Coins vanish fast in Starsand Island. Blueprints, outfits, land expansions, and tool upgrades all demand serious cash, and the early game can feel like a constant deficit. The good news is that several money-making methods are available from the very first in-game day, and stacking them together can net you thousands of coins in a single session.
Quick answer: The fastest early-game money comes from fishing at the ocean or river and selling your catch, completing Bulletin Board requests with items you already have, and — once you reach Junior Farmer — growing Watermelon (131 coins each) in bulk.
Fishing for Coins in Starsand Island
Fishing is the single most accessible money-maker right from the start. You already have a Wooden Rod, and fish sell for far more per unit of effort than raw crops or basic crafted materials. Before you cast your first line, talk to Delphin inside the AquaBlue Outpost in Half-Moon Bay. Accepting his Apprentice Angler proposal starts the Fishing Profession track, which you'll level naturally just by catching fish.
To fish, look for ripples and fish shadows in rivers or the ocean. Select your rod, hold the cast button (Left Mouse on PC, RT on Xbox), aim, and release. When the bobber gets pulled underwater with a big splash, hold the cast button again to reel in. Watch the line color — if it turns red, release briefly before holding again, or the line snaps.
The highest-value early-game fish you can catch with the Wooden Rod during Summer are worth targeting on rainy days especially:
| Fish | Sell Price | Location & Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Lionfish | 176 | Ocean, Summer, Rainy, 10:00–20:00 |
| Snakehead | 163 | River, Summer, Rainy, 06:00–18:00 |
| Emperor Angelfish | 152 | Ocean, Summer, Rainy, 08:00–22:00 |
| Payara | 129 | River, Spring/Summer, 06:00–12:00 & 18:00–00:00 |
| Clown Featherback | 129 | River, Summer/Autumn, 06:00–12:00 & 18:00–00:00 |
| Guppy | 115 | River, Summer, Rainy, 08:00–20:00 |
| Tiger Puffer | 114 | Ocean, Summer/Autumn, 14:00–00:00 |
A dedicated fishing session at the beach can easily pull in several thousand coins in a single in-game day, especially with higher-tier rods later on. Some late-game fish sell for 400+ coins each.
Farming Crops for Profit
Farming takes a bit more setup but scales well. Talk to Graminova near the Happiness Seed Shop in Starsand Town to unlock the Farming Profession. Initially you can only grow Wheat, Pasture Grass, and Beetroot — none of which are great earners. Push through the profession quests to reach Apprentice Farmer as quickly as possible, and ideally Junior Farmer after that.
Since the game starts in Summer, focus on crops that grow during that season. The value difference between profession tiers is dramatic:
| Crop | Sell Price | Required Level |
|---|---|---|
| Wheat | 16 | None |
| Beetroot | 21 | None |
| Potato | 32 | Apprentice Farmer |
| Cucumber | 66 | Apprentice Farmer |
| Peanut | 58 | Apprentice Farmer |
| Soybean | 93 | Junior Farmer |
| Pepper | 101 | Junior Farmer |
| Tomato | 103 | Junior Farmer |
| Watermelon | 131 | Junior Farmer |
Watermelon at 131 coins per crop is the standout once you hit Junior Farmer. Fill your plots with it and harvest in bulk for a reliable daily income stream.
Cooking Multiplies Your Crop Value
Raw ingredients are worth far less than cooked dishes. Stir-Fried Water Spinach sells for 90 coins, while raw Water Spinach only fetches 27. The multiplier is significant, and cooking doesn't require its own profession — just a kitchen setup and the right recipes.
Some strong early-game recipes that use ingredients you can grow or forage:
| Recipe | Ingredients | Sell Price |
|---|---|---|
| Mushroom Soup | 2× Moon Shroom | 54 |
| Stir-Fried Water Spinach | 3× Water Spinach | 90 |
| Smashed Cucumber | 2× Cucumber | 127 |
| Grilled Mushroom Skewers | 1× Sunveil, 1× Moondew Shroom, 1× Mirthshroom, 1× Fine Salt | 166 |
| Golden Fried Rice | 1× Egg, 1× Rice | 246 |
The Moonlit Forest is packed with mushrooms, making Mushroom Soup and Grilled Mushroom Skewers essentially free money once you have access to that area. Golden Fried Rice at 246 coins is excellent once you have chickens producing eggs and rice growing in your fields.
Bulletin Board Requests Pay Fast
The Bulletin Board sits outside the Community Center in Starsand Town. Each day at 06:00, it refreshes with NPC requests across three difficulty tiers: Simple (1-Star), Normal (2-Star), and Difficult (3-Star). You can accept up to four requests at a time.
Every request asks you to deliver a specific item to an NPC within a time limit. Completing them rewards coins, Starsand currency, and relationship points with that NPC. The payouts can be surprisingly generous — delivering five Peppers for a single request can net over 1,000 coins.
The key strategy is to accept requests for items you already have on hand or that are currently growing in your field. If you're farming Watermelon and a request asks for it, that's essentially free money on top of what you'd earn selling the crop normally. Stick to 1-Star and 2-Star requests early on, since 3-Star requests have tight timers that are hard to meet without advanced materials.
There's also a cumulative reward system. Open the "Total Completion" tab in the Bulletin Board menu to claim bonus prizes based on your total number of completed requests across each difficulty tier. These milestone rewards include substantial coin payouts.
Crafting Home Decor for Bulk Sales
Crafting basic materials like Iron Ingots (66 coins) or Iron Sheets (69 coins) won't make you rich on its own, but home decor items offer a much better return. The Mugwort Green Chair costs only 3 Softwood Planks to craft and sells for 618 coins — an exceptional ratio for such cheap materials. Chop trees, process the wood into Softwood Planks at a Cutter, and mass-produce chairs.
To get into crafting, talk to Zerine at the General Store to start the Crafting Profession. The initial quest line gives you a Furnace, Charcoal Kiln, and Cutter. For ore-based crafting, you'll also want the Exploration Profession from Zephyria near the Exploration Club, which eventually unlocks the Moonlit Forest and its mining nodes.
Mining and Selling Ore
Gold ore specifically is found in two main locations within the Moonlit Forest: near the doorway leading away from the Crystalith Hideout camp, and on a hill between Mural Valley and Azure Bay. The second location is reached by climbing a ramp along the right wall on the path from Mural Valley toward Azure Bay, crossing a log bridge, and turning left toward three tall standing stones.
Mining gold requires the Impact Hammer, an upgraded pickaxe whose recipe becomes available from Zerine's store after reaching Junior Crafter. The Impact Hammer needs Hardwood Planks ×4, Iron Sheets ×4, Radiant Crystals ×2, Bronze ×3, and an Impulse Pickaxe ×1.
Raw gold ore only sells for 16 coins each, so it's generally better to process it into Gold Ingots (88 coins each) or save it for crafting recipes and villager requests. Iron Ore and Primorite are also worth mining — Primorite can be crafted into Source Corestal, which sells for 222 coins per piece.
Once you reach Senior Crafter, Zerine will sell gold ore for 25 coins each (up to 50 units with the Supply Boost upgrade maxed), which is useful if you need gold for crafting but don't want to trek back to the forest.
Stamp Collection and the Merchant Ship
The Islandpedia's Stamp Collection rewards you with coins just for playing the game normally. Every item you gather, craft, cook, catch, or buy registers in the catalog, and hitting collection milestones earns stamps with attached rewards. The Gatherables category alone pays out 1,500 coins at 17 items, 3,000 at 28, and 7,000 at 45. The Crafting category scales even higher, topping out at 25,000 coins for 266 items collected.
Check your Stamp Collection regularly through the Islandpedia on your in-game phone. You'll often find unclaimed rewards from stamps you completed without realizing it.
There's also a merchant ship that buys items at 200% of their normal value. To unlock it, find Marston on the beach near your house — he wears a white sailor's cap. Complete his quest line to gain access to the ship, then sell your highest-value items there instead of at regular shops for a massive profit boost.
The most sustainable approach combines several of these methods into your daily routine. Farm and cook your crops, fish during rainy weather for premium catches, check the Bulletin Board every morning, sell bulk-crafted furniture, and dump your best items onto the merchant ship when it's available. Coins accumulate quickly once you stop relying on any single income source.