Money making guide

This is a list of ways to make money in Old School RuneScape and the requirements to do them. Please remember that these are just a few suggestions, and the prices and hourly rates are mere estimates.

If you notice a discrepancy between profits listed here and profits listed on guide pages, it is likely a caching issue. You can force this page to update by clicking [ here].

 WARNING:  Due to the constant changing of prices, some of the estimated values may be off. Do some research about the items first before you attempt to make money from them.

NOTE: Any method in the "Hourly Profit" section that relies on buying any item from the Grand Exchange is shown merely for the sake of completeness, as almost all of the shown methods involving purchases assume an infinite buy limit, which is unrealistic. Such methods include growing of saplings and processing of materials. It is advised to make money using methods that don't rely on purchase prices/have restrictive buy limits.

Stronghold of Security


Players can visit the Stronghold of Security for some quick coins. Players only need to complete the first three levels to get  coins. This can be done even at Combat level 3. Just pick some cabbages on the way there from the field north of Lumbridge (or cooked meat from the lodge just above the entrance to the stronghold) and eat between rooms. Also, if you level up your Cooking skill a little, you could get some raw trout or raw salmon from a popular world at Barbarian Village and cook them on the everlasting fire next to the fishing spot. Cooking trout and salmon requires level 15 and 25 Cooking respectively.

Skilling
Another way to start making some gold pieces is by levelling up a skill such as Woodcutting, Fishing, or Mining. These three skills (Woodcutting, Fishing, and Mining) are known as the 'Big Three', and they have been the three primary money-making skills commonly used by players to make money in RuneScape.

Members, on the other hand, have access to an additional money-maker in the Hunter skill as well as an array of other content like high-level Runecrafting and Thieving. The latter is a very fast skill that unlocks many very effective money-making methods that require little-to-no startup costs or supplies, thus making it an ideal stat for Ironman accounts or players without a large bank.

Flesh crawlers
Note: Do not kill Flesh Crawlers on a free-to-play server because you can only get fire runes, body runes, steel arrows, and iron ore from them.

To kill them, go to the second level of the Stronghold of Security, and then head south into the large room containing them. Mages and rangers can easily safespot them. They drop herbs, fire runes, noted iron ore, nature runes and dust runes. If you have decent Defence and armour, then you can slay enough to get around 10,000 fire runes as well as iron ore and nature runes each trip, worth over coins. An Amulet of glory could be useful for banking in Edgeville.

Flax
Flax can be picked in the flax field south of Seers' Village by members. Players can obtain around 1,000 flax per hour resulting in (However, this is not recommended to do). Moreover, if players have 10 Crafting or higher, it can be spun into bow string, and approximately 1,000 bow string (worth ) can be made an hour using the spinning wheel in Lumbridge Castle. It is best to buy flax and spin it rather than picking it.

Also, if players have at least completed all the easy Kandarin tasks, they can exchange their flax for bowstrings at the flax keeper. This can be done once per day based on UTC time.

Imps
There are three imps spawning at south gate of Falador, by killing imps they drop beads (yellow,white,black and red). Each bead is worth over, yellow beads are the most valuable at. Multiple Imps can also spawn around the volcano at Karamja.

Ashes
Ashes can be sold for about a stack on the GE. Ashes are abundant in the area surrounding the GE so this method should generate around an hour assuming you are collecting a full stack every minute.

Cowhides
Cowhides can be tanned at a tanner for a small fee and turned into soft leather for one coin or turned into hard leather for three coins each. Cowhide can be turned into either soft leather, which is approximately per hour, or hard leather, which is around  per hour, assuming a player can collect and tan approximately 374 hides in an hour. Just go to the Lumbridge cow field, loot 27 cowhides, run to the Al Kharid tanner, Ellis, pay him gold, bank, and then repeat. It is recommended that players complete the Prince Ali Rescue quest beforehand to allow them free passage through the gates, though the difference in hourly profits is marginal. New players should be aware that tanned leather cannot be traded at the Grand Exchange until the player has either 7 Quest Points or 24 hours of playtime.

Dark wizards
Dark wizards, located south of Varrock, are level 7 and 20 wizards that can easily be killed by low levels, especially those using Ranged. They drop talismans and runes. Talismans can be sold to runecrafters for a decent sum of gold pieces. More specifically, fire talismans can be sold over the Grand Exchange for up to each. This method only being useful for low level players, it is advised to wear Magic or Ranged equipment when fighting against them, as Magic can easily penetrate Melee armour. Also, targeting the level 7 wizards makes this method easier, as this is a single-way combat zone.

Iron ore
Head for the Al-Kharid mine, and find a world where there's one or more people powermining. Pick up the dropped ores, each worth, and head for the bank. Once you've gotten an amount of ores you're satisfied with, head for the Grand Exchange to sell your ores. This method can earn you roughly per hour.

Members are able to do this even faster by using the agility shortcut through the western wall in Falador and mine at the nearby mining site. This eliminates most of the time spent running to and from the bank. Using Falador teleports will increase profit even further.

Chickens
Killing chickens drops bones, raw chicken, and five feathers, which can all be sold on the Grand Exchange. Cooked chicken sometimes sells for more than raw chicken, so you may wish to check the prices and then cook them before selling them. The total per chicken killed is to ; you can also take unlimited raw chickens from the crates in the food shop in Port Sarim and bank them in Draynor Village (or bank deposit box on docks by the monks) provided that you have begun the Pirate's Treasure quest and are wearing a white apron.

Recurring methods
Effective hourly profit is the amount of money you would make in an hour if you could continuously use this method. It is best not to use activities that have an effective profit less than what you can normally make otherwise.

Note that you can only do one type of herb farming at once, one type of brewing at once, and one of either picking papayas or coconuts.

Treasure Trails/Clue Scrolls
Clue scrolls are a great money-maker but require a lot of luck and medium-level skills to start doing them. Patience is also needed as some clues will require days of skilling just to complete the clue.

If you are a lower Combat level player, easy clue scrolls will often be the best (due to various requirements not being present) you can possibly do. Mid-level players should aim for medium clues and so on. Clue scrolls on skillers is not recommended due to a lot of clues requiring random armours and weapons that you won't be able to wear.

Players may acquire low-value rewards from this method, but there's always the chance ranging from nothing, all the way up to tens of millions of gold, and for hard and elite clues, even more. If you have a string of poor rewards, remember you can still get a 10-million-gp item out of nowhere. Players constantly killing NPCs for clue scrolls may see profits of millions of gold per day, or just one-thousand air runes.

Merchanting
Note: This will not get you banned. However, joining a merching clan and manipulating an item's price is bannable.

Grand Exchange flipping, or merchanting, is the high risk high reward activity of buying items for a low price and selling them at a high price. You are looking for items that are unstable, but are frequently traded, with a changing price due to supply and demand.

Cyclopes
Cyclopes are found within the Warriors' Guild. The level 106 cyclopes, in particular, require at least a Rune defender and some Warrior guild tokens to fight. They commonly drop valuable armour and items. They are aggressive, so wearing armour with high Defence bonuses are recommended as well as a few super potion sets and high healing food. These are a great source of money while gaining decent Combat experience. Note that within the Warriors' Guild, you can only attack the cyclopes with Melee.

Jewellery
Often times, jewellery can cost 1,000 gold or more per piece. Given that it can be made entirely in a bank, hundreds of pieces can be made very quickly.

Motherlode Mine
At level 30 Mining, coal ( GP) can be mined, and a popular members' place to mine it is in the Motherlode Mine located in the Falador Dwarven Mines. Also, players can obtain gold ( GP), mithril ( GP), adamantite ( GP), and runite ( GP) considering they have the respective Mining levels. By mining pay-dirt and cleaning it in the machine located in the center of the mine, players collect random ores from the sack. This is a very popular update to the Mining skill as it is easy to AFK and can yield good profit and 22,000-35,000 experience per hour. Randomly, players can also receive golden nuggets that can be traded in for a miner's outfit, which grants a 2.5% XP boost to Mining if the full set is worn.

Upon completing the Hard and Elite Falador Achievement Diary, players will have an increased chance of receiving higher ores when cleaning pay-dirt. If possible, it is recommended to obtain these achievements so that Motherlode Mine will yield an even more profitable reward.

Rune running
One easy method to make large amounts of money is rune running. There are rich players willing to pay people to "run" rune or pure essence for them, either to the bank or to a nearby general store for unnoting.

There are many players and clans involved in rune-running services; many of them post advertisements on the RuneScape Forums. Generally, the "Runes and Ammo" section is where most players post for this method. Titles, such as "25:25", "18:25", "23:25" and so on, are what you should be looking for. These numbers are ratios of runes to rune essence (or pure essence).

Law rune running
World 341 and 366 are commonly used for running law runes. Depending on the crafter, they may require you to hold up to 26 pure essence in your inventory. Follow these steps below.


 * 1) Head to Draynor Village for a nearby bank, and be sure you have no weapons, armour, or God clothing (this includes God books) on. If you want to be safe, just don't wear anything.
 * 2) Head to Port Sarim, and board the Entrana monks' ship.
 * 3) Once you've boarded the ship, head east until you see a cooking range.
 * 4) Travel north, following the path, and pass the church and the bridge.Runecrafters will be outside of the altar, usually typing such things like "23:25" or "25:25" (ratio of law runes to pure essence).
 * 5) Trade the player, and offer them your essence. You should receive a significant amount of law runes in return.
 * 6) Head back to Draynor Village to deposit your runes, and withdraw another inventory of essence, repeating the above steps.

Nature rune running
World 336 is commonly used for running nature runes, the other most profitable runes to run. This method can be quite dangerous, so stay alert and consider bringing a one-click teleport item, or teleport jewellery. There are poisonous monsters on Karamja, but you can buy an Antipoison potion from the general store for about 500 coins.

It is highly recommended that you join a clan chat as there are usually crafters online. Running with charged amulets of glory to the Abyss at level 1 Runecrafting with no pouches, you can average around an hour; however, with level 50 and three pouches, you can reach between  and  an hour depending on Runecrafting host lines.

The nature altar is located north of Shilo Village. Make your way to Southern Karamja, or enter the nature altar through the Abyss for quick travel.

Once you've traded your essence for runes, run to the nearby general store, sell some of your noted essence and buy it back, and then repeat the process.

Watch out for other players buying your essence as soon as you sell it! The only way to avoid them is to find a nature running group on a different world.

A way to avoid players buying your essence from the general store is to speak with Aisles, who will un-note anything for five coins a piece.

Skeletal wyvern running
Due to the popularity of Skeletal Wyverns, runners are in constant demand. Runners relieve players camping the wyverns of their unstackable drops and charge a "tax" for their convenient service. Depending on efficiency, runners can make anywhere between and  an hour.

General pricing
Although runners buy items significantly lower and sell higher than the GE Price, the general rule of thumb is to buy at half price and sell at double with the exception of broad bolts and dragon equipment. Such drops include the following as well as the neighbourhood runners' prices:
 * Buying


 * Dragonstone ( to )
 * Crystal key ( to )
 * Tooth half of key ( to )
 * Loop half of key ( to )
 * Runite bar ( to )
 * Wyvern bones ( to )—also can swap two bones for one bone in noted form (i.e. at a 2:1 ratio)
 * Selling
 * Runite bar ( to )
 * Wyvern bones ( to )—also can swap two bones for one bone in noted form (i.e. at a 2:1 ratio)
 * Selling

Note: Prices could vary, and these are only suggested, ball-park prices.
 * 1,000 Broad bolts ( to )
 * Ranging potion ( to )—also can be swapped for the equivalent amount of Prayer potions (i.e. at a 1:1 ratio)
 * Alch runes ( to )
 * 1,000 Mind runes ( to )
 * Shark ( to )

Joining a clan chat could help in getting more requests, but simply asking people at the Wyvern cavern will do. Be sure to tell them you're running and to add you.

Tip: Also, make sure to have your private chat set on so that players can contact you more easily.

Gear
 WARNING: Skeletal Wyverns have a devastating icy attack if players have no type of elemental shielding.
 * Weight-reducing clothing
 * Ancient/Elemental/Mind or Dragonfire shield (strongly recommended)
 * Amulet of glory
 * Dramen/Lunar staff (if Fairytale II - Cure a Queen is partially completed) or Air/Fire staff

Inventory

 * Cash (~500,000 for starters)
 * 4-8 Sharks
 * 5-6 Ranging potions
 * Broad bolts
 * Mind runes
 * Varrock teleports (if not using Amulet of glory)
 * House teleports (if POH is set in Rimmington and not using fairy rings)
 * Rune pouch (to hold runes, which can free up inventory space)—optional

Travelling
Players who have partially completed Fairytale II - Cure a Queen can take full advantage of the fairy rings to commute to and from Mudskipper Point (code ) in which the Wyvern dungeon is due a short distance north. Furthermore, the player could also use an Amulet of glory to teleport to Edgeville, bank, and run east to the fairy ring located between Edgeville and the Grand Exchange.

Alternatively, players who have their houses set in Rimmington could teleport there and run southwards to the dungeon. Depending on their chosen teleportation, they could bank in either Edgeville or Varrock West Bank.

Tip: As you'll be getting aggro, time the wyverns and let the players secure their wyverns first before rushing in and trading. Afterwards, stand behind the player or out of the wyvern's reach before trading.

Tips and hints

 * Begging is generally considered a bad way of making money. With basically the same effort, players could easily kill cows for their cowhide, or collect mort myre fungi or blue dragon scales, which would make money a lot more easily.
 * Make sure to pick up as much money left on the ground as you can while training or travelling. Although it seems pointless to do so, even small amounts of money can add up to thousands, so picking up that extra small drop from a guard or rock crab counts toward your earnings. Wearing a ring of wealth while killing monsters will automatically pick up any coin drops.
 * While selling to a general store may be less time consuming, selling to an actual player is well worth the time in most cases (i.e. regular logs sell for 1 gp at a general store and gp to an actual player). In the same way, you can stock up on cheap items that players sell to the general store and later sell them to players or the Grand Exchange for a profit.

Trivia

 * Prior to the Optional Randoms update on 11 September 2014, many people left random event rewards, such as coins and gems, on the ground when spinning flax in Lumbridge Castle. Some players used this to their advantage by going into a busy world and picking up free items while spinning flax or alching.

Other links

 * Category:Guides
 * Skill training guides
 * Skills
 * Gold sink