.

There are several different ways of making bells, but none so profitable as the stalk market. It does have its risks. There is always a chance that players can lose bells playing this game. Turnips also expire after a week. There are plenty of risks, but turnips remain the most profitable endeavor for players.

Turnip profits in Animal Crossing

The game here is simple. Buying and selling turnips back is pretty much the Animal Crossing version of Wall Street (though not as harmful to the losers). Turnips get bought at a price and sold back at a higher price, which is pretty straightforward except for one thing - prices fluctuate. It's a genuine guessing game. Fortunately, there is a way to manipulate it, sort of. It's not as manipulatable as the real stock market, but there are ways to get ahead.

I know a lot of people have lost interest now that the hype has died down but I just manifested a good turnip price AND a dream new neighbor on animal crossing this evening n feeling preeeetty pleased

— kristin (@krsramblr) July 9, 2021

One such way is the turnip calculator. Players have created an app called the Turnip Calculator. Since turnip prices do vary based on pretty much any factor imaginable, it's not an exact science. It follows trends and the data that players input to help them make informed decisions, but it's not always right. Since turnips expire after a week (which will get zero bells), this can help players spring into action at the appropriate time.

The Turnip Calculator. Image via AC-Turnip

There is another way to help manipulate the stalk market to gain bells. It's one of the few cheats that Animal Crossing has - time travel. TIme travel works like this: Animal Crossing follows the actual clock, so changing the Nintendo Switch's time settings will change Animal Crossing's time, therefore allowing players to jump forward and backward in time.

Turnips can be very profitable. Image via Inverse

A friend will need to monitor their island's turnip prices, and if they're worth selling at, a player can purchase from their own island, travel over to the other island and sell them to Mabel there. Time travel back to before the items were sold and repeat the process. It should be noted that traveling while in possession of turnips will cause them to rot.

my turnip price is 317 but nobody plays animal crossing anymore pic.twitter.com/RNrOF6pxr6

— baby likes his soup (@gremlinicity) July 14, 2021

There are several ways of acquiring bells and furthering a player's status in this game, but none carry as much risk or reward as the turnips do. When played right, this can be the most profitable endeavor in all of Animal Crossing.