Starfield Contraband smuggling guide: How to hide, where to sell, and more

Starfield Contraband comprises all the illegal items that you can find in the game's universe. This means that these items will be confiscated anytime you access an area controlled by either the Freestar Collective or the United Colonies. In fact, at first glance, such items might not even seem worth the hassle. However, there's one reason you should be interested in smuggling these - credits.

There are a total of 8 types of Contrabands in the game. They are Aurora, Black Market Antiquities, Harvested Organs, Mech Components, Sentient AI Adapters, Stolen Artwork, Va'Ruun Heretic Writings, and Xenowarfare Tech.

If you're not sure if an item is a Contraband, you can easily look them up in your inventory. Every Contraband will have a yellow marker next to it. Moreover, being illegal, these also sell at a much higher price, getting players a headstart, especially where finances are concerned.

Read more to find out how you can smuggle Starfield Contrabands, keep them from being confiscated by authorities, and sell them for an insane amount of credit.

---

Starfield Contraband smuggling stakes and rewards: What do you get?

As stated earlier, the main reason to smuggle Contraband in Starfield is credits. These illegal items fetch a high price in the black markets, allowing you to fatten your wallet easily. The credits can then go towards buying new items, which will make your journey easier and allow you to take on challenging tasks without breaking a sweat.

Harvested Organ as a Contraband in Starfield (Image via Bethesda Softworks)

However, this method isn't without its caveats. If you are caught with Contraband in your inventory, you will get fined or arrested, the latter of which will reduce your XP. On top of it, you will also lose these items.

Alternatively, if you have a high Negotiation Skill, you may be able to bribe your way out of it. However, this is highly situational and doesn't always guarantee an easy way out.

While there are disadvantages associated with smuggling Contraband, the pros outweigh them easily. Check out the section below to learn about how you can hide Starfield Contraband and smuggle them easily.

---

How to safely carry and hide Contraband in Starfield?

Here are three simple ways to safely carry and hide your Starfield Contraband:

• Investing in the Deception skill
• Buying Shielded Cargo Holds
• Equipping Scan Jammers

Here's how they help you hide these illegal items:

Improve your Deception skill

When you improve your Deception skills, your chances of being caught with these items reduce drastically. For instance, at Deception Rank 4, your chances of being caught with Contrabands are reduced by a whopping 50%.

---

Use Shielded Cargo Holds

Buying Shielded Cargo Holds to smuggle Starfield Contraband (Image via Bethesda Softworks)

This is the optimal way to smuggle Starfield Contraband. You can buy them from Lon Anderssen on Red Mile, and Jasmine Durand on The Key. These special Cargo Holds will keep your Contraband safe from scans. The better the quality of the Shielded Cargo Hold, the better your chances of not getting detected. Ensure that you don't fill them up to the brim, as this will greatly increase your chances of getting caught.

---

Use Scan Jammers

Finally, Scan Jammers. These jammers essentially prevent scanners from detecting hidden items. Similar to the Shielded Cargo Hold, they are varied in quality and some can jam the scanners better than others. You can buy them from Lon Anderssen or Jasmine Durand.

---

Where to sell Contraband in Starfield?

Once you have acquired your items and safely smuggled them, it's time to sell the Starfield Contrabands to earn credits. The best possible place to sell them is The Den space station on the Wolf star system. Alternatively, you can also visit The Key space station on the Kryx star system if you are a member of The Crimson Fleet.

Getting to The Den in the Wolf star system in Starfield (Image via Bethesda Softworks)

Furthermore, Contraband can also be sold in New Atlantis, Cydonia, and Akila City. However, you will get scanned in these locations, and hence, should take all the precautionary measures to not get caught.

---

That covers everything that you need to know about smuggling Starfield Contraband.

For more related Starfield articles, check out the links below:

• After Shattered Space DLC, Bethesda plans to keep SF alive with more 'annual story expansions'
• Who are House Va'ruun in SF Shattered Space? Lore explored
• Steam accidentally leaked all SF Shattered Space DLC Achievements