View source for Free Market

{{Glance|title=The Free Market
|Map|Free Market Entrance, plus numbered rooms 1 to 22
|Quick entry|The TRADE button on the status bar (level 7 or higher)
|Store keeper|[[NPC:Fredrick|Fredrick]], the Store Banker
|Storage|[[NPC:Scrooge|Scrooge]]
|Also here|Trash Can, Scruff (name changes), Beep Boop (polls), the Anonymous Merchant (Cash Shop), the Trade Broker ([[Item Trading Center]])
|Levels|No level needed once you can reach it
}}
'''The Free Market''' is the trading town of the Maple World: a tree-top hub where players set up their own shops and sell to each other. The hub is called the Free Market Entrance, and above and around it are 22 numbered rooms where [[Player Stores|hired merchants]] stand. A few useful services are also gathered here: storage, a trash can, name changes, the Cash Shop door and the Item Trading Center.

== Getting in and out ==
* '''The TRADE button.''' The TRADE button on the status bar takes you straight to the Free Market Entrance from any town or field. It needs level 7 or higher, and it does not work on Maple Island (take the ship to Victoria Island first). Pressing it while you are already inside only reminds you to use the exit portal.
* '''Town doors.''' Many towns, among them Henesys Market, Perion, Orbis, Ludibrium, Aquarium, Leafre, Mu Lung, Ariant, Magatia and Rien, have a Free Market door on their map. Walking through it leads to the Free Market Entrance.
* '''Worena.''' In the Mirror World a Free Market NPC offers the trip.

When you leave the Free Market by its exit portal, on the left of the Entrance, you arrive back at the map you came from, not at some fixed town.

== The Entrance ==
The Entrance is a tall map with four floors. A walkway on each floor runs past a row of doors: the doors lead to rooms 1 to 6 on the bottom floor, 7 to 12 on the second, 13 to 17 on the third and 18 to 22 on the top floor. Use the stairway portals at the ends of each floor to change floors, stand at a door and press the Up arrow to go in. Each room's exit puts you back at the door you entered by.

Room 22, on the top floor, is the [[Training Room]]: practice dummies that never fall, for testing your damage.

=== People you will meet at the Entrance ===
{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" | NPC
! scope="col" | What they do
|-
| [[NPC:Fredrick|Fredrick]], Store Banker
| Sells the two store permits, lets you browse every open store, and hands over your takings and unsold stock once your store has closed. See [[Player Stores]].
|-
| [[NPC:Scrooge|Scrooge]], Storage Keeper
| Your account's storage. Here it costs 500 Vesos to deposit and 1,000 to take out each time, which is more than elsewhere; see [[Storage]].
|-
| Trash Can
| Throws away any item for good, whatever it is. Choose a tab, pick the item and how many, and confirm. Nothing thrown into it can be recovered.
|-
| Scruff
| Changes a character's name; see [[Name Changes]].
|-
| Beep Boop
| Holds the player polls: read the current and past polls and cast your vote (one vote per account).
|-
| Anonymous Merchant
| Opens the Cash Shop. He sometimes looks different from visit to visit, and now and then he is in a mood and tells you to come back later. Leave the Free Market and re-enter if that happens.
|-
| Trade Broker
| Sends you to the [[Item Trading Center]].
|}

== Selling here ==
* '''Hired merchant:''' buy a Store Permit from [[NPC:Fredrick|Fredrick]], go into any numbered room and use the permit from your Item window. Your merchant sells for up to 24 hours, even while you are offline.
* '''Personal store:''' a Regular Store Permit lets you set up a stall wherever you stand, but only while you stay with it. This works in the Free Market too.
* '''Find an item fast:''' an Owl of Minerva cash item searches every open store for a particular item and shows you where it is sold.

Everything about permits, prices, fees and collecting your money is on [[Player Stores]].

== Buying here ==
Walk up to a merchant's stall in a room and click it to see what is for sale, or ask Fredrick to browse all the open stores. Click an item and choose how many bundles to buy. You pay the full price; the merchant's owner receives it minus a tax. For your own protection, only items you can really fit in your bag are sold to you, and one-of-a-kind items you already hold are not.

For player-to-player deals without a store see [[Trading]].

== Tips ==
{{Tip|Prices in the Free Market are set by players. Compare a few stores before you buy, and use the Owl of Minerva or Fredrick's list to find the cheapest one.}}
* Rooms are separate maps. A merchant stands in the room where its owner set it up, so remember the room number of a shop you like.

== See also ==
* [[Player Stores]]
* [[Trading]]
* [[Storage]]
* [[Item Trading Center]]
* [[Name Changes]]

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Economy]]