10 Best Ways To Make Money Quickly

When players start a new game of Red Dead Redemption 2, they’re not greeted with a heist mission. They’re not met with hundreds of dollars pouring into their wallet, no grand robbery to start them off.

Instead, Arthur Morgan starts on the run — in cold, empty mountains covered in harsh winds and snow, completely devoid of money and of all resources. He starts with nothing at all.

However, that doesn’t mean that they can stay with nothing. When the world opens, players have the ability to make money and gather resources through a variety of different means.

Some of these methods can earn a decent amount of money very quickly, which is crucial for upgrades, new weapons, horses, and any other essentials in the game.

Thankfully, if players aren’t a fan of one method, there are several other possibilities that would work just as well for making money fast.

10 Gambling

Poker or Blackjack

Gambling is a fun way to earn money in the game — by playing poker or blackjack around the map, it’s relatively easy to earn a good amount of extra pocket change.

It’s important to note that the amount of money players can earn depends on where the gambling takes place. For example, in poker, buying-in costs $1 at camp, meaning it’s possible to earn only $3 in profit. However, since buying-in costs $5 at Saint-Denis, it’s possible to earn $15 in profit instead (and that’s assuming there are only three others seated; sometimes it can be more).

However, just like gambling in real life, it’s very easy to lose even more money than what players start with. Because of this, gambling should only be done cautiously, otherwise it could end in disaster.

9 Bounties

Alive, Preferably

When visiting a town, players should make a habit of checking the sheriff’s office, because sometimes a bounty will be posted.

Bounty hunting is a good way to earn some money, ranging from the lowest-paying bounty being $25 and the highest-paying being $100. Unfortunately, it’s not a radiant quest, meaning that there’s only a set amount of bounties in the entire game.

Some bounties can also only be done by John Marston in the Epilogue, so Arthur’s options are extremely limited, despite how well they pay.

It’s also important to bring the bounties to the jail alive, since, for some, it would actually fail the bounty mission and result in not being paid.

8 Missions

Main Story or Strangers and Freaks

One surefire way to make lots of money in Red Dead Redemption 2 is to simply do missions.

Whether they’re gang missions relevant to the main story, or Strangers and Freaks missions found while exploring the world, most missions result in decent financial gain.

At the end of missions, players either earn a monetary reward or something they can sell at a Fence, typically something with a good amount of value attached to it. Some examples of these rewards include a fake emerald (that still sold for $50) and an entire gold bar (that sold for $500).

Main story missions tend to end with around a couple hundred dollars at a time, so if there’s nothing left to do, it might be a good idea to do something for the gang.

7 Robbing Banks

Or Robbing Shops, Similarly Efficient

One straightforward way to make money is simply to take it from the source.

In the game, players can pull off entire bank heists, complete with shootouts with law enforcement at the end of the robbery. It’s possible to steal a decent amount of money from banks, so long as they can open each safe.

However, violence definitely tanks honor, and bank robberies can get pretty violent.

For those who don’t really desire an all-out shootout, robbing a shop would be easier. It would mean less money, though, as the money would only come from the cash register rather than a bank vault.

6 Robbing Trains

Or Robbing Stagecoaches, Similar Loot

For players wanting to undertake the complete Wild West experience, they can earn money by robbing a train.

This can be done without violence, so honor won’t be hit too hard, but it can sometimes be challenging to do so. For players not concerned about honor, though, it’s an easy robbery that rewards lots of cash (and hopefully safes of more valuables).

If the train is carrying passengers, players can rob all the people within the train cars, too.

Similarly, stagecoaches could be robbed for the same kind of loot — and the coaches themselves can be sold to the Fence at the Emerald Ranch.

5 Treasure Hunting

Find Gold Bars or Ingots

Of course, when treasure is involved, so are vast amounts of riches. Red Dead Redemption 2 is no exception to that fact.

Players are able to find treasure maps (or purchase them from treasure hunters) around the map, which, of course, directs them to where treasure can be found. The maps are fairly vague, so it’s a puzzle to solve with a great reward.

The treasure itself is typically gold bars, selling for $500 a piece. Sometimes the stash is different, but they’re almost always that kind of valuable. It makes treasure hunting a “get rich quick” scheme that actually works.

The main downside is trying to figure out the maps, which could take some time — and in some cases, the maps just lead to more maps, causing the cycle to repeat all over again before treasure is actually found.

4 Robbing People on the Road

Or Robbing Their Homes, Occupied or Not

Of course, in good old outlaw fashion, robbing NPCs at gunpoint can earn lots of money pretty quickly. Depending on where, some people carry more than others — but it’s the quick ease and vast quantity that makes this so effective.

For players that are keeping track of their honor, one way to work around this would be to rob people in their homes instead, especially quietly in the middle of the night. It’s also possible to rob someone in broad daylight if they aren’t home, just try to be in-and-out before they come back.

Oftentimes, robbing their homes can have a better outcome, since chests and fireplaces would contain way more money than what anyone is carrying in their pockets.

Just be sure to keep a bandanna on, otherwise the bounty acquired will not be pretty.

3 Fishing

Legendary or Normal Fish

Fishing is a serene, peaceful activity that has very few drawbacks.

With a vast selection of fish, the nuances in bait or lures, and various types of bodies of water, there are a lot of possibilities with fishing — and many end with profit.

When fishing, if players choose to keep the fish (tossing fish back increases honor every time, which is another wonderful feature), it can be kept for provisions or sold for profit. With the amount of fish caught per trip, that profit can stack up quite nicely.

That’s not even taking legendary fish into account, which would be a very pretty penny once they’re caught.

The only downside is how time-consuming fishing can be, especially when fish break the line and undoes all the tedious work that went into reeling it in. Then again, people who enjoy fishing enjoy that wait anyway, so that can just be player preference.

2 Selling Horses

Wild or Stolen

Horses are one of the most crucial components to the game in every aspect, including as a way to earn money.

Players are able to find horses in the wild, tame them, and sell them at a stable. Of course, stealing horses is an option, but that does affect honor and prices tend to be worse for stolen horses. So, for the best profit, they would have to be earned honestly.

Another important factor for getting the best profit out of a horse is the bonding level with said horse. If a horse is sold without having bonded to Arthur, it would be sold for pretty cheap.

If players take the time to bond with a horse to Level 4, they’d be able to sell each horse for a lot of money, especially for the best horses. It just, unfortunately, takes a good amount of time to get to Level 4, but the profit is well worth the wait.

1 Hunting

Legendary or Normal Animals

Hunting is the best way to earn money in the game, with an abundance of options with multiple animal parts available for income.

Of course, players can hunt for provisions and crafting, but selling pelts and other animal parts can earn a lot of money very quickly. The closer the pelt is to being perfect (as rated on a 3-star system), the more money it would be sold for. Just like with fish, there are legendary animals that would sell for even more.

This doesn’t consider the animal corpses themselves being available for sale, if players want to stow the corpse on their horse.

Profit is guaranteed with every hunt, no matter the quality of the pelt, and with the sheer amount of animals available for hunting, open fields of game turn into open fields of dollar signs. Plus, hunting doesn’t affect honor, meaning the only downside to hunting would simply be the hazards of being in the wild.

For players that want a quick, easy way to earn money quickly, hunting is the best possible option (just be sure not to hunt in first person, as this poor player learned the hard way).